EDRi-gram newsletter - Number 7.18, 23 September 2009
EDRI-gram newsletter
edrigram at edri.org
Wed Sep 23 08:27:05 PDT 2009
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EDRi-gram
biweekly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe
Number 7.18, 23 September 2009
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Contents
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1. "Freedom not Fear" 2009 - Protests Against the Surveillance Mania
2. Three strikes law version 2 - one step closer to adoption in France
3. MEPs ask for a new agreement on SWIFT bank data transfers to USA
4. Ambitious study published by Swedish EU Presidency
5. UK music industry shows divided opinions on cutting off p2p users
6. Macedonia: Activities for citizen education about their privacy rights
7. A human rights commissioner in the European Commission ?
8. EESC opinion on the impact of social networking sites on citizens
9. Secret IPR measures in EU - South Korea trade agreement
10. Civil society coalition discuss global privacy standards
11. Recommended Action
12. Recommended Reading
13. Agenda
14. About
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1. "Freedom not Fear" 2009 - Protests Against the Surveillance Mania
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On Saturday, 12 September 2009, civil liberties activists in many countries
again took it to the streets under the motto "Freedom not Fear - Stop the
Surveillance Mania". It was the second time these activities took place
after the first international action day on 11 October 2008.
The biggest event was held in Berlin, where more than 25 000 people
marched through the streets and applauded the speeches and the bands.
Frank Bsirske, chairman of the world's largest trade union ver.di,
called for a comprehensive law for employee and workplace privacy
protection. Patrick Breyer from the working Group against Data Retention
(AK Vorrat), which again had initiated the protests, reminded
participants of the democratic rallies and events of 1847 and 1989 and
called for continuous resistance against the surveillance state. Other
speakers included Franziska Heine from the Working Group against
Censorship (AK Zensur), who had organized the most successful online
petition ever to the German parliament against a recent German law that
permits blocking of web sites by the federal police. The event sent a
strong signal to the political parties and was widely reported in the
context of the upcoming German federal election. At the end of the
demonstration, activists from EDRi member Chaos Computer Club were able
to film a police assault on a peaceful participant. Public pressure as a
result of this has now led to an announcement of the Berlin police that
all officers will get mandatory name badges in early 2010.
Other activities took place in Bulgaria, Finland, Italy, Macedonia, the
Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the
United Kingdom. Activists had organized a plethora of events, including
a full week of activities in Prague; demonstrations in Amsterdam,
Stockholm and Sofia; public teach-inns in Skopje (co-organized by EDRi
member Metamorphosis), Milano, and Helsinki (co-organized by EDRi member
EFFi); privacy parties and film screenings, and much more. Activists in
Vienna (from EDRi member Vibe.at) reported such big interest from the
population that they had to print 1000 more leaflets on the same day.
Outside of Europe, privacy activists in Guatemala joined the action day
this year with a reading event from a new volume of fiction stories
about surveillance, titled "stop the surveillance mania".
Overview of Freedom not Fear activities
http://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Freedom_Not_Fear_2009
Press center for the Berlin demonstration
http://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Press_center
Report from activities in Skopje - EDRi-gram: Macedonia: Activities for
citizen education about their privacy rights (23.09.2009)
http://www.edri.org/edri-gram/number7.18/macedonia-freedom-not-fear-2009
Report from activities in Vienna (only in German, 12.09.2009)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/foren/S-Bericht-FSA-Wien/forum-165693/msg-17357119/read/
International Action Day "Freedom not Fear" (11.10.2008)
http://www.edri.org/edri-gram/number6.20/freedom-not-fear-international-day
(contribution by Ralf Bendrath, EDRi member Netzwerk Neue Medien)
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2. Three strikes law version 2 - one step closer to adoption in France
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On 15 September 2009, the French deputies adopted the amended version of the
three strikes law (also known as Hadopi 2) by only 55% votes. A day after,
the mixed paritary commission made of seven senators and seven deputies
validated in its turn the version voted by the deputies.
Minister of Culture Fridiric Mitterrand announced after the adoption of the
text that both Hadopi 1 and Hadopi 2 will be applied starting with the end
of this year when he would also make his propositions for a third text,
Hadopi 3.
