Issue no. 411 - 3 October 2010

• Extremist websites skyrocketing, says Interpol (BBC)
  The sharp growth in extremist websites is making recruitment much easier for al-Qaeda, according to Interpol head Ronald Noble. "The threat is global, it is virtual and it is on our doorsteps," he said. Mr Noble told a conference of police chiefs in Paris there were 12 sites in 1998 and 4,500 by 2006. He said tackling radicalisation had been made far harder by the internet because many of the activities involved were not criminal. Increasingly, he said, the individuals targeted were young and vulnerable and from middle-class backgrounds. A researcher at the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation told the BBC that the number of radical websites was now far higher than the figure given by Interpol.

Issue no. 386 - 20 April 2008

• Amendment of the Framework Decision on combating terrorism (RAPID)
  The Council reached a common approach on the amendment of the Framework Decision on combating terrorism proposed by the Commission on 6 November 2008. The amendment up-dates the Framework Decision making public provocation to commit a terrorist offence, recruitment and training for terrorism punishable behaviour, also when committed through the Internet.

Issue no. 383 - 27 January 2008

• FBI takes biometrics database proposal to U.K. (CNET News.com)
  Police in the U.K. are in talks with the FBI about establishing an international biometric database for tracking down the world's most wanted criminals and terrorists. The so-called "server in the sky" database would share criminals' biometric data, such as fingerprints and iris scans, internationally. The Washington Post reported last month that the FBI is spending $1 billion to develop the world's largest centralized biometrics database, a system the agency calls Next Generation Identification.

• UK - Home Secretary targets internet extremism (BBC)
  The home secretary has outlined plans to target websites promoting extremism, as part of efforts to stop people being drawn towards radical groups. Jacqui Smith says she wants to use technology to stop "vulnerable people" being "groomed for violent extremism".

Issue no. 381 - 8 December 2007

• EU - Fight against terrorism (RAPID)
  The Commission has adopted a new package of proposals aimed at improving the EU?s capabilities in the fight against terrorism. The package contains a series of proposals dealing with the criminalization of terrorist training, recruitment and public provocation to commit terrorist offences, the prevention of the use of explosives by terrorists and the use of airline passenger information in law enforcement investigations. It also contains a report on the mplementation of the Framework Decision on combating terrorism. The Commission proposes amending the Framework Decision to make public provocation to commit a terrorist offence, recruitment and training for terrorism punishable behaviour, also when committed through the Internet.

Issue no. 380 - 30 September 2007

• EU - Considers ban on using Internet to distribute bomb-making instructions (Arstechnica)
  In a presentation before the European Parliament last week, EU security commissioner Franco Frattini outlined a new set of anti-terror proposals, including plans for a Europol explosives database, airplane passenger list databases, and legislation that would criminalize publication of bomb-making instructions on the Internet. The proposals are based on the findings

• EU - EC funds counterterrorism tech research (CNET News)
  The European Commission will commit $212.16 million to research on counterterrorism technologies. The grants will cover 44 research projects, including the development of automatic surveillance systems for water distribution systems. Funding will also be allocated for the development of a European ballistic database, which will analyze and store firearms information and allow sharing of information among European police forces.

Issue no. 377 - 5 July 2007

• EU proposes anti-terror measures (BBC)
  The European Commission is drafting new Europe-wide measures to bolster the fight against terrorism, including sharing air passenger data. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini said that all states needed to co-operate more closely. The measure is expected to require air passengers travelling into the EU to submit data for security agencies. Other proposals include creating a "rapid-alert" system for stolen explosives, a network of bomb disposal squads and making the spread of bomb-making instructions online a criminal offence.

• UK - First ever conviction for internet terrorism (Reuters)
  Three men said to be linked to al-Qaeda, including one using an Arabic name meaning "Terrorist 007", have admitted inciting terrorism over the internet in the first case of its kind in Britain. The men, said by prosecutors to have close ties to Osama Bin Laden's network, pleaded guilty to inciting acts of terrorism "wholly or partly" outside Britain via websites which advocated the killing of non-Muslims.

