[A2k] The "Good, the Bad and the Ugly" for digital rights in Europe (EDRI-gram newsletter - Number 6.7, 9 April 2008)
Manon Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org
Wed Apr 9 14:58:11 2008
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EDRI-gram
biweekly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe
Number 6.7, 9 April 2008
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Contents
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1. EDRi joins European NGOs in asking ECJ to annul data retention
directive
2. OOXML adopted as a new standard by ISO
3. France: Linking can be damaging to your pockets
4. Fingerprinting the fingerprint proponent
5. UK: ISPs are not the Internet cops
6. PNR Data infringes human rights
7. The European Commission continues to pressure for early
fingerprinting
8. ENDitorial: CoE - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
9. Recommended Reading
10. Agenda
11. About
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1. EDRi joins European NGOs in asking ECJ to annul data retention
directive
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European Digital Rights (EDRi) has joined other 42 civil liberties
NGOs and
professional associations in signing the amicus curiae brief initiated
by
German NGO Working Group on Data Retention (Arbeitskreis
Vorratsdatenspeicherung).
The action is destined to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in
relation to
the action started on 6 July 2006 - Ireland vs. Council of the European
Union, European Parliament (Case C-301/06). The brief is asking ECJ to
annul
the EU directive on data retention pointing out that apart from the
formal
grounds put forward by Ireland, the directive is, most of all, illegal
on
material grounds.
According to the document, data retention violates the right to
respect for
private life and correspondence, freedom of expression and the right of
providers to the protection of their property. "While it threatens to
inflict great damage on society, its potential benefit appears,
overall, to
be little. Data retention can support the protection of individual
rights
only in few and generally less important cases. A permanent, negative
effect
on crime levels is not to be expected."
With data retention in place, "citizens constantly need to fear that
their
communications data may at some point lead to false incrimination or
governmental or private abuse of the data. Because of this, traffic data
retention endangers open communication in the whole of society."
Amicus Curiae Brief (8.04.2008)
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/images/data_retention_brief_08-04-200=
8.pdf
List of Signatories of the Amicus Curiae Brief (8.04.2008)
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/216/79/lang,en/#Signator=
ies
European NGOs ask Court to annul data retention directive (8.04.2008)
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/216/79/lang,en/
EDRi-gram: German constitutional challenge on Data Retention
(12.03.2008)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.5/germany-data-retention
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2. OOXML adopted as a new standard by ISO
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Open Office XML has been approved as an international recognized
standard by
the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), despite the
open
source community voices that have raised a number of problems with the
standard as such and with unfair practices during the process with
such as
committee stuffing in several countries and political interventions of
ministers in the standardization process.
ISO/IEC DIS 29500 - Information technology - Office Open XML file
formats is
a XML-based file format specification for electronic documents,
developed by
Microsoft and adopted as ECMA 376 standard in December 2006. After
that, it
was promoted by Microsoft and ECMA in the ISO fast-track procedure,
but has
initially failed in September last year, when only 53% of the votes
from the
national bodies part of the ISO/IEC JTC 1 were positive and 26% of the
national votes were negative.
However, after the meetings in Geneva in February this year where the
3500
received comments were debated in the ballot resolution meeting,
Microsoft
has succeeded in convincing the majority they needed, with some of the
major
European countries such as UK, Ireland, France or Denmark changing their
initial vote. The joint technical committee ISO/IEC JTC 1, Information
technology, had 75 % of the JTC 1 participating member votes cast
positive
and 14 % of the total of national member body votes cast negative,
therefore
the standard has been adopted. Not even one of the standardization
bodies
from a European country voted against the standard.
As suspected, Microsoft was happy with the adoption of its 6 000 page
set of
specifications as an international standard: "With 86 percent of voting
national bodies supporting ratification, there is overwhelming support
for
Open XML. This outcome is a clear win for the customers, technology
providers and governments that want to choose the format that best meets
their needs and have a voice in the evolution of this widely adopted
standard" stated Tom Robertson, General Manager of Interoperability and
Standards at Microsoft.