Socialist deputy Patrick Bloche has reaffirmed the opposition's intention to
appeal to the Constitutional Council to stop the text as it happened in June
with the first version of the law, Hadopi 1. "We vigorously contest the
creation of a sanction for negligence which flagrantly violates the
principle according to which someone can be judged only for his (her) acts"
said the deputy.
"The HADOPI is a disturbing step towards the control of information
circulating on the Internet by economic and political actors. All seem to
agree now to stifle this great space of expression and freedom that we, as
citizens, must protect," stated Jeremie Zimmermann, spokesperson for La
Quadrature du Net. In La Quadrature du Net's opinion, "this legal text
severely put into question the Republican values which are the presumption
of innocence and the right to an equitable procedure." "HADOPI is a worrying
stage towards the control of information on the Net by economic and
political actors." commented Jirimie Zimmermann.
Already the law is considered by many as obsolete having in view the
permanent technological progress which allows for several methods to go
round the restrictions of the law. Right after the adoption of the text,
searches of "going around Hadopi" would result in almost 60 000 responses on
the Internet.
The Senate gave its final vote on the draft law on 21 September and it is no
suprise that the lower Chamber of the French Parliament also gave its
positive final vote the next day. The only step that could now stop the law
remains the appeal to the Constitutional Council.
Hadopi 2 law adopted in the Assembly by 55 % of deputies (only in French,
15.09.2009)
http://www.numerama.com/magazine/13926-la-loi-hadopi-2-adoptee-a-l-assemblee-par-55-des-deputes.html
La Quadrature du Net is waiting for the Constitutional Council's advice
(only in French, 15.09.2009)
http://www.numerama.com/magazine/13927-la-quadrature-du-net-attend-l-avis-du-conseil-constitutionnel.html
Hadopi law validated, but already obsolete (only in French, 16.09.2009)
http://www.lesechos.fr/info/hightec/300376175-la-loi-hadopi-validee-mais-deja-depassee.htm
France passes three-strikes bill (15.09.2009)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/15/france_hadopi_passes_lower_house/
EDRI-gram: Hadopi 2's final vote is postponed till 15 September (29.07.2009)
http://www.edri.org/edri-gram/number7.15/hadopi-2-postponed-15-september
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3. MEPs ask for a new agreement on SWIFT bank data transfers to USA
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The European Parliament issued on 17 September 2009 a resolution reaffirming
the need that for the Council and EU ministers to renegotiate the agreement
to transfer bank data to the United States Treasury Department.
MEPs have previously expressed their concern for not having been involved in
the negotiation of the EU-US interim agreement on banking data transfers as
EU ministers had decided unanimously to give the European Commission a
negotiating mandate without involving the Parliament. MEPs consider this
goes against the opinion of Council's legal service, which recommanded to
include the European Parliament in this process.
The EP resolution sets up guidelines for the new agreement in order to
ensure data protection and privacy, underlining once more that the data
should be transferred to the US authorities only for the purpose of fighting
terrorism and that the transferred data should be used or stored
proportionately to this objective.
The resolution reaffirms the "determination to fight terrorism" but also
expresses the "need to strike the right balance between security measures
and the protection of civil liberties and fundamental rights, while ensuring
the utmost respect for privacy and data protection."
The EP believes that the transfer requests should be "based on specific,
targeted cases, limited in time and subject to judicial authorisation, and
that any subsequent processing is limited to data which disclose a link with
persons or organisations under examination in the US" and that "EU citizens
and enterprises are granted the same defence rights and procedural
guarantees and the same right of access to justice as exist in the EU and
that the legality and proportionality of the transfer requests are open to
judicial review in the US". In order to prevent any abuse, the transferred
data should be "subject to the same judicial redress mechanisms as would
apply to data held within the EU, including compensation in the event of
unlawful processing of personal data."
The resolution also asks for a reciprocity mechanism that would oblige the
US authorities to equally transfer relevant financial data to the competent
EU authorities, upon request.
The EP resolution did not reach consensus amoung different parliamentary
groups. The adopted resolution was rejected by the Greens (who had their own
resolution) and the left groups. The opposition to this resolution
considered the present text is not strong enough after the compromises
between different political groups. It also highlighted the fact that the
current format does not call for a stop of the current negociations.