Issue no. 366 - 3 September 2006

• UK - Readers blocked from NY Times terror article (Guardian)
  The New York Times has blocked British readers from accessing an article published in the US about the alleged London bomb plot for fear of breaching the UK's contempt of court laws. Published in the US under the headline 'Details emerge in British terror case', the article claims to reveal new information about the alleged terror bomb plot that brought British airports to a standstill earlier this month.

Issue no. 356 - 27 February 2006

• DK - La police ferme un site internet pour soutien au terrorisme (AFP)
  La police danoise a demandé à un fournisseur d'accès internet de supprimer sur le site de députés de la Liste de l'Unité (ex-communistes) un appel de soutien indirect à des associations inscrites sur la liste des organisations terroristes de l'Union européenne.

Issue no. 355 - 5 February 2006

• UK - Lords defeat terror internet plan (BBC)
  Plans for new anti-terrorism controls on websites have led to a government defeat in the Lords - by just one vote. The original plans would have allowed a police constable to decide that information on the internet could be related to terrorism. But peers changed the Terrorism Bill to ensure police have to ask judges before telling internet providers that web pages should be removed.

Issue no. 345 - 25 September 2005

• EU - Brussels calls for media code to avoid aiding terrorists (Guardian)
  Europe's media should draw up a code of conduct to ensure that newspapers, television stations and the internet do not act as propagandists for terrorists, according the European commission. In a move which is likely to provoke a debate on state controls of the media, the commission warns that journalists pose 'specific risks' in the fight against 'violent radicalisation'. The paper - Violent Radicalisation and Terrorism Recruitment - warns that the media are taking an over-simplified view of the world, which plays into terrorist hands.

• EU - Court of First Instance gives judgment on acts against terrorism (RAPID)
  Judgments of the Court of First Instance in Case T-306/01 and Case T-315/01. Ahmed Ali Yusuf and Al Barakaat International Foundation and Yassin Abdullah Kadi v Council of the European Union and Commission of the European Communities. The European Community is competent to order the freezing of individuals' funds in connection with the fight against international terrorism. In so far as they are required by the Security Council of the United Nations, these measures fall for the most part outside the scope of judicial review. They do not infringe the universally recognised fundamental human rights.

Issue no. 344 - 18 September 2005

• EU - Declaration on terrorism by Vice-President Franco Frattini (RAPID)
  Speech by Vice-President Franco Frattini, Commissioner responsible for Justice, Freedom and Security, EP Plenary Session, Strasbourg, 7 September 2005.

Issue no. 343 - 4 September 2005

• EU - Fight against terrorism : €15 million for new security research (RAPID)
  Terrorist attacks using explosives or chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear substances on mainline or metropolitan railway systems pose a clear and present danger to EU citizens. This is why the European Commission has decided to fund a research project to design and demonstrate an anti-terrorist security system architecture to better detect these terrorist threats and hence better protect railway passengers. The project will combine information from combine information from sensors, remote control or autonomous cameras, ground penetrating radars and line scanners. This is one of 13 projects selected under the "Preparatory Action for Security Research" to improve the security of EU citizens and strengthen the European industrial base. The eight technology projects and five supporting activities selected will receive EU funding of €15 million. Given the increasing importance of security research, the Commission proposed to substantially increase the yearly budget from €15 million to roughly €250 million a year from 2007. Full list of 13 projects.

Issue no. 342 - 31 July 2005

• UK - Fake Tube safety e-mail spreads (BBC)
  London Transport and mobile firms are warning people about an e-mail spreading rapidly containing inaccurate safety information. The message claims that passengers on the London Tube system can contact emergency services via a satellite signal from their mobiles underground. Mobiles do not work in the London Underground, and satellite signals cannot reach there either.

Issue no. 335 - 20 March 2005

• EU - Web to have 'terror watch' team (BBC)
  Five European governments are setting up a hi-tech team to monitor how terrorists and criminals use the net. The group will make recommendations on shutting down websites that break terrorism laws. The plans for the initiative came out of a meeting of the G5 interior ministers in Spain that discussed ways to tackle these threats. The five countries also agreed to make it easier to swap data about terror suspects and thefts of explosives. The interior ministers of Spain, Britain, France, Germany and Italy - the G5 - met in Granada this week for an anti-terrorism summit.

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