But the supporters of the ODF victory claimed that the victory is a
loss of
credibility of the standardisation: "The result could well prove a
hollow victory for Microsoft. It comes at a considerable cost to the
reputations of Microsoft, ECMA and the International Standards
Organisation
(ISO)", explained Graham Taylor, the chief executive of OpenForum
Europe.
The opponents of the OOXML highlighted the technical problems of the new
standard and the rush of adopting such a large technical document
without a
proper documentation. But the main focus of the challenge was made to
the
politics behind the scene. The NO-OOXML campaigners explained:
"The technical review of the format was strongly obstructed by its
originator and its political interference in the ISO process.
Presence of Microsoft Business Partners has been reported in the
following
countries: Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Italy, Ivory
Coast,
Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the
United States of America. Furthermore, it has been reported in several
countries, such as France and Malaysia, that Microsoft has lobbied the
government and the responsible ministers to override the decisions of
the
technical committees, which spoke out against an approval of the
format."
The problems are also investigated by the European Commission, as
confirmed
by a spokesman for the Commissioner for Competition, Neelie Kroes. He
said
that the Commission continues to scrutinise "interoperability issues
related
to Microsoft's products following complaints from the Committee for
Interoperable Systems (ECIS) group." In this action, the Commission has
asked several national standards bodies, including the Norwegian
Standards
Institute (NSI), on alleged irregularities in the OOXML standardisation
process.
ISO/IEC DIS 29500 receives necessary votes for approval as an
International
Standard (2.04.2008)
http://www.iso.org/iso/pressrelease.htm?refid=3DRef1123
Microsoft wins key standards battle (3.04.2008)
http://www.euractiv.com/en/infosociety/microsoft-wins-key-standards-battle/=
article-171328?Ref=3DRSS
Press Release: ISO captured by vendor Microsoft (2.04.2008)
http://www.noooxml.org/forum/t-50857/press-release:iso-captured-by-vendor-m=
icrosoft
Office Open XML Officially Approved As International Standard
(1.04.2008)
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=3D986
EC probes OOXML standards-setting process (4.04.2008)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/04/ooxml_ec_investigation_iso/
EDRi-gram: OOXML - negative vote at International Organization for
Standardization (12.09.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.17/ooxml-rejected-iso
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3. France: Linking can be damaging to your pockets
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A recent decision by the Paris Tribunal has condemned 3 different French
websites for linking to another website containing gossip information
on the
French actor Olivier Martinez.
The actor has decided to sue 3 websites (Fuzz.fr, Vivre-en-
normandie.com and
CroixRousse.net) for linking to external websites that presented the
respective information.
Fuzz.fr is a Digg-like website, where the website users can vote which
news
comes on first. However, the court decided that the owner of the
website has
an editorial responsibility, even if it's a digg-like service, and
forced
him to pay 1000 euros as damages for infringing the actor's privacy
and 1500
euros as legal fees.
CroixRousse.net just posted the title and a link to a Yahoo-based news
on
the same topic, but the judge decided they needed to pay 500 euros as
well,
for the same infringement. Also a local blogger who writes at
Vivre-en-normandie.com was sentenced to pay the same amount for
putting a
link to a similar news item.
Eric Dupin, owner of Fuzz.fr and a famous French blogger has contested
the
decision, emphasizing the fact that the court doesn't understand the
websites from web 2.0. Dupin does not try to deny any responsibility
of the
sites in relation to the information, but questions the procedure used
in
this case: "The problem here is the method: we have never been asked to
withdraw the respective link, which I would have done. We have been sent
directly to justice".
Laurent Galichet, the young owner of the local news website
CroixRousse.net
that won 3.8 euros from his website in 2008, expressed his stupefaction:
"That means you can be attacked for hosting a link on your website...
It's
like attacking the newspapers stands, because one the newspapers they
show
has a court battle."
It seems that there are also other 17 websites that are attacked by the
French artists' lawyers for similar considerations, even though the news
has been replicated by more online sources, some of them out of France.
