October 7, 2009

Controversial draft Framework Decision on Child Sexual Exploitation

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Umstrittener Entwurf zum Rahmenbeschluss gegen die sexuelle Ausbeutung von Kindern | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1535] The Civil Liberties Committee of the European Parliament held its first exchange of views on the controversial Proposal for a Framework Decision on combatting the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography. The draft […]

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September 8, 2010

YouTube guilty of its users' copyright infringement says a German court

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Deutschland: YouTube wegen Verletzung von Urheberrechten verurteilt | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2168] On 3 September 2010, the German Hamburg state court ruled that Google’s subsidiary YouTube had to pay damages for not having prevented and blocked the upload by its users of several videos of Sarah Brightman’s performances, thus violating its […]

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October 7, 2009

Reding: EU policy for information society for the next years

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Reding: EU-Strategie für die Informationsgeesllschaft in den nächsten Jahren | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1536] The EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, participated last week at a breakfast event organised by the European Digital Media Association (EdiMA) and had a speech that highlighted the main EU key policy areas […]

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September 8, 2010

UK: Harassing innocent users for copyright infringement

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [UK: Schuldlose User der Verletzung von Urheberrechten bezichtigt | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2169] ACS:Law having sent tens of thousands of cash demands to make supposed copyright infringement lawsuits go away, has been referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Group for “bullying and excessive conduct”. The referral was the result of a coordinated […]

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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 […]

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September 8, 2010

ENDitorial: ACTA endgame – The devil is in the detail

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [ ENDitorial: Endspiel um ACTA – Der Teufel steckt im Detail | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2170] The last week has seen a flurry of activity surrounding ACTA, with the leak of the latest negotiating text, as well as the adoption of a Written Declaration by the European Parliament. Some parts of […]

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October 7, 2009

Deja-vu: France's three-strikes law referred to Constitutional Council

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Deja-vu: Frankreichs 3 Treffer-Gesetz an den Verfassungsrat weitergeleitet | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1538] As expected, on 28 September 2009 the socialist group of the French National Assembly submitted their referral to the Constitutional Council against the second version of the three strikes law (so-called Hadopi 2) passed in September through both […]

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October 7, 2009

The Pirate Bay may be banned in Italy

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [The Pirate Bay könnte in Italien verboten werden | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1540] An appeal won on 24 September 2008 against the decision of the Italian court enforced on 10 August 2008 ordering the seizure of The Pirate Bay (TPB) in Italy, has been reversed by the Italian Court of Cassation. […]

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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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September 22, 2010

Dutch internet community protests against censorship proposal

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Niederländische Internet-Gemeinschaft protestiert gegen staatliche Zensur-Pläne | http://www.unwatched.org/node/2198] Dutch civil society, companies, academics and bloggers sent a letter on 15 September 2010 to the Dutch Minister of Justice regarding a recently launched legislative proposal. According to the writers, the proposal could lead to censorship by the government. The […]

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October 7, 2009

Paris Court of Appeals on a GPL – related case

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [Pariser Berufungsgerichtshof mit einem GPL-Fall | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1541] The Paris Court of Appeals published in September 2009 its decision on a case that involved the distribution of the VNC Software, remote desktop access software available under GPL GNU licence. The case was brought forward by AFPA (Association for professional […]

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October 7, 2009

US gives up its unilateral supervision powers over ICANN

This article is also available in: Deutsch: [USA geben ihre unilaterale Aufsichtsbefugnisse über ICANN auf | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1542] In a movement welcomed by the European Commission, the US have announced they would become more open in Internet governance and give up their dominant position in the supervision of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers […]

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