EU - 'Right to the silence of the chips' in the new EC Communication

(EDRI-gram) A new communication from the European Commission to the other European bodies on the RFID (radio-frequency identification) titled "Internet of Things - An action plan for Europe" was made public on 18 June 2009. The communication builds on the work of the Recommendation on the use of RFID. The communication includes a 14-point action plan to address the main issues raised from the RFID usage. One of the most important action point is the launch of "a debate on the technical and legal aspects of the 'right to silence of the chips', which has been referred to under different names by different authors and expresses the idea that individuals should be able to disconnect from their networked environment at any time." The European Commission also announced that in 2010 it intends to publish a broader Communication on privacy and trust in the ubiquitous information society.

Labels: Data_protection_privacy

US - Facebook cleans up its privacy controls

(CNET.com)
Revamped privacy settings are coming soon to Facebook. The social network's privacy controls had gotten so sprawling that they were distributed across six separate pages and 40 different settings. As a result, Facebook's new controls will be more streamlined so as to offer easier and simpler controls about how much everything from entire profiles to individual pieces of content are shared. Users will be introduced to this through "transition tools" that allow them to toggle how open everything on their profile will be - totally public, friends-only, restricted to company or school networks, etc.

Labels: Data_protection_privacy, Social_networking

DE - Final Declaration of Berlin Conference on Protecting Children

(BMFSFJ)
Protecting Children and Young People from Sexual Violence with a Focus on the New Media: Perspectives for Europe. Final Declaration, International Conference, Berlin, 30 June 2009.

Labels: Child_abuse_images, Filtering_and_blocking

DE - Familienministerium, Kinderschützer und Europol fordern mehr Web-Sperren

(Heise)
Die europäische "Konferenz zum Schutz vor sexueller Gewalt gegen Kinder und Jugendliche mit Fokus auf neue Medien" hat in Berlin eine gemeinsame Abschlusserklärung zum internationalen Kampf gegen Kinderpornographie verabschiedet. In der von Bundesfamilienministerin Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) initiierten Deklaration wird in 16 Punkten unter anderem die in Deutschland bereits gesetzlich verankerte Zugangserschwerung zu Webseiten mit kinderpornographischen Inhalten als "flankierende Maßnahme" gegen Kinderpornographie bezeichnet. Sie sei "umso effektiver, je mehr Staaten" mitmachten. Die Erklärung wurde unterzeichnet von Europol, dem Bundeskriminalamt, den Kinderschutzorganisationen Innocence in Danger, ECPAT, Save the Children und UNESCO Deutschland. siehe auch Regierung fordert mehr internationale Zusammenarbeit (Der Spiegel).

Labels: Child_abuse_images, Filtering_and_blocking

CN - China delays internet filter plan

(BBC)
China is delaying a controversial plan requiring all new computers sold in the country to be equipped with an internet filtering software, state media says. The filter, called Green Dam Youth Escort, was to have been required from Wednesday, but the ministry of industry said computer makers needed more time. Its planned rollout sparked widespread disapproval inside China, legal challenges and overseas criticism. Officials say it is designed to shield children from pornography and violence. The BBC's Quentin Somerville, in Beijing, says the reversal is an embarrassing climb down for the Chinese government.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

EU - Mobile manufacturers agree to universal charger

(Guardian)
The days of drawers full of chargers for mobile phones you no longer use could soon be over after manufacturers agreed to use a universal model. Ten companies including Apple, LG, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson have signed up to offer the charger, which will be based on a Micro-USB connector. Currently, when consumers buy a mobile phone they are provided with a new charger even if the old one still works.

Labels: Mobile_and_wireless

FR - Un label officiel pour faire confiance aux comparateurs de prix

(01net)
Un an après l'adoption d'une charte garantissant leur transparence, les comparateurs de prix sur Internet se dotent d'un label validé par les pouvoirs publics.

UK - Government sets up two new cyber security bodies

(OUT-LAW News)
The Government will create two new public bodies to help protect Government and citizens from digital security threats. It will set up one strategy body -the Office of Cyber Security (OCS) - and one operations centre to increase the UK's cyber security - the Cyber Security Operations Centre (CSOC). They will be functional by March 2010.

