Amid Protests and a Court Case, ACTA Set to Come Before EU Parliament
BY Antonella Napolitano | Friday, February 24 2012
Next week the European Parliament will start discussing the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, a controversial treaty that would set new international standards for dealing with copyright infringements. Next June, the European Parliament will have to vote to ratify or reject the treaty, but what seemed to be little more than a technicality now represents a crucial moment in a public debate on Internet freedom and digital rights. Read More
Momentum Builds in Europe Against Controversial Treaty on Copyright, Counterfeiting
BY Antonella Napolitano | Monday, February 13 2012
Last Saturday, thousands of people rallied all over Europe to protest against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a controversial treaty that would set new international standards for dealing with copyright infringement and other copyright claims. Read More
Slovenian ambassador apologizes for signing ACTA, Poland halts ratification
BY Antonella Napolitano | Friday, February 3 2012
Apparently, some EU countries are reconsidering their support to ACTA, only a week after signing the agreement.
Helena Drnovsek Zorko, Slovenia's ambassador to Japan, has in fact issued a public apology to her country for signing it.
Meanwhile, Poland Prime Minister Donald Tusk says he's halting the ratification process of the international treaty.
Last week people took the streets in Poland, and a protest is planned in Ljubljana tomorrow. Read More
The UK government launched the beta version of GOV.UK
The Europe Roundup: Introducing GOV.UK
BY Antonella Napolitano | Friday, February 3 2012
The UK government has recently launched the beta version of GOV.UK as a "first step towards a single government website.", in Italy the Parliament has rejected a SOPA-alike bill, in Ukraine a charity develops an interactive map to fight AIDS. And if you're getting confused with ACTA, here's a list of the most useful resources. Read More
Post-Megaupload, Unrest Over ACTA, and a Call for Something Better
BY Nick Judd | Thursday, January 26 2012
The Megaupload case lends further urgency to what many agree is a much-needed, global overhaul of how we understand intellectual property in the Internet age. The chief disagreement here is over who should get the most preferential treatment — old-guard companies seeking control of distribution methods on the Internet as a means of protecting their property, consumers, or new-age content creators who need the ability to remix, reuse and share in order to build the information economy. But there's another issue at stake that Megaupload has brought to the fore: the United States' position as a champion of Hollywood's intellectual property rights around the globe, and the asymmetry of that relationship with respect to other countries' own expectations around content. Read More
In Germany, SOPA, PIPA and Megaupload Spark Debate in Merkel's Party
BY Miranda Neubauer | Thursday, January 26 2012
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's political party is split internally over a recent statement in support of controversial American anti-piracy legislation — and the fight is playing out on Twitter. Two officials in Merkel's conservative CDU Party recently released a statement with a title that translates from the German as "The American SOPA-legislation points in the right direction." Then, several members of the same party took to Twitter to voice their disagreement with the statement. The statement references the Stop Online Piracy Act, legislation stalled in the U.S. House, and related legislation in the Senate, called the Protect IP Act and further shortened to PIPA in favor of an even longer and more unwieldy name. Those bills were put on hold last week after widespread protest spurred by a nationwide coalition of online businesses. Read More
ThePirateBay Dancing is one example of an innovation in "circumvention technology," or, for some, in piracy.
Megaupload: Will Anti-Piracy Efforts Have a "Chilling Effect" on Innovation?
BY Nick Judd | Thursday, January 26 2012
With the founder of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, denied bail in a New Zealand court, it's a tough time to be in the file-sharing business. Read More
Yochai Benkler photo by Joichi Ito, CC-BY 2.0
Seven Lessons from SOPA/PIPA/Megaupload and Four Proposals on Where We Go From Here
BY Yochai Benkler | Wednesday, January 25 2012
A guest post from Yochai Benkler, who writes: "On Wednesday, January 18, 2012, a new model of politics succeeded in bringing to a halt legislation that had been pushed by some of the most powerful industry lobbies in Washington, which began its life with broad bi-partisan support in both chambers of Congress. The political calculus seems to have changed drastically this week, and we need to understand how to exploit and harness the changing winds to expand and lock in this initial victory." Read More
Issa's Still Sour On SOPA
BY Nick Judd | Tuesday, December 13 2011
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) issued a statement today restating his opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act. Its chief sponsor, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), has introduced a manager's amendment that would alter the controversial anti-piracy legislation; Issa doesn't think it's enough. Read More
With Internet Companies In the Fight, Battle Over SOPA Legislation Continues This Week
BY Miranda Neubauer and Nick Judd | Monday, December 12 2011
After a coalition of advocacy groups and Internet companies worked together to raise awareness about the Stop Online Piracy Act beginning Nov. 16, they are now gearing up for another push to online action this week as the House Judiciary Committee is expected to mark up the bill on Thursday.
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