A wave of condemnations shakes the French Web 2.0 (only in French,
27.03.2008)
http://www.01net.com/editorial/375750/une-vague-de-condamnations-ebranle-le=
-web-2.0-francais/
Case Olivier Martinez vs. Fuzz : Fuzz condemned (only in French,
27.03.2008)
http://www.presse-citron.net/?2008/03/27/3217-affaire-olivier-martinez-vs-f=
uzz-fuzz-condamne
Parts of the Court decision (only in French, 28.03.2008)
http://www.presse-citron.net/?2008/03/28/3221-extraits-de-l-ordonnance-de-r=
efere
The French web passes through black hours...(only in French, 28.03.2008)
http://www.vivre-en-normandie.com/blog/2008/03/le-web-franais.html
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4. Fingerprinting the fingerprint proponent
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EDRi-member Chaos Computer Club (CCC) - Germany has published in the
latest
issue of their magazine Die Datenschleuder the fingerprint of one of the
best known proponents of digital fingerprints in passports - Mr.
Wolfgang
Sch=E4uble, the German Minister of Internal Affairs. The fingerprint has
been
printed on a plastic foil, that can replicate the fingerprint when it is
pressed on a biometric reader.
CCC activists wanted to make a point in their fight against digital
fingerprints in any ID document, considering such data is easy to
collect
and reproduce. Despite the numerous warnings, since November 2007 the
German
passports have included a biometric chip containing fingerprints that
can be
checked by the customs authorities.
CCC spokesman Frank Rieger explained: "The main point we want to
illustrate
here is that biometric fingerprints don't offer any security, they just
enhance the surveillance of citizens."
Since 2004, CCC has published a step-by-step guide on how to copy
someones'
fingerprint and how to make fake fingerprints.
Mr. Sch=E4uble's fingerprint was provided by a fan of the club from
a glass the Minsiter had been drinking from at a public event. The
print of
the right hand fingerprint is now included in the 4 000 copies of the
magazine and is also available on the CCC webpage.
CCC says they are just following Mr. Sch=E4uble's words when he said that
there is hardly any difference between a passport photo and a digital
fingerprint. When he launched the new passports with biometric
features, he
explained: "This technology will help us keep one step ahead of
criminals.
With the new passport, it is possible to conduct biometric checks, which
will also prevent authentic passports from being misused by unauthorized
persons who happen to look like the person in the passport photo."
Other politicians, supporters of the digital fingerprinting
advantages, are
also on the list of targets for the CCC fans, including Chancellor
Angela
Merkel, Bavarian Prime Minister Guenther Beckstein and BKA President
Joerg
Ziercke.
Chaos Computer Club: Concrete debate on biometrics - Sch=E4uble's
fingerprint
(only in German, 28.03.2008)
http://www.ccc.de/updates/2008/schaubles-finger
Mr. Wolfgang Sch=E4uble fingerprint
http://www.ccc.de/images/misc/schaeuble-attrappe.png
Get your German interior minister's fingerprint here (30.03.2008)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/30/german_interior_minister_fingerprin=
t_appropriated/
CCC publishes fingerprints of Wolfgang Sch=E4uble, the German Home
Secretary
(31.03.2008)
http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/105728
German hackers threaten to publish Merkel's fingerprints (31.03.2008)
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iANGKUakO3Nf0fbqPmguajqWmlZA
How to fake fingerprints (26.10.2004)
http://www.ccc.de/biometrie/fingerabdruck_kopieren?language=3Den
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5. UK: ISPs are not the Internet cops
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The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the UK music trade body, has
asked
British ISPs to disconnect the users that share music considering that
this
is just an education measure to their customers not to steal music.
However,
the UK ISPs are complaining about the fact that they are turned into the
Internet police.
The record labels have made pressures on ISPs to take actions to prevent
illegal music downloading lobbying for a "three strikes" system
(similar to
the French one supported by Sarkozy) leading to the disconnection of
those
who illegally download copyrighted material on the Internet.
BPI is apparently working now with Virgin Media on a trial program that
might come to life in a few months and which includes a warning letter
at
the first offence, a temporary suspension for the second one, and
disconnection on the third. The BPI will trace illegal music
downloading to
individual accounts and will hand these account numbers over to Virgin
Media, which will match them to names and addresses.
