June 19, 2013 · Blogs

The German Parliament urges the government to limit software patents

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Deutscher Bundestag drängt auf Begrenzung von Software-Patenten | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.12_Deutscher_Bundestag_draengt_auf_Begrenzung_von_Software-Patenten?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130619] On 7 June 2013, the German Parliament unanimously decided upon a joint motion to limit software patents urging the government to take measures in this sense. In the German MPs’ opinion, supported by several SME associations, software should be […]

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March 25, 2015 · Blogs

Parliament’s work on copyright enforcement – not worth copying

The European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) adopted an Opinion on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) enforcement, in response to the European Commission’s Communication entitled “Towards a renewed consensus on the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights: an EU Action Plan”. It starts by offering support for “the” “follow the money” approach. The only problem […]

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April 26, 2016 · Blogs | Information democracy | Transparency

#ReadAnneDiary (if you can)

The chaotic and outdated copyright framework in the European Union (EU) negatively impacts citizens by placing absurd restrictions on use of cultural goods. These restrictions benefit neither authors nor  society in general. The European Commission (EC), in its quest to achieve a Digital Single Market, is aiming at reforming the situation and is trying to […]

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February 27, 2008

Legislation against Internet filesharing in UK

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The UK Government intends to introduce legislation that will force ISPs to disconnect theirs customers that illegally download music or films. Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, told the Financial Times “the government has no burning desire to legislate”, but he announced a change of tone from the […]

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July 30, 2003

French IP commission promotes internet-surveillance

On 26 June a special copyright advisory board within the French Ministry of Culture published a report supporting government plans to increase surveillance of Internet users as part of a wider bid to stop the online copying of protected works. The Superior Council for Artistic and Literary Intellectual Property (Conseil Supérieur de la Propriété Littéraire […]

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June 19, 2013 · Blogs

ENDitorial: #ResistSocialMedia in Turkey

The wave of resistance that started at Gezi Park on the 29 May 2013 in Istanbul and has since spread all over Turkey once again revealed a deep connection between real time communication on social media and social movements. Throughout the protests, social media platforms have become the primary news source in this environment where […]

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April 8, 2015 · Blogs

Marrakesh Treaty: EU must take action now

In April 2015, the European Union “celebrates” one year since the signature of the Marrakesh Treaty. This Treaty seeks to facilitate access to cultural content to for people who are blind, visually impaired or print disabled. This Treaty makes mandatory for contracting parties to provide exceptions or limitations in their national legislation to the right […]

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July 27, 2011 · Blogs

Draft Council conclusions on Net Neutrality

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [EU-Rat: Entwurf des Ratsbeschlusses zur Netzneutralität | http://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.15_Entwurf_des_Ratsbeschlusses_zur_Netzneutralitaet?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20110801] On 15 July 2011, the Council (of the EU Member States) published Draft “Conclusions” (a policy statement) on Net Neutrality. In the document, the Council underlined the need to preserve the open and neutral character of the Internet and established […]

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May 17, 2017 · Blogs

UK Digital Economy Act: Millions of websites could be blocked

The Digital Economy Act has become law in the United Kingdom. This wide-ranging law has several areas of concern for digital rights, and could seriously affect privacy and freedom of expression of internet users. One of the main concerns is that it will compel legal pornographic websites to verify the age of their users. The British […]

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July 3, 2013 · Blogs

Could web browsing infringe copyright?

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Kann Surfen im Internet gegen das Urheberrecht verstoßen? | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.13_Kann_Surfen_im_Internet_gegen_das_Urheberrecht_verstossen?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130703] Do you violate copyright law by using an Internet browser? This is, in short, the question that the UK Supreme Court is asking the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) in a preliminary ruling. The case […]

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April 8, 2015 · Blogs

UPC Ireland trapped by its own ToS, has to introduce “three strikes”

UPC Ireland, a largest Irish telecoms provider, has been obliged, by injunction, to introduce a “three strikes” disconnection strategy by the Irish High Court. UPC’s own terms of service are at least partly at fault. In 2009, the former Irish monopoly telecoms provider, Eircom, entered into a voluntary arrangement with the music industry in order […]

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March 15, 2006

Results data protection inspection EURODAC kept secret

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has completed a first inspection of the central unit of EURODAC, but the complete results of the report have not been made public, arguing sensitivity of the information. EURODAC is a community-wide information technology system for the comparison of the fingerprints of asylum seekers, which was adopted on 11 […]

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