Labels: Security_and_encryption

European Commission calls for an open, independent and accountable governance of the internet

(RAPID)
The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, has called for more transparency and multilateral accountability in the governance of the internet. At present, a private US-based body, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ( ICANN ), is responsible for coordinating key elements of the internet. The Commission agrees that private companies should continue to take the lead in the day-to-day management of the operation of the internet, as long as they are accountable and independent. The Commission also believes that decisions about the internet, especially those about openness and security, should be taken in a transparent and accountable manner because they affect everyone around the globe. ICANN currently operates under a Joint Project Agreement with the US Department of Commerce which expires on 30 September 2009. In the view of the European Commission, future internet governance arrangements should reflect the key role that the global network has come to play for all countries. Commission Communication "Internet governance: the next steps" COM(2009) 2007.

Labels: Domain_names, I, Information_society_and_Internet_policy

CN - China's internet censors

(Economist)
Protecting China?s innocents from smut, violence and the Dalai Lama. The internet is full of stuff of which China's government disapproves. Yet there are 300m Chinese internet-users. Keeping the two apart has embroiled the Chinese authorities in a long cat-and-mouse struggle. Service-providers and internet cafés are closely supervised, and a wide array of filtering mechanisms already overlays the national internet architecture. A fresh initiative goes one step further. From July 1st every personal computer sold in China will have to come with new filtering software called Green Dam Youth Escort. It has yet to be decided whether Green Dam must be pre-loaded, or left on a disk for users to install. But it has sparked an uproar.

Labels: Content_Regulation

CN - US objects to China's net filter

(BBC)
The US has called on China to scrap its plan to put net-filtering software on all its computers. It said that China's proposals would violate its free trade obligations, weaken computer security and raise serious censorship concerns. China has demanded that all computers come supplied with software called Green Dam from 1 July.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking

CN - China blocks Google website

(FT)
Google?s global website was blocked in China on Wednesday night, marking an escalation in Beijing?s unprecedented crackdown on the world?s leading search engine company. Attempts to access Google.com and Gmail from different computers in Beijing started failing after 9pm local time, but the websites could be accessed through proxy servers ? normally a sign that a website is being blocked by internet censors. The service in Beijing at least was back after two hours. The blocking came after Google appeared to resist an earlier order to restrict access to foreign websites through Google.cn, its local website.

Labels: Content_Regulation, Filtering_and_blocking

EU - Social networking giants are subject to EU data protection laws

(OUT-LAW News)
Social networking sites are legally responsible for their users' privacy, Europe's privacy watchdogs have confirmed. The committee of data protection regulators has said that the sites are 'data controllers', with all the legal obligations that brings. Users of the sites are also data controllers with legal obligations when they are posting on behalf of a club, society or company, the opinion said. The committee of Europe's data protection regulators, the Article 29 Working Party, has published its opinion on the legal status of social networking operators such as Facebook and MySpace. It has said that the sites cannot escape their legal obligations just because content on them is often produced and posted by users.See Opinion 5/2009 on online social networking. See also Article 29 Working Party on online social networking(EDRI-gram).

Labels: Data_protection_privacy, Social_networking

Facebook v. Google

(Guardian)
by Bobbie Johnson, technology There's a really interesting piece in this month's Wired magazine about the conflict between Facebook and Google - in particular, how Facebook is using it's walled garden approach to build something that Google can't get access to. Worth a look. see Great Wall of Facebook: The Social Network's Plan to Dominate the Internet ? and Keep Google Out

Labels: Portals_browsers_and_search_engines, Social_networking

US raises China filter amid business concern: official

(AFP)
The United States raised concerns to China about its new rule requiring Internet filtering software in computers after US businesses voiced unease. Computer makers have been told that all personal computers sold from July 1 must be shipped with anti-pornography software, a move that trade and rights groups say is a bid by Beijing to further tighten Internet controls. In Beijing, US embassy spokesman Richard Buangan told AFP that US officials had met with Chinese authorities to address concerns about the software. A US official said in Washington that the appeal came in part due to worries by US computer makers.

Labels: Filtering_and_blocking