From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: 03/06/2004 11:03
Subject: EDRi-news Digest, Vol 15, Issue 1
Send EDRi-news mailing list submissions to
[log in to unmask]
To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit
http://www.edri.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/edri-news
or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
[log in to unmask]
You can reach the person managing the list at
[log in to unmask]
When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific
than "Re: Contents of EDRi-news digest..."
Today's Topics:
1. EDRI-gram newsletter - Number 2.11, 2 June 2004
(EDRI-gram newsletter)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 2004 20:44:16 +0200 (CEST)
From: "EDRI-gram newsletter" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: EDRI-gram newsletter - Number 2.11, 2 June 2004
To: [log in to unmask]
Message-ID:
<[log in to unmask]>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
============================================================
EDRI-gram
bi-weekly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe
Number 2.11, 2 June 2004
============================================================
Contents
============================================================
1. PNR data deal signed by European Commission
2. Report about ID-conference London
3. Belgian consumer group will appeal in copy protection case
4. IPR Enforcement Rapporteur made millions on IPR
5. New German proposal data retention
6. Polish proposal to demand ID for pre-paid cards
7. Two online journalists arrested in the Ukraine
8. French E-commerce law tested in constitutional court
9. Creative Commons license success in the UK and Finland
10. Recommended reading: EU network fundamental rights
11. Agenda
12. About
============================================================
1. PNR data deal signed by European Commission
============================================================
An international agreement was signed on 28 May between the European
Union
and the United States that makes it possible to transfer air passenger
data to the US, under certain conditions. It entered into force
immediately. This agreement goes hand-in-hand with the Decision adopted
two weeks ago by the European Commission, establishing the adequacy of
US
Bureau of Customs and Border Protection's personal data protection.
Under the agreement, Washington is allowed to collect 34 types of data
from passengers' records flying to the US, which include name, address,
phone number, credit cards and the identity of their travelling
companions.
Since March 2003, airlines have faced the possibility of fines of 6,000
euro per passenger as well as potential loss of landing rights in the US
if they failed to provide US security agencies with the data 15 minutes
before the flight's departure. Carriers such as British Airways,
Lufthansa
and Air France already started sharing data with the US before the
decision.
The agreement completely ignores the European parliament and is closed
at
a time in which the members of the European parliament are absorbed by
the
upcoming European elections.
Several MEPs such as Marco Cappato and Johanna Boogerd-Quaak have urged
the President of the parliament, Pat Cox, to take this matter to the
European Court of Justice. Cappato writes in an open letter: "The
Commission and the Council have exploited the fact that the EP has
suspended its activities because of the electoral period, hereby
breaching
the principle of loyal co-operation among institutions. I believe the EP
President has the duty to immediately take measures to defend the
prerogatives and the rights of the institution he chairs, of its members
and of EU citizens." Not taking action would 'seriously put the
credibility of our institution into question', according to Cappato.
Group leaders of the European Parliament will meet on 16 June to discuss
reactions to the Council's and the Commission's bluntly ignoring several
votes of the Parliament against the transfer of PNR data to the U.S.
EU press release (28.05.2004)
http://tinyurl.com/3af6h
Council decision on the agreement (17.05.2004)
http://europa.eu.int/cgi-bin/eur-lex/udl.pl?REQUEST=Seek-Deliver&LANGUAG
E=en&SERVICE=eurlex&COLLECTION=oj&DOCID=2004l183p00830083
Commission Decision of 14 May on the adequate protection of personal
data
contained in the Passenger Name Record of air passengers transferred to
the United States' Bureau of Customs and Border Protection
http://tinyurl.com/2rgkz
Letter Cappato (Radical MEP) (27.05.2004)
http://coranet.radicalparty.org/pressreleases/press_release.php?func=det
ail&par=7062&PHPSESSID=92812ec10b77efa06b919c4fdabc8ca8
EU parliament considers steps (27.05.2004)
http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=16326
============================================================
2. Report about ID-conference in London
============================================================
Advocates, politicians and lawyers from across the political spectrum
met
in London on 19 May 2004 to debate UK ID card legislation. EDRi members
Privacy International and FIPR organised the meeting, which heard
resounding criticism of the government's ID card plans.
Highlights included the Shadow Home Secretary asking "how on earth can
ID
cards prevent terrorism if foreign visitors can wander around the
streets
for three months", alongside the Assistant Information Commissioner's
concerns that "a whole identity system is being proposed for the UK".
