February 27, 2008

Germany: New basic right to privacy of computer systems

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The German Constitutional Court published on 27 February 2008 a landmark ruling about the constitutionality of secret online searches of computers by government agencies. The decision constitutes a new “basic right to the confidentiality and integrity of information-technological systems” as derived from the German Constitution. The journalist […]

Read more

September 23, 2009

A human rights commissioner in the European Commission ?

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Ein Menschenrechtskommissar für die Europäische Kommission? | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1527] On 16 September 2009 the European Parliament re-elected Jose Manuel Barroso for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission by a clear majority. During his campaign, Barroso presented his proposals for commissioner posts. At a meeting on […]

Read more

September 8, 2010

France: Imminent "Humanitarian Fingerprinting" of Roma with OSCAR

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Frankreich: Drohende Stigmatisierung von Roma durch OSCAR | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2164] The xenophobic anti-Roma campaign run by the French government following President Sarkozy’s discourse at the end of July has led to the brutal dismantling of numerous Roma camps, and to the expulsion of 1 000 foreign Roma people from […]

Read more

July 13, 2011 · Blogs

ENDitorial: Why it was good to propose web blocking for child abuse images

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ENDitorial: Warum es gut war, Netzsperren vorzuschlagen | http://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_9.14_ENDitorial_Warum_es_gut_war_Netzsperren_vorzuschlagen?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20110721] Now that the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee has voted again (yesterday, 12 July 2011, by 50 votes to zero) against the introduction of mandatory EU-wide Internet blocking, it is worth considering the huge value of the German blocking […]

Read more

October 29, 2019 · Blogs | Information democracy | Freedom of expression online

Hate speech online: Lessons for protecting free expression

On 21 October, David Kaye – UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression – released the preliminary findings of his sixth report on information and communication technology. They include tangible suggestions to internet companies and states whose current efforts to control hate speech online are […]

Read more

 

February 28, 2007

ENDitorial : EU nations scolded by IIPA

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), a lobby group representing the American publishing, software, recording and movie industries, has been busy. On 12 February IIPA published its recommendations to the US Trade Representative’s 2007 review of global copyright laws. This “Special 301” procedure can lead to significant […]

Read more

October 7, 2009

Turkey blocks thousands of foreign websites

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Die Türkei sperrt tausende ausländische Webseiten | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1537] Following the entering into force in November 2007 of the Turkish Law No. 5651 entitled Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publication, a large number of websites have been blocked in […]

Read more

August 12, 2003

Campaign against proposed IP Enforcement Directive

An international coalition of 39 civil liberties groups and consumer rights organisations sent a letter to the European Union on 11 August urging rejection of the proposed intellectual property enforcement directive. The coalition warns that the proposed Directive is over-broad and threatens civil liberties, innovation, and competition policy. The proposal requires EU Member States to […]

Read more

March 14, 2007

Cross-border wiretapping proposed by the Swedish Government

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Mikael Odenberg, the Swedish defence minister presented on 8 March 2007 a draft law to the parliament that would give the national defence intelligence agency the power to monitor all cross-border phone calls and email traffic without court order. The proposal, which according to the government, is […]

Read more

April 8, 2015 · Blogs

Spanish Citizens’ Security law: There is still some hope

Despite considerable global criticism, the Spanish Citizens’ Security law was passed on 26 March 2015, together with the reforms of the Criminal Code, which include punishment of badly-defined “terrorist crimes” online. The Citizens’ Security law was greatly opposed by political parties, but that was not enough against the majority in the Parliament of the Popular […]

Read more

 

March 14, 2007

Consumer Protection Commissioner wants to see changes in iTunes

(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar) Many consumer rights organizations in Germany, Norway, France and Finland have gathered to take common actions against Apples on its iTunes bundling services, but new concerns are expressed also by the EU Consumer Protection Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva. In an interview for the German weekly Focus, Kuneva was […]

Read more

April 22, 2015 · Blogs

French surveillance bill pushed ahead despite massive criticism

On 19 March 2015, France proposed a new bill that would allow intelligence services to collect vast amounts of data, to tap phones and emails without permission from judges. The scope of application of the draft bill is extremely broad and covers the following ill-defined areas: National independence, territorial integrity and national defence Foreign policy […]

Read more