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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November 6, 2019 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Equal access to the internet | Inclusive technologies

Portuguese ISPs ignore telecom regulator’s recommendations

In 2018, the Portuguese telecom regulator ANACOM told the three major Portuguese mobile Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to change offers that were in breach of EU net neutrality rules. Among other things, the regulator recommended that ISPs publish their terms and conditions, and increase the data volume of their mobile data packs in order to […]

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May 28, 2025 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Equal access to the internet | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

Sweden further cracks down on sex workers: What it means for digital rights

Despite overwhelming opposition from civil society, academic experts, and sex workers, the Swedish Parliament voted to adopt a law that expand the criminalisation of sex work. This will have have a chilling effect nationally and internationally, and affect digital rights.

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October 7, 2009

France wants to filter online gambling sites

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Frankreich will online-Glücksspielseiten filtern | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1539] From 7 till 9 October 2009, the French National Assembly will discuss a draft law on opening the competition and regulation of online gambling sector. The text foresees the creation of a similar authority to that of HADOPI, called ARJEL that would […]

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May 4, 2016 · Blogs | Open internet and inclusive technology | Equal access to the internet

EUIPO publishes final report about ”Youth and Intellectual Property”

(Update on 6 June 2016: We corrected some quotes in this article which referred to a different but related report) On 6 April, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO, formerly known as OHIM) published its report on “Youth and IP”, which followed the 2013 study on “European Citizens and Intellectual Property: Perception, Awareness and […]

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May 4, 2016 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Data protection standards | Privacy and confidentiality

The lobby-tomy 6: Not in my backyard

Something you’ll hear in policy debates on the environment: windmills are a great idea and obviously good for the environment, but we don’t want them in our backyard. This argument doesn’t just apply to the debate on the environment, but apparently also in the debate on privacy protection. Representatives from industry speak convincingly about what […]

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April 13, 2015 · Blogs

NOW OR NEVER: European citizens stand up to save the internet

Today, European civil society groups have relaunched “Save the Internet”, a European wide campaign aimed at defending net neutrality in Europe. The campaign calls on concerned internet users in Europe to contact their representatives in the European Parliament to ask them to maintain their strong position on net neutrality. Internet users will lose the freedom […]

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November 10, 2021 · Blogs | Highlights | Open internet and inclusive technology | Artificial intelligence (AI) | Surveillance and data retention

Artificial intelligence – a tool of austerity

This week Human Rights Watch published a much-needed comment on the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation. As governments increasingly resort to AI systems to administer social security and public services more broadly, there is an ever-greater need to analyse the impact on fundamental rights and the broader public interest.

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May 4, 2016 · Blogs | Privacy and data protection | Privacy and confidentiality | Surveillance and data retention

Dutch dragnet surveillance bill leaked

On 29 April, the final text for the Dutch dragnet surveillance bill was leaked. It turns out that Minister of the Dutch Interior Ronald Plasterk is still bent on granting the secret services the power to carry out bulk interception of innocent citizens’ communications.

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August 12, 2003

France: 2 court cases about liability of intermediaries

While the E-commerce directive (2000/58/EC) is not yet transposed, in France the liability of intermediaries is decided via jurisprudence. In April the owner of the discussion-website percussions.org was convicted to pay half of the legal costs made by the company Eurodim, because a visitor of the website posted a negative message about the head of […]

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September 22, 2010

Swiss court rules that IP address collecting software is illegal

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Schweizer Gericht erklärt die Sammlung von IP Adressen für unzulässig | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2202] The Swiss Federal Court overturned on 8 September 2010 a previous court decision and ruled that the software identifying IP addresses of alleged unauthorised music uploaders was infringing the data protection law. Switzerland-based anti-piracy company Logistep […]

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March 14, 2007

ENDitorial: French law on delinquency: the threat to FoE is elsewhere

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The new French law for the prevention of delinquency is yet another vehicle to worsen penalties and to increase the prerogatives of the police, when infractions are committed through or using the Internet. The main purpose of this law is to reduce the limitation of penal responsibility […]

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