The meeting also saw the launch of the No2ID campaign. Privacy
International, FIPR, Liberty, Stand, the Liberal Democratic party, the
1990 Trust and Statewatch are co-ordinating their opposition to the ID
card plans, and are planning to derail the government's legislation when
it is introduced later this year.
No2ID campaign
http://www.no2id.net/
(Contribution by Ian Brown, FIPR)
============================================================
3. Belgian consumer group will appeal in copy protection case
============================================================
On 27 May 2004 the Belgian court of Brussels rejected the complaint made
by the consumer organisation Test-Achats (Test Aankoop) against four
record companies in Belgium (EMI, Sony, Universal and BMG) about their
use
of technical copy protection measures. Test-Achats collected 200
complaints from individual members and demanded that the companies would
stop using technical measures on their CDs and remove all
copy-controlled
CDs on the market. The judge ruled that copyright legislation does allow
for a private copy, but does not grant a 'right'. According to an
article
in the national newspaper 'De Morgen', Test-Achats immediately announced
an appeal.
Spokesperson Ivo Mechels said to De Morgen that the judge did not
provide
sufficient argumentation in his verdict. He complained the verdict only
comprised half an A4 paper. "The judge seems to have based his ruling on
the content table of the copyright law. Making a private copy is
classified under the exceptions, so according to his particular logic,
it
is an exception. There was no debate about the meaning and purpose of
the
legislation. When we presented the European Copyright Directive from
2001,
which allows for private copies but has not yet been implemented in
Belgium, the judge suggested that would be a matter for parliament to
decide. But the text of this directive clearly states that voluntary
initiatives can be undertaken if the implementation is delayed. And
delayed it is indeed in Belgium (...)."
So far copy protection has not been challenged very successfully in
Europe. In September 2003 the French consumer organisation UFC-Que
Choisir
won a case against EMI, forcing them to remove copy-protected DVDs from
the stores. But on 30 April 2004 the Paris Tribunal de Grand Instance
rejected a challenge to the technical protections used on David Lynch's
film 'Mulholland Drive'.
In the Netherlands, the Minister of Justice told the Lower House in 2003
during the debate about the European copyright directive that
copy-control
protections on audio CDs do not as such raise problems for consumers,
given that such discs are primarily designed to be played on CD players.
De Morgen 'Cd's kopieren voor eigen gebruik is geen verworven recht'
(28.05.2004)
http://www.demorgen.be/archief/
(no direct link available, use 'zoek' and enter 'kopieerbeveiliging')
EDRI-gram 2.1 'Belgian consumer group sues music industry' (15.01.2004)
http://www.edri.org/cgi-bin/index?id=000100000124
EDRI-gram 13 'French consumer unions fight CD copy protection
(16.07.2003)
http://www.edri.org/cgi-bin/index?id=000100000104
============================================================
4. IPR Enforcement Rapporteur made millions on IPR
============================================================
The rapporteur of the EU Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual
Property Rights, Janelly Fourtou (UDF, Conservative, France), has earned
millions from business related to Intellectual Property Rights, even
while
she was shepherding the report through the European Parliament. As
several
newspapers have investigated, Mrs. Fourtou runs a private fund together
with her husband, Jean-Reni Fourtou, who is the CEO of Vivendi
Universal,
the media giant that is worldwide the biggest holder of intellectual
property rights. In November 2002, this fund acquired transferable bonds
worth 14,5 million Euro, which shall be transferred into Vivendi
Universal
shares at preference conditions in 2005. The Fourtou children have,
according to the Financial Times, acquired bonds for an additional 5
million Euro. The Fourtou couple has until now made a computational
surplus of 10 million Euro; their children 3,4 million Euro.
Mr. and Mrs. Fourtou are under investigation in France because there are
allegations that the deal was made in contravention of rules against
insider trading and share price manipulation.
When she filled out the "Declaration of financial interests" every MEP
has
to give, Mrs. Fourtou claimed she had 'nothing to declare'. Now the
Green
MEP Heide Ruehle complained with the President of the European
Parliament,
Pat Cox, saying "Mrs Fourtou should never have been appointed
rapporteur".
Any gains from their private fund, the Fourtous say, shall be used for
an
artist exchange programme between France and Morocco, where the couple
has
a house.