Beatrice Ask, the Swedish Justice Minister, also stated that the new text
under negotiation with the United States will be in force for no more than
12 months.
"If we don't get real assurances concerning the protection of (personal)
data there won't be a deal," said EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot who
also stated that "an immediate renegotiation will take place under the
Treaty of Lisbon", thus giving EP the final word on the text.
SWIFT: new EU-US agreement will be renegotiated next year (17.09.2009)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/019-60698-257-09-38-902-20090915IPR60697-14-09-2009-2009-false/default_en.htm
European Parliament resolution of 17 September 2009 on the envisaged
international agreement to make available to the United States Treasury
Department financial payment messaging data to prevent and combat terrorism
and terrorist financing (updated 21.09.2009)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2009-0016&language=EN&ring=B7-2009-0038
Motion on a resolution on the envisaged international agreement to make
available to the United States Treasury Department financial payment
messaging data to prevent and combat terrorism and terrorist financing -
Ra|l Romeva i Rueda, Jan Philipp Albrecht on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
(14.09.2009)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+MOTION+B7-2009-0050+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
EU poses conditions on US access to bank account info (17.09.2009)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hmZQkLlqCKitST820Wq-q6tMYjlA
EDRI-gram: A new SWIFT agreement under negotiation between EU and USA
(9.09.2009)
http://www.edri.org/edri-gram/number7.17/swift-european-parliament
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4. Ambitious study published by Swedish EU Presidency
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The Swedish Presidency of the EU has produced a study entitled "A Green
Knowledge Society" that was made public in September 2009. The study aims to
set the scene for the "tipping point in the transition to the knowledge
economy" and to help prepare policy making for the "enormous consequences"
that this will have for society and interaction between governments and
citizens. The report also looks at the ways in which ICT can be used for
environmental protection. Key issues for the digital civil rights domain
include creativity and infrastructure.
As regards creativity the report underlines the changes in today's
situation: "Some interviewees pointed to the need for Europe to move away
from a 'permission to innovate' culture. For instance, one of the few
examples of European innovation is the file sharing service Pirate Bay,
which challenges current intellectual property rules. Rather than attempt to
stymie this innovation, we need a more thoughtful response and to rethink
rules around protection of intellectual property rights so that they are fit
for a digital economy. Member State governments currently retain orthodox
views about protection of intellectual property but we may need to embrace
radical solutions if innovation and creativity is being held back (Boldrin
and Levine, 2008)."
Policy goals for infrastructure development are "a new regulatory regime
based on more effective ex ante regulation across all ICT layers", open
source software and open standards for ICT infrastructure and public
procurement, strong Internet governance participation and ensuring that next
generation infrastructure can be built in a competitive market. Policy
actions include common enforceable regulation with service legal agreements
for ISPs and portal providers, harmonised spectrum policy and "vigorously"
deploying competition law with accelerated processes.
Full report - A Green Knowledge Society - An ICT policy agenda to 2015 for
Europe's future knowledge society - A study for the Ministry of Enterprise,
Energy and Communications, -Government Offices of Sweden (09.2009)
http://www.se2009.eu/polopoly_fs/1.14425!menu/standard/file/A%20green%20knowledge%20society_low%20res_web_12_09_09.pdf
Executive summary
http://www.se2009.eu/polopoly_fs/1.12580!menu/standard/file/Revision03_executive%20summary_0830.pdf
(Contribution by Joe McNamee - EDRi)
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5. UK music industry shows divided opinions on cutting off p2p users
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UK Secretary of State Lord Mandelson's proposal to use technical measures to
cut off connections of illegal file-sharers met different reactions within
UK music industry.
A coalition including the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), the British
Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) and the Music
Producers Guild (MPG) has recently expressed its opinion that the
suspension of connections of allegedly illegal file-sharers was a "grossly
disproportionate" measure. Besides the fact that the costs necessary for the
implementing of technical measures to cut off online connections are much
too high as compared to the supposed benefits, the members of the coalition
also stated they did not want to punish their fans.
While believing that copyright is essential for the protection of songs
writers and artists, the members of the coalition "have serious reservations
about the content and scope of the proposed legislation outlined in the
consultation on P2P file-sharing. Processes of monitoring, notification and
sanction are not conducive to achieving a vibrant, functional, fair and
competitive market for music."
