Issue no. 389 - 22 June 2008

• DE - Regulation of Broadcasting and Internet Services in Germany. (Hans-Bredow-Institut)
  A brief overview by W. Schulz, T. Held, S. Dreyer in cooperation with T. Wind (pdf) 2nd edition, March 2008.

• EU - Public consultation on Age Verification, Cross Media Rating and Classification, and Online Social Networking (Europa)
  The European Commission has launched a public consultation on age verification, cross media rating and classification, and online social networking. The purpose of the public consultation is to gather the knowledge and views of all relevant stakeholders (including public bodies, child safety and consumer organisations, industry). The gathered information will be fed into this year's Safer Internet Forum 2008, which will be dedicated to the above mentioned topics. The consultation will be open until 31 July 2008.

• EU - Seizing the Opportunities of the Global Internet Economy (RAPID)
  Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media,OECD Ministerial Meeting "Future of the internet economy" Seoul, Korea, 17-18 June 2008.

• OECD - Cybercrime risk to the internet economy (vnuent.com)
  Government ministers from across the world have issued a call for greater vigilance against cybercrime at a meeting on the future of the internet economy. The Seoul Declaration came at the end of a two day ministerial conference on the future of the web in the South Korean capital hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). OECD member countries, the European Community and ministers from Chile, Egypt, Estonia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Latvia, Senegal and Slovenia affirmed the declaration. Participants agreed on the need for governments to work closely with business, civil society and technical experts on policies that promote competition, empower and protect consumers, and expand internet access and use worldwide. See also Chair's Summary, Shaping policies for the future of the Internet economy and Annexes.

• OECD - How can the internet make this world a better place? (OECD)
  This is the question OECD is asking the public on YouTube at www.youtube.com/futureinternet. YouTube users can share their opinion with the leaders and opinion shapers attending the OECD Ministerial meeting on the "Future of the Internet" in Seoul, Korea on 17-18 June 2008. The OECD is organising the Ministerial Meeting. Government ministers from more than 40 countries, global business and civil society leaders, academics and technical experts will meet with more than 1000 participants to forge broad principles that can provide an enabling policy environment for the Internet Economy.

Issue no. 388 - 1 June 2008

• EU - Haut débit, mobilité, créativité: les chances que la France et l'Europe doivent saisir (RAPID)
  Discours de Viviane Reding, Membre de la Commission européenne responsable pour la Société de l'Information et Médias, Assises françaises du numérique "les TIC, levier de croissance et de compétitivité", Paris, le 29 mai 2008.

• EU - Les principaux chantiers en cours de l'Europe des télécoms et des médias (RAPID)
  Discours de Viviane Reding, Membre de la Commission européenne responsible pour la société de l'information et les médias, Conférence 'Convergence 2008', Paris, le 30 mai 2008.

• EU - The i2010 Agenda - a European Success story in the making (Europa)
  Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media. i2010 Conference - Information Society at a Crossroads, Brdo, 13 May 2008.

• WSIS - Information Society on the move: ITU issues stocktaking report (ITU)
  The ITU has released WSIS Stocktaking 2008 Report. This Report is an update on the activities undertaken by governments, business, civil society and other organizations aimed at the achievement of the objectives and targets of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) from end 2005 until mid 2008. The Report was prepared through a consultative process with all stakeholders by placing the draft report for comments on the WSIS stocktaking website. The system is publicly accessible and presents information on WSIS-related initiatives and projects. It is possible to search for information within the database by WSIS action line, project, keyword, geographical location and other specifications. Governments submitted 3812 activities, representing 54 per cent of the total number of submissions. International organizations were second, with 29 per cent, followed by businesses, civil society entities and others. Some 44 per cent of activities submitted had been carried out at the national level, while 30 per cent were of an international nature.