A spokesman for Virgin Media said: "We have been in discussions with
rights
holders organisations about how a voluntary scheme could work. We are
taking
this problem seriously and would favour a sensible voluntary solution."
However, the opinion is not shared by ISPs. Charles Dunstone of Carphone
Warehouse, which runs the TalkTalk, the third biggest Internet
provider in
UK, has expressed a very firm position against the BPI actions and
demands.
He considers the demands as unreasonable and unworkable and he
believes his
job is not to be an Internet policeman.
He said: "Our position is very clear. We are the conduit that gives
users
access to the internet. We do not control the internet, nor do we
control
what our users do on the internet. I cannot foresee any circumstances in
which we would voluntarily disconnect a customer's account on the
basis of a
third party alleging a wrongdoing" adding that his company would fight
to
protect its users' rights, using the law.
But BPI is threatening those who do not want to cooperate stating the
government would bring in legislation to oblige them to do so. BPI chief
executive Geoff Taylor said: "We believe that any socially responsible
ISP
should, as a core part of its business, put in place steps to help their
customers avoid engaging in illegal activity, and deter those who
knowingly
break the law. (...) This is not the time for ISPs to delay further.
Government clearly shares the creative community's frustration at the
failure of ISPs to take action."
The UK Government is expected to find ways to legally enforce the policy
proposed by the record labels. In February 2008, the Government said
that
unless ISPs would voluntarily come to an agreement by April 2009 with
the
music and film industries, it would implement legislation to regulate
the
issue. According to industry sources, in April 2008, the Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform will publish a consultation
paper
on proposed legal measures.
Another important European actor protests against the French 3 strikes
model. Swedish MEP Christofer Fjellner and the former Prime Minister
of France, Michel Rocard, proposed a new amendment to the EU's Bono
Report
on the Cultural Industries that will condemn any measure taken by the
EU or
nation states that conflicts: "with civil liberties and human rights and
with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and
dissuasiveness,
such as the interruption of Internet access".
The report is discussed today in the European Parliament and could be an
important step for positioning purposes. The vote will take place on 10
April 2008.
Policing internet 'not ISP's job' (4.04.2008)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7329801.stm
Virgin Media takes fight to illegal downloaders (2.04.2008)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=3D/money/2008/03/30/cnvirgi=
n130.xml
Virgin Media to begin penalizing users for illegal downloads
(31.03.2008)
http://www.betanews.com/article/Virgin_Media_to_begin_penalizing_users_for_=
illegal_downloads/1206980023
EDRi-gram: UK Government continues to pressure ISPs for Internet
filtering
(16.01.2008)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.1/uk-isp-filtering
EU Politicians Strike Back Against Three Strikes (7.04.2008)
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/04/eu-politicians-strikes-back-against-th=
ree-strikes
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6. PNR Data infringes human rights
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The German Working Group on Data Retention expanded its activities
beyond
the data retention issues, by publishing two applications to the
European
Court of Justice by the European Parliament contesting the transfer of
PNR
data to the US.
The documents explain why the collection of air passenger data in the US
as well as a similar proposal by EU commissioner Franco Frattini are
incompatible with the air travellers' fundamental rights. First, the
blanket
collection of all PNR data violates the basic right to privacy and
protection of our personal data. The finality of the data retained is
not
precisely defined; a "blank cheque" is given to the authorities
permitting
an unforeseeable use of the data for other purposes. Also, sensitive
data
regarding the passengers' racial and ethnic origin, political
attitudes an
religious conviction are not effectively protected from access.
The Working Group on Data Retention also asked Germany's Federal
Government
to quit negotiations on the principally flawed plan to effectuate a
blanket
retention of air travellers' data in Europe.
Patrick Breyer, member of the Working Group, explained the reasoning
behind
the actions: "The applications of the European Parliament could
basically be
copied to have the European plan annulled in court. The principle of
proportionality prohibits the mass collection of innocent air
traveller's
data after passing border controls. It is disproportionate to collect
everybody's data just because in rare cases, it could be useful to the
authorities. Border authorities already have access to the data they
need.