FAC brings as argument that, as a recent research made by MusicAlly shows,
the decreasing in the CD sales should not be solely blamed on illegal online
filesharing and that "it is dangerous to view the downloading of music as
the direct online equivalent of CD sales". The coalition believes that what
the proposals lack is a differenciation between downloading and online
sharing music by fans on a non-commercial basis and those who do it for
financial gains or advantages. "This second group of 'commercial' P2P
users and facilitators should be pursued with the full force of the law as
is the case with illegal CD plants in the offline world. Ordinary music fans
and consumers should not be criminalised because of the failings of a legacy
sector of business to adapt sufficiently fast to new technological
challenges."
FAC expressed the opinion that the music industry should adapt to the
digital age and create new business models. "As creators' representatives we
are willing to be partners with government in exploring and navigating the
opportunities and challenges brought by digital technologies. What we will
not be a party to is any system that alienates our members' existing
audience and potential new audiences."
Actually, on 25 August 2009, Mandelson's Department for Business said that
following the responses to the consultation on Digital Britain proposals,
the introducing of the threat of disconnection from the Internet should be
reconsidered. "Since the issue of the consultation some stakeholders have
argued strongly that none of those technical measures (short of suspension)
is powerful enough to have a significant deterrent effect on infringing
behaviour," it said.
UK Music, the body representing a large part of the music industry
made a statement on 16 September clarifying its position on file-sharing in
which it was forced to drop any mention of cutting off Internet connections
in order to ensure unity across the industry. Although FAC is not a member
of UK Music, BASCA, which made common front with FAC, is.
"UK Music would like to clarify that all our members remain committed to
supporting proposals that will benefit the future growth and sustainability
of our commercial music industry. We believe that Government intervention is
extremely welcome and that, subject to assessment, Ofcom should be granted
appropriate and proportionate powers as directed by the Secretary of State.
The purpose of these powers is to encourage users of unlicensed P2P networks
towards existing and future digital music services," says the statement
making no mention to any specific enforcement measures.
A final view of the industry will probably be submitted after the
consultation process closes on 28 September.
Cracks show in music industry over P2P enforcement (16.09.2009)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/09/16/uk_music_statement/
UK Music statement on Government's proposed P2P file-sharing legislation
(15.09.2009)
http://www.ukmusic.org/policy/163-uk-music-statement-on-governments-proposed-p2p-file-sharing-legislation
UK.gov revives net cut-off threat for illegal downloaders (25.08.2009)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/25/p2p_disconnection/
Don't punish our fans, say UK musicians (16.09.2009)
http://www.iptegrity.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=408&Itemid=9
Joint Statement on P2P Legislation (10.09.1009)
http://www.featuredartistscoalition.com/showscreen.php?site_id=161&screentype=site&screenid=161&newsaction=showitem&newsid=2489&dc=6&sn=News
Music industry ready for climbdown on internet piracy demands (16.09.2009)
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6836104.ece?&EMC-Bltn=9AQGEB
EDRI-gram: UK: p2p three strikes clamp down despite civil liberties concerns
(26.08.2009)
http://www.edri.org/edri-gram/number7.16/uk-3-strikes
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6. Macedonia: Activities for citizen education about their privacy rights
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Due to the low level of public awareness on privacy issues, the activities
of the international action "Freedom Not Fear" in Macedonia included efforts
for educating the citizens on 12 September 2009.
In order to provide opportunities for the citizens to get to know their
rights and ways to solve their privacy related problems, about fifty
volunteers from nine NGOs and the Directorate for Personal Data Protection
organized several knowledge sharing activities.
Around 3000 flyers in Macedonian and Albanian languages were disseminated
throughout the capital of Macedonia. They contain info about the basic
rights and links to websites which provide resources and tutorials about the
legal and technical tools available to the citizens who need to protect
their privacy from infringements from the state, companies and individuals.
The volonteers also disseminated the printed version of the Call to Action
from Berlin, translated into Macedonian.
On 12 September 2009, legal experts who work on the implementation of the
law on private data protection and the law on free access to public
information answered to citizens questions face to face, offering practical
advice and guidelines.
Several NGOs contributed for the organization of this event, including the
EDRi-member Metamorphosis Foundation.