AFP 'Vivendi chief Fourtou target of insider trading probe' (15.05.2004)
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/040514/1/3ka6t.html
IHT 'Fourtou defends foundation's Vivendi bond purchase' (17.05.2004)
http://www.iht.com/articles/520190.html
FT 'Vivendi chief investigated over bond purchase' (15.05.2004,
subscription)
http://tinyurl.com/32jm5
Berliner Zeitung 'Euro-Filz - die Interessen der Madam Fourtou'
(01.06.2004, in German)
http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/2004/0
601/wirtschaft/0006/index.html
(Contribution by Andreas Dietl, EDRI EU Affairs Manager)
============================================================
5. New German proposal for mandatory data retention
============================================================
According to the German e-zine Heise there is a new proposal for
mandatory
data retention in Germany. Just a few weeks ago, a final compromise was
reached on the new Telecommunications Act, without any obligations for
systematic data retention. But the Minister of the Interior, Otto
Schily,
is now said to work on a law that would oblige telecom and service
providers to store information about everybody's calling and internet
behaviour for at least 1 year. The German Multimedia Federation (DMMV),
with 1.000 members one of the largest professional digital economy
associations in Europe, criticised the proposal. The proposal is not yet
public, but according to their sources close to the Minister, Schily
wants
to introduce the law to facilitate the pursuit of criminal offences as
well as the monitoring of persons suspected of terrorism.
DMMV criticises the proposal as an attempt to eliminate the right to
informational self-determination. "Mandatory data retention violates the
fundamental rights of innocent citizens and places everybody under
suspicion of terrorism." Arndt Groth, the chairman of the multimedia
association, said that while the retained data would belong mainly to
blameless users, experience learned that criminals and terrorists are
very
capable of hiding their traces with the assistance of anonymisation
services or encryption. He estimated providers and network carriers
would
be forced to make investments up to a three-figure amount in millions of
euros, to pay for the necessary storage media and appropriate data
protection measures.
Germany, together with Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the
UK, is one of the few remaining countries in the EU without any
provisions
for general mandatory data retention, though in most countries proposals
are underway. In April 2004 the European Council welcomed a joint
proposal
from France, Great Britain, Ireland and Sweden to create a framework
decision that would oblige all member states to store all
telecommunication traffic data over a period of 12 to 36 months.
Heise 'Otto Schily will Verbindungsdaten laenger speichern' (30.05.2004)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/47795 (in German)
EDRI-gram 2.9 'New EU proposal to store telecom data 450 million
citizens'
(05.05.2004)
http://www.edri.org/cgi-bin/index?id=000100000149
============================================================
6. Polish proposal to demand ID for pre-paid cards
============================================================
Revising the Polish Telecommunication Act to implement the EU
e-communication directives, the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure
introduced a new obligation for mandatory identification of buyers of
pre-paid GSM-cards. The proposal is brought as an anti-terrorism
measure.
State officials immediately acknowledged that the ID-demand would not
make
pre-paid cards totally anonymous, referring to the vivid trade in stolen
phones, but said it was necessary to make it more difficult to use GSMs
for illegal purposes.
The wording of the proposal was so general that a number of Polish
internet portal-sites feared it would oblige them to register the ID of
every free e-mail user. Reuters reported on 31 May they had sent a
protest
letter to the lawmakers. "The desire of Polish lawmakers to treat e-mail
providers in the same way as telecoms operators is totally
incomprehensible to us," said the letter from portals Interia, Onet and
Agora's gazeta.pl service.
The same day the government issued an official statement that promised
that the proposal would be re-worded, if the objection was indeed
correct.
The bill is currently being examined by parliament's infrastructure
committee and has not yet been scheduled for a second reading in the
plenary session.
Polish Web Portals Criticise Draft Telecoms Law (31.05.2004)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=53011
19
Official statement Polish Ministry of Infrastructure (in Polish,
31.05.2004)
http://www.mi.gov.pl/moduly/informacje/informacja.php?id_informacji=357&
opcja=pokaz&typ=2
(Thanks to Piotr Vagla Waglowski, ISOC Poland)
============================================================
7. Two online journalists arrested in the Ukraine
============================================================
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) reports the arrest of 2 online
journalists
in the Ukraine. In two separate incidents, Ukrainian authorities
detained
the online journalists Kostyantyn Sydorenko and Olexandre Pomytkin.
Sydorenko is an online journalist who had been reporting on a mayoral
election in the western part of the country. When he went to a local
police station to retrieve a lost camera, he was arrested, then ordered
to
spend five days in detention for 'resisting the security forces'; he
remains in solitary confinement. Pomytkin, who works for the online
newspaper Ukrayina kryminalna (Criminal Ukraine), was arrested not long
after the publication of 'The Ukrainian Mafia', in which he exposes ties
between criminal syndicates and Ukrainian police officers.