The new plan is superfluous and can not be put into practise where
European
fundamental rights apply. In its decision concerning the mass scanning
of
vehicles' number plates, the German Constitutional Court earlier this
month
confirmed that data concerning citizens who are not wanted by the
authorities must be discarded immediately."
Collection of flight passenger data violates human rights - Complaints
published (31.03.2008)
http://www.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/content/view/214/79/lang,en/
EDRi-gram: EC plans to profile all passengers in and out EU (7.11.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.21/eu-pnr
EDRi-gram: Final agreements between EU and USA on PNR and SWIFT
(4.07.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.17/us-pnr-new
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7. The European Commission continues to pressure for early
fingerprinting
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In spite of the recommendation of the European Data Protection
Supervisor,
Peter Hustinx, that the minimum age for fingerprinting should be 14, a
spokesperson from the European Commission (EC) expressed on 2 April
2008 the
EC intention to push for fingerprinting children starting at the age
of six,
in order to include the information in the biometric passports.
Jacques Barrot, the Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner,
considered
that "The proposals we put forward are balanced ones", explaining that
fingerprinting was an important tool in fighting human trafficking.
During the meeting on 12 February 2008 the high-level Strategic
Committee on
Immigration, Frontiers and Asylum (SCIFA)/Mixed Committee discussed
the age
at which children should be fingerprinted for visas, residence permits
and
EU passports and travel documents. During a later meeting of the Visa
Working Party, on 18-19 February 2008, the large majority of delegations
agreed on the age of six and even lower "where national legislation
allows
for it". Only Germany and Austria supported the 12 years old proposal
of the
European Parliament (EP).
"This Commission has set itself the standard that all its proposals
should
be based on an impact assessment, including an impact assessment on
privacy
and human rights," said Hustinx adding: "This particular proposal did
not
have an impact assessment, it had very limited support, and it refers to
anecdotal evidence and that's not good enough."
Hustinx is concerned about privacy issues but also about the quality
of the
fingerprints children of six could provide for identity verification.
The EC
argues that the proposals were developed coording with international
agreements, based on the International Civil Aviation Organisation
standards. Hustinx also said he believed the new trend of biometric
proposals have been made without sufficient analysis on the impact
they may
have. "I've been struck by a continuing line of underestimation of these
problems in the context of biometrics. (...) We have rushed in
biometrics,
to my feeling, to my taste, far too fast" he said.
The debate is similar to that under negotiation between the European
Parliament and the Council of Ministers which is related to the age of
children fingerprinting for visa purposes. The EP also proposed a higher
age, 12, than the EC. The result of this debate is expected to apply
also to
passports.
"Thanks to the co-decision powers of MEPs on these matters, the
Commission
and Council cannot just ignore us," said Parliament's lead MEP on
visas, UK
Liberal Sarah Ludford who added: "But they would be ill-advised to try
to
push forward without much more independent study and public debate on
whether there is a genuine need for fingerprinting young children."
Commission stands firm on biometric passports (3.04.2008)
http://www.europeanvoice.com/current/article.asp?id=3D30138&print=3D1
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
amending Council Regulation (EC) No. 2252/2004 on standards for security
features and biometrics in passports and travel documents issued by
Member
States (6.02.2008)
http://www.statewatch.org/news/2008/feb/eu-council-child-printing.pdf
EDPS Opinion on biometrics in passports: exemptions welcomed but
unsatisfactory (26.03.2008)
http://edps.europa.eu/EDPSWEB/webdav/site/mySite/shared/Documents/Consultat=
ion/Opinions/2008/08-03-26_Biometrics_passports_EN.pdf
EDRI-gram: Biometric data from non-EU travellers (13.02.2008)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.3/biometric-eu-travel
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8. ENDitorial: CoE - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
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The 9th meeting of the Council of Europe (CoE) group of specialists on
Human
Rights in the Information Society (MC-S-IS) was held in Strasbourg
from 31
March to 2 April 2008. At the same time, on 1-2 April, another
division of
the CoE was holding in a building across the street its 2008 Octopus
conference on cooperation against cybercrime. This schedule
overlapping is
not the only sign that CoE's left hand seems to ignore what its right
hand
is doing: different divisions are also addressing same issues, though
from
different points of view and with different results.