Macedonia: Freedom Not Fear 2009 - Activities for Citizen Education about
Their Rights (12.09.2009)
http://www.metamorphosis.org.mk/activities/macedonia-freedom-not-fear-2009-activities-for-citizen-education-about-their-rights.html
(Thanks to EDRi-member Metamorphosis Foundation)
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7. A human rights commissioner in the European Commission ?
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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 9 September with political groups in the Parliament, the
commissioner promised a human rights commissioner post thus creating a
separate portfolio for fundamental rights and civil liberties.
The European Commission has now a justice, freedom and security
commissioner, but critics have argued that the domain was too broad and
issues such as data
protection, immigration and the rights of migrants in the Member States
should be given more attention.
Barroso also committed to create a second post to focus on interior security
and to a third one for a single financial supervisor. He also promised a
review of the economic crisis situation in three years time.
Mr Barroso intended to travel to Ireland to campaign for a Yes vote in
Ireland's second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty that is to take place on 2
October. After the poll, he will start forming a new Commission.
However, according to Swedish Europe minister Cecilia Malmstrom, even if the
Irish vote is in favour, the fate of the Lisbon Treaty will still be unclear
as the Czech Republic is taking its time in ratifying the document. "If
everything goes well, if there's a yes in Dublin and all the states have
ratified in October, our ambitious, optimistic goal is to get the whole
package for the October summit (29-30 October)," said the minister.
If Ireland says no to the Lisbon Treaty, the commission will be appointed on
Nice treaty which foresees a reduction in the number of commissioners
without specifying a number however. A solution in this case according to
the Swedish prime minister would be to give the member state that does not
get a commissioner the post of EU foreign policy chief.
Next commission set for human rights post (10.09.2009)
http://euobserver.com/9/28643
EU to appoint human rights commissioner (14.09.2009)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/6183484/EU-to-appoint-human-rights-commissioner.html
Josi Manuel Barroso reelected European Commission president (16.09.2009)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/6198292/Jos-Manuel-Barroso-reelected-European-Commission-president.html
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8. EESC opinion on the impact of social networking sites on citizens
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The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) debated in a meeting
organized on 17 September 2009 a new approach in regulating social networing
websites, with the appointment of an EU Ombudsman to be responsible for the
protection of human dignity, privacy and data protection in the audiovisual
sector, that should include specific responsibility for social networking
websites. The final opinion would be made public in the beginning of
November 2009.
But this new approach by the EESC needs to be in line with other EU
developments in the field of regulating social networks. In July 2008, the
European Commission held an extensive public consultation on "Online Social
Networking", the data and conclusions of which form an essential study base
for future developments under the Safer Internet Programme (2009-2013) and
on 26 September 2008, the European Commissioner Viviane Reding, pointed out
the issue during a speech in Luxembourg at the Safer Internet Forum, setting
out the main guidelines for the Commission's future action in this field.
The 30th international conference of data protection and privacy authorities
on 17 October 2008 resulted in a detailed resolution with recommendations
related to the protection of privacy in social networking services. The
"Safer Social Networking principles for the EU document" was adopted on 10
February 2009 having at the basis an agreement concluded by the 17 largest
operators of the main social networking sites in Europe. By this document
the operators recognise their responsibility and identify the potential
risks to which young people under the age of 18 using these sites are
exposed.
The EESC's preliminary draft opinion, prepared by rapporteur Pegada Liz and
issued on 11 August 2009 recognised the positive aspects of social networks,
but expressed concerns related to the risks of the illegal and abusive use
of social networks drawing a special attention to the risks related "to the
use of social networking sites by minors and other vulnerable members of the
public, specifically people with poor digital literacy, who frequently fall
victim to others who take advantage of them to engage in illegal activities
that affront their personal dignity and endanger their physical and mental
wellbeing and even their lives."
The documents also suggests the appointment of an European Community
Ombudsman similar to the Canadian Privacy Commissioner. The Canadian
commissioner already performed an investigation on Facebook following which,
the operator agreed to add new privacy safeguards to the website.
EESC draft opinion considers that a single regulator at the level of the
Community could have regulatory or co-regulatory powers on social networks,
including the power to impose penalties.