Issue no. 387 - 12 May 2008

• FR - La Cnil, le FDI, l'Afnic et l'Isoc appellent à une gouvernance européenne de l'internet (ZDNet.fr)
  Les principaux organismes français encadrant le développement d'internet - la Cnil, le FDI, l'Afnic et l'Isoc France - militent pour que l'Europe pèse d'avantage dans les réunions du Forum international sur la gouvernance de l'Internet (FGI). Les quatre organismes vont donc pousser l'idée de créer un FGI européen dont l'objectif sera de coordonner les interventions au prochain FGI mondial, qui se tiendra du 3 au 6 décembre prochain à Hyderabad (Inde). La Cnil, le FDI, l'Afnic et l'Isoc France ont déjà défini quelques thèmes fédérateurs : la protection des données personnelles, celle des mineurs (lutte contre les contenus illicites) et l'accessibilité des services internet à toutes les populations (développement de contenus multilingues, éducation en milieu scolaire...).

Issue no. 386 - 20 April 2008

• CoE - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (EDRI-gram)
  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.

Issue no. 383 - 27 January 2008

• EU - European Parliament resolution on the second IGF in Rio (EP)
  The European Parliament have released a resolution on the recent Internet Governance Forum meeting in Rio de Janeiro. It considers that, although the IGF is not to adopt formal conclusions, the European Union's responsibility is to support this process, as it gives a positive and concrete context to the shaping of the Internet's future on the basis of a multi-stakeholder approach and calls on the Commission and the Council to keep the IGF high on their agendas. It encourages the organisation of a 'European IGF' before mid-2009 to reinforce the European dimension of the whole IGF/WSIS process.

• US - Video Game Industry Seeks Political Clout (New York Times)
  Capitalizing on its improved respectability, the video game industry intends to establish a political action committee to donate money to game-friendly politicians and candidates. Michael D. Gallagher, chief executive of the Entertainment Software Association, the industry's lobbying arm in Washington, said that the group's board approved the PAC's creation last fall and that the committee would be up and running by the end of March. The association represents major game publishers including the Walt Disney Company, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.

Issue no. 382 - 6 January 2008

• EU - Media literacy: do people really understand how to make the most of blogs, search engines or interactive TV? (RAPID)
  The media are changing, and so is citizens' use of such media. New information and communication technologies make it much easier for anybody to retrieve and disseminate information, communicate, publish or even broadcast. The ability of people to critically analyse what they find in the media and to make more informed choices - called 'media literacy' - therefore becomes even more essential for active citizenship and democracy. Following an EU-wide survey last year, the European Commission has announced today its plans to encourage the development of media literacy and the exchange of good practice across Europe.

• EU - The convergent publisher - Print media in the broadband economy (RAPID)
  Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media. Publishers Forum, Brussels, 6 December 2007.

Issue no. 381 - 8 December 2007

• Better together (Economist)
  The internet, supposedly a new realm, is most useful when coupled to the real world.

• Cyberlawyer 2.0 (Economist)
  Lawrence Lessig is known for his work at the interface between technology and law. Why is he shifting his focus to corruption?

• EU - Innovating towards the digital future : Lifestyles, society and culture (Europa)
  Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, Microsoft Innovation Day, Brussels, 4 December 2007

• FR - AOL, Dailymotion, Google, Yahoo et PriceMinister s'organisent pour défendre leur statut (ZDNet.fr)
  Alors que la mission Olivennes s'est engagée à responsabiliser les hébergeurs, cinq acteurs du web se regroupent pour protéger leurs activités. Une initiative pour rappeler qu'ils adoptent « une démarche responsable » face au piratage et à la contrefaçon. Il s'agit de la « première organisation française qui regroupe des sociétés de premier plan du web 2.0 et vise à promouvoir le "nouvel" internet ». L'Association des services internet communautaires (Asic) vient de voir le jour sous l'impulsion d'AOL, Dailymotion, Google, PriceMinister et Yahoo.

• IGF - Brazil hosts web policy forum (BBC)
  More than 2,000 people who oversee the workings of the net around the world are gathering in Brazil. Policy makers, activists and officials are gathering in Rio de Janeiro for the second Internet Governance Forum. The UN-backed body aims to give those developing policies for the net a place to air problems and hear about others who have succeeded. Sessions at the four-day forum will debate security, international domains and control of core net functions.

• IGF - UN Internet forum focuses on fighting sex predators (AFP)
  The second UN forum on governance of the Internet has closed with participants agreeing on the need to protect children from sexual predators using the web to lure victims. See also Brazil Net Forum Takes on Cybercrime(AP) and Net forum tackles cybercrime boom (BBC).