It happened this time with the guidelines for Internet Service Providers
(ISPs). While the Octopus conference was discussing and then adopting
its
'Guidelines for the cooperation between law enforcement and Internet
service
providers against cybercrime', the MC-S-IS group was reviewing and
finalising its 'Practical guidelines for Internet service providers with
regard to key human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Information
Society'. While EuroISPA (the European association of ISPs) vice-
president
Michael Rotert was "pushing hard", according to press reports, to have
ISPs
concerns taken into account in the Octopus conference guidelines,
EuroISPA
president Kurt Einzinger was sitting next to EDRI representative at MC-
S-IS
meeting, with both organizations welcoming MC-S-IS guidelines upholding
digital rights and taking into account ISPs concerns. EDRI suggested
some
additional provisions on ISPs transparency and accountability with
regards
to their subscribers, especially with regards to content "notice and
take
down" procedure and network neutrality issues. Once adopted, the MC-S-IS
guidelines will soon be submitted to the CDMC and hopefully later
adopted by
the Committee of Ministers. The status of the Octopus conference
guidelines
remains unclear at this step.
Unfortunately, this is all what EDRI can report from the 2008 Octopus
conference, given that its representative is not enjoying ubiquity
talent
and preferred to fully attend the MC-S-IS meeting, where, even in its
simple
capacity of NGO observer, its participation might lead to concrete
positive
results.
One of such very positive achievements is the adoption by the CoE
Committee
of Ministers, on 26 March 2008, of its 'Recommendation on measures to
promote the respect for freedom of expression and information with
regard to
Internet filters' (Rec(2008)6). This Recommendation was prepared by MC-
S-IS,
with EDRI participation. To our knowledge, it is the best text to date
that
could be expected from an intergovernmental institution on this issue,
breaking off the usual rhetoric of '"technical filtering panacea" to
fight
illegal or harmful content.
Another CoE recently adopted document, worth mentioning although of less
normative value, is the 'Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on
protecting the dignity, security and privacy of children on the
Internet'.
This document has not been prepared by the MC-S-IS group, but is
relevant to
its activities since it raises special concerns on children profiling
and
the retention of their personal data for commercial purposes, as well
as on
"the emerging tendency for certain types of institutions, such as
educational establishments, and prospective employers to seek
information
about children and young people when deciding on important issues
concerning
their lives". The document thus declares "that, other than in the
context of
law enforcement, there should be no lasting or permanently accessible
record
of the content created by children on the Internet which challenges
their
dignity, security and privacy or otherwise renders them vulnerable now
or at
a later stage in their lives".
On the copyright front, however, the situation is far less satisfactory.
EDRI has already reported on the heated discussion that the draft
'Recommendation on freedom of expression and information and
intellectual
property rights in the new information and communications environment'
generated during the previous MC-S-IS meeting. Although the discussion
was
quieter this time (some protagonists of the previous debate were
missing),
the case has not progressed, to say the least. The secretariat made the
effort to bring an external expert, after some State representatives
argued
last time that the group was not knowledgeable enough on the issue. But
things got worse, as the expert, in EDRI's opinion, proposed a new
version
of the draft Recommendation which was pretty bad written and rather
clumsy,
though being full of good intentions. What the group decided at this
step
was thus to report to the CDMC on the difficulty to find a consensus
on this
issue, and to produce a further version of the explanatory report, with
clear distinction between facts and legal cases of freedom of expression
breaches because of copyright on the one hand, and suggested measures
on the
other hand. The future of the draft Recommendation itself would then be
decided in a later step.
Still on the intellectual property rights issue, but more specifically
regarding the neighbouring rights of broadcasting organisations, the
MC-S-IS
has been informed of a decision made at the 6th meeting of the CDMC to
explore the need for a CoE Convention dealing with this issue,
originally
brought to it by the European Broadcasting Union and some EU member
States.