Other proposals of the draft opinion include a call on the European
Commission to adopt a green paper on Social Network Services (SNS), the
development of self-regulation and co-regulation schemes for the SNS
industry, especially on the protection of minors. Launching initiatives such
as Safer Internet Programme 2009-2013 is also a proposal as well as
increasing efforts to raise awareness at the EU and national levels and
setting up principles and rules of conduct for SNS sites at the
international level.
The draft opinion was discussed within a meeting on 17 September where a
short questionnaire was distributed to participants including questions on
freedom of speech, censorship, anonymity on SNS sites, sanctions, self- and
co-regulation and the creation of a Community ombudsman. The answers will be
used as input for the final opinion that will be discussed in November 2009.
Preliminary Draft Opinion of the Section for Transport, Energy,
Infrastructure and the Information Society on The impact of social
networking sites on citizens/consumers (11.08.2009)
https://toad.eesc.europa.eu/BrowseDocuments.aspx?type=1&folder=ces%5cten%5cten390
Questionnaire for Participants in the EESC Hearing for the own-initiative
opinion TEN/390 on the impact of social networking sites on
citizens/consumers (14.09.2009)
https://toad.eesc.europa.eu/AgendaDocuments.aspx?pmi=zIpQ%2fkWVUpk%3d
EDRI-gram: Social Networks - on the European Commission's Agenda
(8.10.2008)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.19/social-networking-eu
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9. Secret IPR measures in EU - South Korea trade agreement
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The European Union and South Korea plan to initiate a Free Trade Agreement
in October 2009. The trade agreement includes civil, border and criminal
measures for the enforcement of copyright, trademark rights, patents and
other exclusive rights. The text of the agreement is secret.
In the Netherlands, EDRi-member Vrijschrift.org last week asked the
parliamentary Commission on Subsidiarity to investigate the EU - South Korea
trade agreement. In 2006, this commission gained fame with its negative
advice on the EU Criminal measures intellectual property directive proposal
(IPRED2).
Subsequently, both chambers of the Dutch Parliament unanimously agreed with
the Commission's advice and sent a letter to then EU Commissioner Frattini,
with translated copies to the other national parliaments of the EU. IPRED 2
is now permanently stuck in the EU Council.
FFII analyst Ante Wessels comments: "Decisions on substantive and formal
criminal law have always been deemed especially sensitive for the ability of
a constitutional state to democratically shape itself. Hence the opposition
against EU criminal law. It is rather shocking that criminal measures are
now secretly put in trade agreements. And the secretiveness of the EU -
South Korea trade agreement makes it impossible to assess its effects on
access to the Internet, software and medicine, too."
The EU member states have the righ to veto on criminal measures. The
articles related to trade services fall within the shared competence of the
Community and its member states. The agreement has to be concluded jointly
by the Community and the member states.
Ante Wessels adds: "The governments keep the national parliaments
uninformed. To gain influence, parliaments have to first force transparency.
They can do so by making parliamentary scrutiny reservations. Then the
government can't go ahead before the parliament is informed and makes a
decision."
South Korea and the European Union (EU) will initial their bilateral free
trade agreement (FTA) in October (10.09.2009)
http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=15882
EU Council documents
http://preview.tinyurl.com/n7lzvb
Vrijschrift letter (only in Dutch, 16.09.2009)
http://people.vrijschrift.org/~ante/korea/Vrijschrift-Com_Subsidiariteit-09-09-16.pdf
FFII information page on EU - South Korea trade agreement with more
information on vetoes
http://action.ffii.org/acta/fta
TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), Resolution on the enforcement of
copyright, trademarks, patents and other intellectual property rights
(18.06.2009)
http://www.tacd-ip.org/blog/2009/06/18/tacd-issues-resolution-on-iprs-enforcement/
NGO Letter to USTR on transparency (22.07.2009)
http://keionline.org/content/view/246/1
Secret criminal measures in EU - South Korea trade agreement (21.09.2009)
http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/Secret_criminal_measures_in_EU_-_South_Korea_trade_agreement
(Thanks to Ante Wessels - FFII - Fvrderverein f|r eine Freie
Informationelle
Infrastruktur)
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10. Civil society coalition discuss global privacy standards
============================================================
The Public Voice, the largest worldwide civil society coalition where EDRi
is a an active member, will discuss "Global Privacy Standards in a Global
World" during its conference on 3 November 2009 in Madrid, Spain, to be held
in conjunction with the 31st Annual International Conference of Data
Protection and Privacy Commissioners.
