The European Parliament has voted for a single data protection standard in the Union and passed both a regulation and a directive today. The Parliament wants to push the package (containing these two instruments), but has now to wait for member states to come to grips over their position.
The debate around internet governance is at full steam in advance of the Brazil's NetMundial conference in April. Especially so since academics have suggested privatising the management of critical internet resources and removing US oversight.
The District Court of Munich ruled on February 25 that YouTube cannot blame German royalty collecting society GEMA for content blocked on its platform.
Even after competitors of the old heavyweights .com or .fr were allowed to enter the domain name market, the several hundred applicants need one asset in particular: .patience.
Turkish business leaders, internet researchers and the Council of Europe were quick to reply when Turkish President Abdullah Gül went on to sign a package of draconian internet laws on February 18. The new legislation matters, not only for Turkey.
The European Commission today released a position statement on how it hopes to approach internet governance in the coming months. Internet governance specialist Bertrand de la Chapelle reacts to the statement in this op-ed.
The Netherlands is among the few countries that have put specific net neutrality standards in place. In this op-ed, Nico van Eijk verifies whether the rules are working or if they are just another example of symbolic regulation.
Early warnings by German government officials at the Munich Security Conference proved true. On February 3, the International League of Human Rights in Germany, together with the Chaos Computer Club and civic group digitalcourage filed a criminal complaint against the German government for not acting on the mass surveillance by intelligence services.
On January 23, EU Justice and Home Affairs Ministers met informally to harmonise their positions on the future European Data Protection Regulation. Broad consensus was reached on international aspects. Yet, the group missed a chance to move the package into the fast lane.
It is difficult to argue against measures that could prevent a 9/11-like attack in the US. However, many in the EU remain concerned about privacy and fundamental rights in general after the Snowden revelations. Conclusions from politicians on both sides illustrate the divergence.