This initiative is a consequence of the deadlock faced at WIPO by the
draft
broadcasting Treaty. While the MC-S-IS discussions on the above
mentioned
draft Recommendation does not seem promising at all, the good side of
the
initiative being taken at the CoE level might be found in the CoE
records on
the promotion of public service values, and in particular of access to
information, culture, knowledge and scientific developments. The CoE
recently added to these good records its 'Recommendation on measures to
promote the public service value of the Internet'. However, 'classical
media'
business lobbies have undoubtedly more established influence on CoE
member
States than 'new media' ones. The CDMC should decide at its next
meeting in
May which of its groups of specialists (MC-S-IS or another one) will
be in
charge of exploring the relevance of a new CoE Convention on
neighbouring
rights of broadcasting organizations.
The last issue worth of notice in this last MC-S-IS meeting is the
ever-recurring one, that is, the harmful content hydra. One might have
thought from last meeting discussions that the group had given up on the
"standard-setting instrument which promotes a coherent pan-European
level of
protection for children from harmful content when using new
communication
technologies and services and the Internet, while ensuring freedom of
expression and the free flow of information". However, the secretariat
had
apparently found useful to ask yet another expert, although the previous
experience on the same subject led to an impasse, as reported two
years ago.
This time, the expert came with, among other proposals, the idea to
create a
CoE "trust-mark" and to use content labelling and rating systems, just
like
these kind of measures and software platform were not promoted for
more than
10 years now, fortunately in vain. Not to mention the fact that the
Internet
has seen some developments since then, one of them being the explosion
of
user-generated content and of social networking tools and services.
Given
that the discussion led to mixed feelings in the group, with EDRI,
together
with some member States, opposing the proposed orientation, the MC-S-IS
decided that an informal working group would explore the issue and
propose
alternatives provisions. This informal working group is composed by
Switzerland, Austria (re-elected respectively MC-S-IS group chair and
vice-chair, which is good news for digital rights defenders) and EDRI as
observer, and will prepare suggestions in view of the next MC-S-IS group
meeting, which will be held on 22-24 September 2008.
CoE MC-S-IS public website
http://www.coe.int/t/e/human_rights/media/1_intergovernmental_co-operation/=
MC-S-IS
CoE Octopus Conference 2008 (1-2.04.2008)
http://www.coe.int/t/dg1/legalcooperation/economiccrime/cybercrime/cy%20act=
ivity%20Interface2008/Interface2008_en.asp
EDRI-gram: Enditorial: The 2001 Coe Cybercrime Conv. More Dangerous Than
Ever (20.06.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.12/cybercrime-convention-dangerous
Tackling cybercrime: Guidance on sharing Internet data (2.04.2008)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/02/business/cybercrime.php
CoE Recommendation Rec(2008)6 and explanatory report (26.03.2008)
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=3DCM/Rec(2008)6
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=3DCM(2008)37&Ver=3Dadd
EDRI-gram: Enditorial: Coe - Content Regulation: Break On Through;
Ipr: It's
Tricky (21.11.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.22/coe-content-regulation
CoE Declaration on protecting the dignity, security and privacy of
children
on the Internet (20.02.2008)
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?Ref=3DDecl(20.02.2008)&Ver=3D0001
CoE CDMC - 6th meeting report, most notably item 10 on neighbouring
rights
(7.12.2007)
http://www.coe.int/t/e/human_rights/media/1_Intergovernmental_Co-operation/=
CDMC/CDMC(2007)023_en.asp
EDRI-gram: The Broadcasting Treaty Resuscitated By The Council Of
Europe
(19.12.2007)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number5.24/coe-broadcasting-treaty
CoE Recommendation Rec(2007)16 on measures to promote the public
service
value of the Internet (7.11.2007)
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=3D1207291
EDRI-gram: CoE works on new instrument on children empowerment on the
net
(15.03.2006)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number4.5/coe
(Contribution by Meryem Marzouki, EDRI-member IRIS)
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9. Recommended Reading