• UK - Lawmaker blasts government on Microsoft policy (CNET News)
  A member of Parliament of the United Kingdom has launched a stinging attack on the U.K. government's IT strategy, saying that it has given Microsoft too much control.

Issue no. 380 - 30 September 2007

• 2007-09-13 CoE, Strasbourg - Pan-European conference on ethics and human rights in the information society (CoE)
  On 13 and 14 September the Council of Europe will host a pan-European conference on the ethical dimensions of the information society, organised in conjunction with UNESCO and the French Commission for UNESCO. The aims of the conference are:
  • to identify ethical and human rights issues connected with information and communication technologies and the way ICT are used;
  • to raise stakeholders' awareness of these issues;
  • to contribute to the UNESCO code of ethics project and make operational recommendations;
  • to promote the development of regional and inter-regional networks and co-operation.

• 2007-09-27 IT, Rome - Dialogue Forum on Internet Rights (Italy)
  The Italian Government, in the framework of the Internet Governance Forum process, and in cooperation with the UN and the IGF Secretariat, will organize a Dialogue Forum on Internet Rights, to be held in Rome on 27 September 2007. The Government of Italy invites all stakeholders - Governments, private sector, civil society, academic and technical communities, and international organizations - to attend the meeting. To facilitate the public debate a dedicated online forum is also available. This initiative aims at facilitating the international multistakeholder debate on the opportunity of defining shared rights, that guarantee the open and multilateral character of the Internet.

• UK - A call for Net neutrality debate (CNET News)
  Web's global nature makes it essential for U.K. and Europe to discuss Net neutrality, says British Computer Society president. Professor Nigel Shadbolt said that, because so much of the Internet's content is derived from the U.S., the U.K. and Europe would be affected by any Net neutrality-related decisions made across the Atlantic. Because Internet users in the U.S. tend to have a smaller range of ISPs to choose from than do users in the U.K., the consensus in the U.K. has been that Net neutrality is a U.S.-centric debate.

Issue no. 378 - 5 August 2007

• EU - Towards next generation media for the digital age? (Europa)
  Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, Conference on the Future of the Media, Lisbon, 17 July 2007

Issue no. 377 - 5 July 2007

• EU - Meinungsfreiheit, Medienfreiheit und Medienpluralismus. (PAID)
  Viviane Reding, Mitglied der Europäischen Kommission, verantwortlich für Informationsgesellschaft und Medien. Ziele und Perspektiven europäischer Medienpolitik. 19. Medienforum.nrw Köln, 18. June 2007.

• IGF 2007: Rio here we come (The Register)
  The first UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF), held in Athens in November last year, was widely hailed as a success. It was an undeniably huge achievement to get the Chinese government in the same room as Amnesty International, and then to get them talking. The IGF is unique in the UN's history, designed to grant governments, NGOs, and commerce an equal seat at the table. But last time round, less than a sixth of attendees came from the private sector. Nominet, the registry for .uk addresses, has cooked up a scheme to get more companies involved with the IGF when it rolls into Rio De Janeiro for its second meeting this November.

Issue no. 376 - 10 June 2007

• EU - How Europe can Bridge the Broadband Gap (Ëuropa)
  Speech by Viviane Reding, Member of the European Commission responsible for Information Society and Media, "Bridging the broadband gap" conference, Brussels, 14 May 2007.

• ITU - Launch of the World Information Society Report 2007 (ITU)
  ITU and UNCTAD announce the publication of the World Information Society Report 2007. The Report seeks to benchmark progress in meeting the WSIS targets, to be achieved by 2015 at the latest, and evaluates the evolution of the digital divide. It presents 200 pages of analysis of the latest trends in ICTs, exploring whether consumers are 'cutting the cord', the death of dial-up and growth in broadband and 3G. It evaluates the digital divide using a variety of techniques and finds that the strong growth of mobile telephony offers the greatest potential to bridge the digital divide.

• UK - Internet best practice contest launched (ZDNet UK)
  Businesses across the UK are being invited to put themselves forward as examples of internet best practice, after Nominet launched a competition. Nominet, which runs the .uk domain registry, is a participant in the worldwide Internet Governance Forum (IGF). It wants to establish a UK-specific version of the forum to show the rest of the world how well the UK manages its internet governance. Both private and public-sector organisations are invited to enter.

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