Questions remain as to whether Pomytkin and Sydorenko were actually
detained in order to intimidate and deter them from investigating
government corruption. Reporters Sans Frontieres objects to the
treatment
of the two men and calls for a closer examination of the circumstances
behind their arrests: "It is all the more important to look into these
cases because both journalists were investigating issues that are
sensitive for the authorities."
RSF 'Two online journalists imprisoned' (26.05.2004)
http://www.rsf.fr/article.php3?id_article=10454
Website Criminal Ukraine
http://www.cripo.com.ua
(Thanks to Chris Giu, editor GILC-alert)
============================================================
8. French E-commerce law tested in constitutional court
============================================================
EDRI-member IRIS and the French Human Rights League (LDH) have sent a
brief to the French Constitutional council regarding the
unconstitutionality of the French transposition of the E-commerce
Directive (Loi pour la confiance dans l'economie numerique or LEN). On
18
May 2004 the French socialist MPs submitted the finalised law to the
Constitutional Council, following the public advice from the two
organisations.
The parliamentary opposition uses three of the four provisions pointed
out
by IRIS and LDH: status of email (not defined as private
correspondence),
privatisation of justice (through notice and take down procedure) and
the
introduction of different periods of limitation for on-line and off-line
content. In the proposed law there is no time bar for offences
identified
in the press law (defamation, racist speech, holocaust denial, etc.) if
they result from an on-line publication, while the statute of
limitations
is three months if previously published in any other medium).
For this reason, IRIS and LDH decided to complement the analysis of
these
three provisions with a brief analysing a number of others provisions
both
organisations find unconstitutional. The status of such briefs in France
is not official, but considered a useful instrument to influence the
decision of the council.
For example, the two groups criticised the proposal's broadly worded
provisions that would limit the "freedom of online communication" on
vague
grounds of "national defence, public service necessities, technical
constraints" as well as "protecting a young audience," suggesting that
these and other sections of the bill could be abused to chill internet
speech.
IRIS and LDH observations (in French, May 2004)
http://www.iris.sgdg.org/actions/len/LEN-memoireCC-IRIS-LDH.pdf
EDRi-gram 2.9 'Final vote about French digital economy law' (05.05.2004)
http://www.edri.org/cgi-bin/index?id=000100000149
(Thanks to Meryem Marzouki, IRIS)
============================================================
9. Creative Commons license success in the UK and Finland
============================================================
On 25 May 2004 the Creative Commons licensing scheme gained a major
victory in Europe. The BBC announced it will apply a CC-license to the
content of its Creative Archive, thus offering free public access to
some
of their audio and video programming. The CC model turns copyright on
its
head by explaining the ways that the content can be used rather than
saying it cannot - or Some Rights Reserved as they put it. By applying a
CC-type license to the content, the BBC will enable individuals in the
UK
to download released content to their computers, share it, edit it and
create new content. Commercial reuse of the content will not be allowed.
Professor Lawrence Lessig, chair of the Creative Commons project and
advisor of the BBC was clearly excited: "The announcement by the BBC of
its intent to develop a Creative Archive has been the single most
important event in getting people to understand the potential for
digital
creativity, and to see how such potential actually supports artists and
artistic creativity."
The Creative Commons and the Helsinki Institute for Information
Technology
launched the Finnish Creative Commons licenses. Finland is the third
country after the US and Japan to go ahead with full-fledged CC
licences.
After several months of legal deliberation the Finnish project leader
Herkko Hietanen felt able to clear the licence draft and present it to
the
Finnish public on 31 May 2004, thus marking a major milestone in the
development of iCommons. Professor Lawrence Lessig and a group of
CC-license users gave a speech at the launch.
BBC Creative Archive licensing to be based on Creative Commons
(26.05.2004)
http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=distribution&id=
%0A1254
Open Content Licensing. Working paper Herkko Hietanen (01.12.2003)
http://www.hiit.fi/de/creativecommons/OpenContenCase_CC.pdf
Overview international adaptions Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/projects/international/overview
(Thanks to Herkko Hietanen, Creative Commons Finland)
============================================================
10. Recommended reading: report 2003 of the EU network on fundamental
rights
============================================================
The EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights published
their 2003 report. The network has been set up by the European
Commission,
upon request of the European Parliament. Since 2002, it monitors the
situation of fundamental rights in the Member and in the Union, on the
basis of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The report covers a wide
range
of fundamental rights and raises for example concern about the use of
biometric identifiers and the transmission of Passenger Names Records.
