March 12, 2015 · Blogs

Dutch data retention law struck down – for now

Published originally by EDRi-member Bits of Freedom  And then everything went BANG: from our Twitter-timeline to the champagne bottle at our office. This morning the court annulled the data retention law. Effective immediately. But what exactly did the judge say and what will happen now? The data-retention law requires telecom providers to save communication- and […]

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April 19, 2017 · Blogs

AVMS Directive – censorship by coercive comedy confusion

On 25 April 2017, the European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) will vote on its report on the European Commission’s proposal on Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD). To understand just how confused the proposal is, it is worth understanding its history. In 1989, the EU adopted the “Television without Frontiers” Directive, to regulate cross-border […]

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March 23, 2015 · Blogs

EU trade secrets Directive: threat to free speech, health, environment and worker mobility

STATEMENT (pdf) 23 March 2015 (updated from 17 December 2014) Multi-sectoral civil society coalition calls for greater protections for consumers, journalists, whistleblowers, researchers and workers We strongly oppose the hasty push by the European Commission and Council for a new European Union (EU) directive on trade secrets because it contains: – An unreasonably broad definition […]

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April 20, 2016 · Blogs

CETA to get priority ahead of EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

CETA will undermine EU Charter of Fundamental Rights In February 2016, the European Commission and Canadian government published the final draft text of the EU – Canada trade agreement (CETA), prior to its approval or rejection by the Council, European Parliament and, possibly, national parliaments. The Court of Justice of the EU in October 2015 […]

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February 18, 2014 · Blogs

European Commission on global internet governance – do as we say, please don’t do as we do

On 12 February, the European Commission produced a broadly solid Communication (pdf) on global internet governance. Some of the policies promoted on a global level by the European Commission are really excellent – defend and promote fundamental rights and democratic values, multi-stakeholder governance structures, clear rules that respect rights and values and a single unfragmented […]

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February 21, 2014 · Blogs

Private copying levies – the choice between incoherence and a fair and balanced approach

After being delayed from December to January and from January to February, the incoherent, inaccurate, incomprehensible, contradictory “Castex Report” (PDF) on private copying levies was finally adopted by the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament last week. Next week**, the European Parliament has the choice to accept the deeply flawed text adopted by the […]

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April 20, 2016 · Blogs

Trilogues: the system that undermines EU democracy and transparency

Most of the legislation of the European Union (EU) is today adopted using an informal, non-democratic, non-accountable and non-transparent process. This mechanism is known in the EU bubble as “trilogues” or “trialogues”. Trilogues are a set of informal negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission to fast-track […]

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May 3, 2017 · Blogs

EU data protection watchdogs support stronger ePrivacy legislation

On 10 January 2017, the European Commission (EC) published its long-awaited proposal for an e-Privacy Regulation (ePR) to replace the 2002 e-Privacy Directive (ePD). In April 2017, two Opinions were issued to provide comments and recommendations on how to better safeguard the right to privacy, confidentiality of communications, and the protection of personal data in the […]

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May 30, 2018 · On the ground | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte: Legal challenge against Bavarian Police Act

EDRi observer Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte (GFF) is preparing a joint constitutional complaint to be brought before the German Constitutional Court against the newly passed Bavarian Police Act (PAG)

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April 28, 2016 · Blogs | Information democracy | Transparency

Leaked EU Communication – Part 2: Protecting Google at all costs

While the European Commission talks tough about supporting European industry, much of what is in the leaked Communication on online platforms appears to be designed to protect Google and other online giants, to the detriment of competition and European innovation. “Fair payments” for copyright The Communication refers obtusely to the notion of “fair” distribution of […]

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May 2, 2016 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Equal access to the internet

EDRi and 72 other NGOs send letter to EU regulators on net neutrality

Today, EDRi joined forces with 72 other civil society organisations from the five continents of the world to ask European Telecom Regulators to uphold net neutrality in the current negotiations about the future of the Open Internet in the European Union. The Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communication (BEREC) and the 28 telecom regulators are currently […]

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June 7, 2018 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online | Platform regulation

LEAK: France & Germany demand more censorship from internet companies

Policy makers put pressure on the EU to enact legislation for online platforms like Facebook, but also for small companies, to be legally required to engage in more and quicker privatised and unaccountable censorship.

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