Prominent advocates and experts from the academic, consumer, digital
rights and labor communities will discuss with public officials and
the business sector how to raise privacy awareness in the global
community and how to promote civil society participation in decision
making processes towards the adoption of better privacy and data
protection standards globally.
The Conference will first review recent privacy and human rights
developments and major privacy activism campaigns around the world. It will
also include the release of the current edition of the Privacy and Human
Rights report. Stavros Lambrinidis, Vice-President of the European
Parliament, is invited to comment on the most recent developments.
The Conference will also address current challenges raised by emerging
technologies and business practices: representatives from the civil society
and business sector will discuss privacy implications of issues such as
cloud computing or Internet search. It will further address transborder data
flows in the public and private sector, from passenger name records and
financial transactions to the outsourcing of personal data.
The final Conference panel will launch the "Madrid Civil Society
Declaration on Global Privacy Standards" that will be discussed by
invited public data protection officials from OECD, the EU Article 29
Working Party, USA and Canada. Peter Hustinx, European Data
Protection Supervisor, will provide closing remarks.
The Conference is sponsored by the Spanish Data Protection Agency and is
free to all participants. Registration is compulsory.
Detailed program, registration and practical information
http://thepublicvoice.org/events/madrid09/
============================================================
11. Recommended Action
============================================================
Reclaim your data from the European police authorities!
http://euro-data.noblogs.org/
Net Neutrality petition
http://www.euopeninternet.eu
We Must Protect Net Neutrality in Europe! - Open letter to the European
Parliament
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/we-must-protect-net-neutrality-in-europe-open-letter-to-the-european-parliament
============================================================
12. Recommended Reading
============================================================
Opinion of the Advocate General in the ECJ case of Google France, Google
Inc. vs Louis Vuitton Malletier
http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=EN&Submit=rechercher&numaff=C-236/08
Creative Commons study of Non-commercial
http://creativecommons.org/press-releases/entry/17721
Direct link to the (18mb) full PDF
http://mirrors.creativecommons.org/defining-noncommercial/Defining_Noncommercial_fullreport.pdf
============================================================
13. Agenda
============================================================
23-24 September 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Net will not forget
European conference on ICT and Privacy
http://www.ict-privacy.dk/
29-30 September 2009, Warsaw, Poland
3rd International Conference "Keeping Children and Young People Safe Online"
http://www.saferinternet.pl/konferencja_en/articles-2009/3rd_international_conference.html
1-2 October 2009, Barcelona, Spain
6th Communia Workshop: Memory Institutions and Public Domain
http://www.communia-project.eu/ws06
16 October 2009, Bielefeld, Germany
10th German Big Brother Awards
http://www.bigbrotherawards.de/
21-23 October 2009, Istanbul, Turkey
eChallenges 2009
http://www.echallenges.org/e2009/default.asp
24 October 2009, Zurich, Switzerland
Big Brother Awards Switzerland
http://www.bigbrotherawards.ch/2009/
25 October 2009, Vienna, Austria
Austrian Big Brother Awards
http://www.bigbrotherawards.at/
26-27 October 2009, Vienna, Austria
3rd European Privacy Open Space
http://www.privacyos.eu
29 October 2009, Barcelona, Spain
oXcars, the biggest free culture event of all times, 2nd edition
http://oxcars09.exgae.net
29 October - 1 November 2009, Barcelona, Spain
Free Culture Forum: Organization and Action
http://fcforum.net/
3 November 2009, Madrid, Spain
Civil Society Conference: "Global Privacy Standards in a Global World"
Organized by "The Public Voice" coalition
http://thepublicvoice.org/events/madrid09
4-6 November 2009, Madrid, Spain
31st International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy
http://www.privacyconference2009.org
13-15 November 2009, Gothenburg, Sweden
Free Society Conference and Nordic Summit
http://www.fscons.org/
15-18 November 2009, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
UN Internet Governance Forum
http://www.intgovforum.org/
27-30 December 2009, Berlin, Germany
26th Chaos Communication Congress
Deadline for submissions: 9 October 2009
http://events.ccc.de/congress/2009/
============================================================
14. About
============================================================
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