Our work

June 19, 2003

France ready to ratify Cybercrime convention

France has started the process of ratification of the Council of Europe cybercrime convention. On 11 June, Dominique de Villepin, the French minister of foreign affairs presented to the council of ministers a draft law for the ratification of the convention. France would be the first EU country to ratify the convention, which has only […]

June 4, 2003 · Blogs

EDRI-gram – Number 10, 4 June 2003

June 4, 2003

EU data protection supervisor: contest not over yet

The list of candidates for the new post of EU Data Protection Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor is shrinking. Joaquín Bayo Delgado, the contested candidate of a Conservative-Social Democrat alliance in the European Parliament (EP) risks to get pushed out of it. Bayo Delgado, the Dean of the Judges of Barcelona, will, as it seems, not […]

June 4, 2003

Council of Europe declaration on freedom on the internet

The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has adopted a Declaration on freedom of communication on the internet. The text contains 7 principles that underline the principle of freedom of expression and condemn practices aimed at restricting or controlling internet access, especially for political reasons. Remarkably, the 7th principle is the right of anonymity. “In […]

June 4, 2003

Radio chips in euro banknotes

Japanese electronics maker Hitachi has told the Japanese press that it has started talks with the European Central Bank (ECB) about the use of RFIDs in euro banknotes. RFIDs (radio frequency identification) are very small radio chips that transmit a unique serial code when a reader is placed in their proximity. RFID were originally designed […]

June 4, 2003

Belgian DPA investigates transfer of passenger data

Following a complaint from European parliament member Marco Cappato the Belgian data protection office is investigating a possible violation of European privacy law by the airline carriers Continental Airlines and United Airlines. Mr Cappato sent a letter to the Belgian data protection commissioner urging his office to investigate the transfer of his personal data to […]

June 4, 2003

Irish DPA threatens government with court case

According to an article in the Irish Times of 26 May, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner Mr Joe Meade has twice threatened to begin High Court proceedings against the Government for using an “invalid” Ministerial Direction to unconstitutionally store citizens’ phone, fax and mobile call data for 3 years. As reported in EDRI-gram nr. 3, […]

June 4, 2003

Finnish protest against EU copyright plans

EDRI-member Electronic Frontier Finland (EFFI) submitted a statement on a proposed EU Directive to harmonise the enforcement of intellectual property laws, including copyrights and patents, across member states. According to EFFI, the new directive is based too unilaterally on studies made for the media industry. For example, the proposal compares piracy to drug trade and […]

May 21, 2003

Airport protests against data transfer to USA

EDRI and its partners held successful actions on 20 May at Schiphol (Amsterdam), Zaventem (Brussels) and Vienna airport. At all three airports EDRI members have provided airline passengers with important information about the transfer of their personal data to US authorities. Passengers were given a letter they can send to the national Data Protection Authority […]

May 21, 2003 · Blogs

Romania forbids free access to online pornography

Romania has adopted a new law to make free access to pornography illegal. Online pornography must always be protected by a password, and should always charge a fee per minute, to be declared with the fiscal authorities. Free access is explicitly forbidden in a law formally adopted on 20 May 2003. The law has raised […]

May 21, 2003

New cybercrime legislation in Romania

Romania has implemented the Cybercrime Convention in Title III of the Anticorruption law no 161/2003, published in the Official Monitor no 279 from 21 April 2003. Romania signed the convention in the end of 2001. There are no provisions regarding data retention, even though in some previous versions of the law there was an obligation […]

May 21, 2003

Trial of Nigerian spammers in the Netherlands

A gang of 6 Nigerian spammers was put to trial on 15 May. The gang was arrested last year in the Netherlands. Operating from Amsterdam the group posed as very rich businessmen from Nigeria. Victims were promised a lot of money in exchange for a temporary loan. The Dutch police estimates the gang earned at […]