July 30, 2014 · Blogs

Spain: Why you should care about the Citizens’ Security Bill

On 11 July 2014, the Spanish Council of Ministers adopted the Bill on the Protection of Citizens’ Security. The draft law comes under the authority of the Ministry of Interior which, after “hearing” the opinions of several public authorities and civil society in response to a preliminary text, adopted the bill. The legislation is intended […]

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August 4, 2014 · Blogs

EU Commission wants to exchange views with civil society in preparation of the IGF – we want your input!

In preparation of the next Internet Governance Forum (IGF), which will be held in Istanbul on 2-5 September, the European Commission organises an exchange views with civil society and invited us to participate in a webinar on 7 August (see agenda below). The IGF is a platform where activists, industry, academics and policy-makers discuss and […]

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September 24, 2014 · Blogs

Risk-based approach to data protection: risky for fundamental rights

On 18 September an EU Council document related to the draft EU data protection regulation was published. The document summarises the positions of Member States that have given their views on a so-called “risk-based approach to data protection”, within the context of the (so far) 30-month negotiations on a review of European data protection legislation. […]

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October 8, 2014 · Blogs

Ex parte domain name seizures in Denmark

At the beginning of October, news media in Denmark reported about the seizure of the domain name raybansolbrillerudsalg.dk, which allegedly had been used for selling counterfeit products to Danish consumers. The Danish e-commerce Foundation, which administers the official Danish accreditation for safe online trading (the e-mark), has compiled a list of 1141 domains accused of […]

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October 22, 2014 · Blogs

Web-blocking in Austria – law with the law taken out

Following the European Court of Justice ruling on the UPC Telekabel v Constantin in April 2014, Austrian internet access providers have started “blocking” several websites. In the case in question, the Court established that an injunction may be imposed on an internet access provider (ISP) “prohibiting an internet service provider from allowing” its customers access […]

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November 20, 2014 · Blogs

Leaked documents show net neutrality may be in danger!

On 14 November 2014, the Italian Presidency presented amendments to the Telecommunications package for comment by the Member State delegations. We are hereby making the document and its annexes publicly available (Note and addendum). These documents show that the Italian Presidency is now back-pedalling on meaningful net neutrality protections – having previously made some much […]

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December 3, 2014 · Blogs

Danish court orders a UK company to block Danish IP addresses

In Denmark, and in most other EU member states, furniture design is protected by copyright for 70 years from the death of the designer. However, a few member states have shorter protections for furniture. In the United Kingdom, for example, Article 52 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act of 1988 limited the protection for […]

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January 28, 2015 · Blogs

Spanish Citizens’ Security Bill: Many restrictions, few freedoms

In summer 2014, the EDRi-gram reported on the Spanish bill on the Protection of Citizens’ Security, shedding light on some of its most controversial measures. In December 2014, the Spanish Congress passed the Citizens’ Security bill by 181 votes to 141. Now, the bill will be discussed in the Senate until the end of March […]

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February 25, 2015 · Blogs

Did GCHQ spy on you? Find out now!

Since its launch on 16 February 2015, over 25 000 people have joined an international campaign to try to learn whether Britain’s intelligence agency, GCHQ, illegally spied on them. This opportunity is possible thanks to court victory in the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), a secret court set up to hear complaints against the British Security […]

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February 27, 2015 · Blogs

So, whatever happened to net neutrality in Europe?

After all of the excitement and jubilation as a result of the US FCC’s ruling on net neutrality, what is going on in Europe? Quite a lot, as it happens. History In September 2013, the European Commission produced a badly drafted, incoherent “Telecoms Single Market Regulation”, which included proposals that claimed to support net neutrality, […]

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March 2, 2015 · Document pools

TTIP Resolution: document pool

The European Parliament is going to adopt a Resolution on TTIP. A resolution is a political statement which does not have binding effects. However, a strong resolution from the Parliament could be a step in the right direction. The Committee on International Trade (INTA) was in charge of the dossier and was guided by Opinions […]

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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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