It
also criticises control over state media in Italy and Poland. The
section
on freedom of expression however, lacks reference to the internet and
notice-and-takedown procedures.
Report on the situation of fundamental rights in the European Union in
2003 (01.2004)
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/cfr_cdf/doc/report_eu_2003_en
.pdf
Synthesis report: conclusions and recommendations on the situation of
fundamental rights in the European Union and its member states in 2003
(04.02.2004)
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/cfr_cdf/doc/synthesis_report_
2003_en.pdf
Thematic comment n.2: fundamental rights in the external activities of
the
European Union in the fields of justice and asylum and immigration in
2003
(04.02.2004)
http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/justice_home/cfr_cdf/doc/thematic_comments
_2003_en.pdf
============================================================
11. Agenda
============================================================
3-4 June 2004, Vienna, Austria - Free Bitflows conference
Conference and workshops about cultures of access and politics of
dissemination, organised by Public Netbase (AT), in collaboration with
Hull Time Based Arts (Hull, UK); V2_ (Rotterdam, NL); Bootlab (Berlin,
DE); interSpace Media Art Center (Sofia, BG).
http://freebitflows.t0.or.at
10-12 June 2004, Berlin, Germany - Wizards of Os
http://wizards-of-os.org/index.php?id=835&L=3
13 June 2004, Berlin, Germany - Where next for copyright in Europe?
A workshop featuring speakers from around Europe and the US.
http://wizards-of-os.org/index.php?id=921
13 June 2004, Berlin, Germany - WSIS panel
Objective: To discuss and strategize for the involvement of European and
North American NGOs in WSIS phase two. The meeting will be used to
prepare
for PrepCom 1 of phase two that will take place ten days later.
Moderator Ralf Bendrath, bendrath(at)zedat.fu-berlin.de
15 June 2004, Kyiv, Ukraine - Conference on Freedom of Information
Conference "Freedom of Information, Transparency and E-governance: The
view of civil society" organised by Privacy Ukraine jointly with
Internews-Ukraine, supported by OSI and the local Soros Foundation. As a
part of the event the results of a competition among local authorities
for
best practices of e-openness will be announced.
http://e-uriadnik.org.ua/modules.php?name=Conferences (in Ukrainian and
Russian).
15-17 September 2004, Strasbourg, France
The Council of Europe is planning a major international conference on
"The
Challenge of Cybercrime", which will bring together senior politicians,
computer industry leaders and experts from around the world. No online
information yet.
============================================================
12. About
============================================================
EDRI-gram is a bi-weekly newsletter about digital rights in Europe.
Currently EDRI has 14 members from 11 European countries. EDRI 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 or agenda-tips are most welcome.
Newsletter editor: Sjoera Nas <[log in to unmask]>
Information about EDRI and its members:
http://www.edri.org/
- EDRI-gram subscription information
subscribe by e-mail
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: subscribe
You will receive an automated e-mail asking to confirm your request.
unsubscribe by e-mail
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: unsubscribe
- EDRI-gram in Russian, Ukrainian and Italian
EDRI-gram is also available in Russian, Ukrainian and Italian, a few
days
after the English edition. The contents are the same.
Translations are provided by Sergei Smirnov, Human Rights Network,
Russia;
Privacy Ukraine and autistici.org, Italy
The EDRI-gram in Russian can be read on-line via
http://www.hro.org/editions/edri/
The EDRI-gram in Ukrainian can be read on-line via
http://www.internetrights.org.ua/index.php?page=edri-gram
The EDRI-gram in Italian can be read on-line via
http://www.autistici.org/edrigram/
- Newsletter archive
Back issues are available at:
http://www.edri.org/cgi-bin/index?funktion=edrigram
- Help
Please ask <[log in to unmask]> if you have any problems with subscribing or
unsubscribing.
============================================================
Publication of this newsletter is made possible by a grant from
the Open Society Institute (OSI).
============================================================
End of EDRi-news Digest, Vol 15, Issue 1
****************************************
--
This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous
content by the NorMAN MailScanner Service and is believed
to be clean.
The NorMAN MailScanner Service is operated by Information,
Systems and Services, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
************************************************************************************
Distributed through Cyber-Society-Live [CSL]: CSL is a moderated discussion
list made up of people who are interested in the interdisciplinary academic
study of Cyber Society in all its manifestations.To join the list please visit:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/cyber-society-live.html
*************************************************************************************
|
