News and Research articles on European Union

Operationalising communication rights: the case of a “digital welfare state”

Marko Ala-Fossi, Tampere University
Anette Alén-Savikko, University of Helsinki
Jockum Hildén, University of Helsinki
Minna Aslama Horowitz, University of Helsinki
Johanna Jääsaari, University of Helsinki
Kari Karppinen, University of Helsinki
Katja Lehtisaari, University of Helsinki
Hannu Nieminen, University of Helsinki
PUBLISHED ON: 31 Mar 2019 DOI: 10.14763/2019.1.1389

Operationalisation of communication rights in the context of Finland highlights major challenges that digitalisation poses to democracy.

Collectively exercising the right of access: individual effort, societal effect

René L. P. Mahieu, Delft University of Technology
Hadi Asghari, Delft University of Technology
Michel van Eeten, Delft University of Technology
PUBLISHED ON: 13 Jul 2018 DOI: 10.14763/2018.3.927

Attaining transparency and accountability through the right of access is a struggle; Is there a way forward through using the power of the collective?

Standard form contracts and a smart contract future

Kristin B. Cornelius, University of California, Los Angeles
PUBLISHED ON: 15 May 2018 DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.790

With widespread smart contract implementation on the horizon, there is much conversation about how to regulate this new technology. Noting the failure of contract law to address the inequities of standardised contracts in the digital environment can help prevent them from being codified further into smart contracts.

The passage of Australia’s data retention regime: national security, human rights, and media scrutiny

Nicolas P. Suzor, Queensland University of Technology
Kylie Pappalardo, Queensland University of Technology
Natalie McIntosh, Queensland University of Technology
PUBLISHED ON: 14 Mar 2017 DOI: 10.14763/2017.1.454

This paper is part of Australian internet policy, a special issue of Internet Policy Review guest-edited by Angela Daly and Julian Thomas. Part I: The Data Retention Act In April 2015, the Australian government passed the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Amendment (Data Retention) Act, which requires Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telecommunications providers to store information about their subscribers’ online activity for a period of two years. The data retention rules apply to metadata – loosely defined as information that is not the 'content' of a communication. Generally, service providers must keep identifying information about their subscribers, including billing …

Australian internet policy Australian internet policy

Angela Daly, Queensland University of Technology
Julian Thomas, RMIT University
PUBLISHED ON: 14 Mar 2017 DOI: 10.14763/2017.1.457

Papers in this special issue Introducing Australian internet policy: problems and prospects Angela Daly, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Julian Thomas, RMIT University, Australia The passage of Australia’s data retention regime: national security, human rights, and media scrutiny Nicolas Suzor, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Kylie Pappalardo, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Natalie McIntosh, Queensland University of Technology, Australia Computer network operations and ‘rule-with-law’ in Australia Adam Molnar, Deakin University, Australia Christopher Parsons, Citizen Lab, Canada Erik Zouave, KU Leuven, Belgium Internet accessibility and …

The privacy role of information intermediaries through self-regulation

Tatevik Sargsyan, American University
PUBLISHED ON: 16 Dec 2016 DOI: 10.14763/2016.4.438

This paper provides qualitative analysis of Google’s and Microsoft’s policies and examines case studies to enhance understanding about the privacy role of information intermediaries in self-regulatory arrangements.

Regulating the sharing economy Regulating the sharing economy

Kristofer Erickson, University of Glasgow / CREATe
Inge Sørensen, University of Glasgow
PUBLISHED ON: 30 Jun 2016 DOI: 10.14763/2016.2.414

This special issue on 'Regulating the sharing economy' includes five papers and an editorial which each contribute to knowledge by linking the social and economic aspects of sharing economy practices to regulatory norms and mechanisms.

Rebalancing interests and power structures on crowdworking platforms

Ayad Al-Ani, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
Stefan Stumpp, Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG)
PUBLISHED ON: 30 Jun 2016 DOI: 10.14763/2016.2.415

This paper is part of Regulating the sharing economy, a special issue of Internet Policy Review guest-edited by Kristofer Erickson and Inge Sørensen. Disclaimer: This study was completed with the support of the German service sector union ver.di. We would like to thank the participating platforms and their communities for the opportunity to conduct a survey. We would also like to thank the jovoto platform for the implementation of an idea contest. Thanks also go to Prof. Dr. Christian Fieseler, BI Norwegian Business School and Prof. Dr. Wrona, TU Hamburg-Harburg, for their comments and reviews. Any errors remain the responsibility of the authors. Introduction and objectives Working on …

The convergence of media markets and the emergence of video-sharing platforms may make the existing regulative tradition obsolete. This essay demonstrates an emergent need for regulatory convergence on European Union’s Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMSD).

’Governance by Things’ as a challenge to regulation by law

Wolfgang Schulz, Hans-Bredow-Institut for Media Research, Hamburg
Kevin Dankert, Hans-Bredow-Institut for Media Research, Hamburg
PUBLISHED ON: 30 Jun 2016 DOI: 10.14763/2016.2.409

In this article the 'Internet of Things' is considered to be a new, powerful governance factor challenging regulation by law described as the ‘Governance by Things’.

Multilevel constitutionalism and e-democracy

Ingolf Pernice, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

PUBLISHED ON: 4 May 2016

As a scholar of constitutional law, of European and international law, having along the way gathered some knowledge of the workings of the internet, I am happy to present some perhaps somewhat revolutionary thoughts about governing in the future. The issue I was asked to deal with was: Governing the 21st century. Here are my thoughts about it.