March 29, 2006

Commission progress report on electronic signatures

A new progress report by the European Commission on the evolution of the electronic signatures in the European Union was made public on 17 March 2006. The report highlights the low usage of the qualified electronic signatures by European businesses and citizens. The report focuses on the “Directive on a Community framework for electronic signatures” […]

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May 10, 2006

EU Parliament Members want more privacy in SIS II

The Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs at the European Parliament debated the draft Regulation on the establishment, operation and use of the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II). There was a consensus among members of the committee that better privacy safeguards are needed for the SIS II, especially because it will […]

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May 24, 2006

French draft copyright law continues to be criticised

As a continuation of the “saga” of the French draft law on copyright and related rights of the information society (DASDVSI), the French Senate voted this month the law which continues to be severely criticised by the consumer associations as well as software companies. The Senators have adopted the law with 164 votes for and […]

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July 5, 2006

Creative Communities and Consumers in TACD Conference

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) TACD (Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogues) organized a conference under the title “New Relationships Between Creative Communities and Consumers” in Paris on 19-20 June 2006. Participants represented a wide range of interests, including both artists’ and consumers’ organizations, but also WIPO and the European Commission. Several panels explored problems […]

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January 17, 2007 · Blogs

Is DRM fading out?

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) 2007 has started with news showing the fading away of the DRM systems that have created many problems with consumers and interoperability without having clear results in the actions against illegal copies. Thus, one of the biggest record companies, EMI, has announced at the beginning of the […]

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January 31, 2007 · Blogs

iTunes under continuous attack in Europe

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) More consumer protection organizations from across Europe have initiated complaints against Apple in order to obtain a more friendly end user license agreement (EULA) for iTunes. The consumer protectionists are concerned about the interoperability of purchased music, contractual terms and liability rules. They consider that iTunes should […]

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February 28, 2007

Increased Europol powers need increased data protection policies

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Peter Hustinx, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) considers that the changes on the legal basis of Europe’s police (Europol) proposed by the European Parliament meant to increase its powers have to be accompanied by proper data protection rules. The European Parliament has proposed changes that would […]

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April 12, 2007 · Blogs

Free-DRM music by iTunes, but EC starts official investigation

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) EMI and Apple announced in the beginning of April 2007 that EMI Music’s entire digital catalogue of music will be available for purchase without DRM from the iTunes worldwide in May. This is also the result of several complaints from consumer advocates and European Commission (EC) officials […]

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August 1, 2007

EDPS – Data Protection Directive should be fully implemented

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The EDPS (European Data Protection Supervisor), Peter Hustinx, issued on 25 July 2007 an opinion on the European Commission communication regarding the improved implementation of the EC Data protection directive (95/46), considering that the Directive should not be amended and asking for its full implementation before applying […]

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September 12, 2007

Reactions on the ISO voting procedures

The recent vote on the OOXML draft standard revealed a number of problems with the ISO procedures, at national as well as international level. The national procedures have been often accused of being influenced by Microsoft, especially in Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the US. Protests about Microsoft exerting improper influence on the […]

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October 10, 2007

French ISPs agree to spy on Internet users to stop online piracy

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The Association of the French ISPs (AFA) agreed to propose concrete solutions to stop illegal downloading, following the discussion on 3 October 2007 with the Commission fighting Internet piracy led by Denis Olivennes. The solutions included the introduction of a system to detect the Internet users that […]

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November 7, 2007

Open Document Format gains more support

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The first international workshop of Open Document Format (ODF) public sector users took place in Berlin on 29-30 October 2007, hosted by the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany. The position of the German Foreign Office, as host of the event, was made very clear. […]

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