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Article 29 Working Party - Opinion on data protection issues related to
search engines
http://www.cbpweb.nl/downloads_int/Opinie%20WP29%20zoekmachines.pdf
New issue of Surveillance and Society: Surveillance and Inequality
http://www.surveillance-and-society.org/journalv5i3.html
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10. Agenda
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10-12 April 2008, Amsterdam & Hilversum, Netherlands
Economies of the Commons - Strategies for Sustainable Access and
Creative
Reuse of Images and Sounds Online
International Working Conference
http://www.ecommons.eu
12 April 2008, Rijeka, Croatia
International seminar on digital evidence
http://law.pravri.hr/hr/digital-evidence-seminar.pdf
28-29 April 2008, Vienna, Austria
PRISE Final Conference -Towards privacy enhancing security
technologies -
the next steps
http://www.prise.oeaw.ac.at/conference.htm
9-10 May 2008, Florence, Italy
Digital communities and data retention
http://e-privacy.winstonsmith.info/
15-17 May 2008, Ljubljana, Slovenia
EURAM Conference 2008 - Track "Creating Value Through Digital Commons"
How collective management of IPRs, open innovation models, and digital
communities shape the industrial dynamics in the XXI century.
http://www.euram2008.org
20-23 May 2008, New Haven, CT, USA
18th Annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy conference
http://cfp2008.org/
30-31 May 2008, Bucharest, Romania
eLiberatica 2008 - The benefits of Open and Free Technologies
http://www.eliberatica.ro/2008/
6-7 June 2008, Bremen, Germany
IdentityCamp - a barcamp around identity 2.0 and privacy 2.0
http://barcamp.org/IdentityCampBremen
17-18 June 2008, Seoul, Korea
The Future of the Internet Economy - OECD Ministerial Meeting
http://www.oecd.org/FutureInternet
23 June 2008, Paris, France
GigaNet is organizing an international academic workshop on "Global
Internet
Governance: An Interdisciplinary Research Field in Construction"
http://tinyurl.com/3y9ld8
26-27 June 2008, London, UK
International Conference on Digital Evidence
http://www.mistieurope.com/default.asp?Page=3D65&Return=3D70&ProductID=3D89=
14&LS=3DDigitalEvidence
30 June - 1 July 2008, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
First COMMUNIA Conference - Assessment of economic and social impact of
digital public domain throughout Europe
http://www.communia-project.eu/conf2008
23-25 July 2008, Leuven, Belgium
The 8th Privacy Enhancing Technologies Symposium (PETS 2008)
http://petsymposium.org/2008/
19-20 July 2008, Stockholm, Sweden
International Association for Media and Communication Research
pre-conference - Civil Rights in Mediatized Societies: Which data
privacy
against whom and how ?
http://www.iamcr.org/content/view/301/1/
8-10 September 2008, Geneva, Switzerland
The third annual Access to Knowledge Conference (A2K3)
http://isp.law.yale.edu/
24-28 September 2008, Athens, Greece
World Summit on the Knowledge Society
The deadline for articles submission is 10 May 2008
http://www.open-knowledge-society.org/summit.htm
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11. About
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EDRI-gram is a biweekly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe.
Currently EDRI has 28 members based or with offices in 17 different
countries in Europe. European Digital Rights takes an active interest in
developments in the EU accession countries and wants to share
knowledge and
awareness through the EDRI-grams.
All contributions, suggestions for content, corrections or agenda-tips
are
most welcome. Errors are corrected as soon as possible and visibly on
the
EDRI website.
Except where otherwise noted, this newsletter is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License. See the full text at
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
Newsletter editor: Bogdan Manolea <edrigram@edri.org>
Information about EDRI and its members:
http://www.edri.org/
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***************************************************************************
Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org
Consumer Project on Technology
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA
Tel.: +1.202.332.2670, Ext 16 Fax: +1.202.332.2673
Consumer Project on Technology
1 Route des Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727
Consumer Project on Technology
24 Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX, UK
Tel: +44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252 Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607