The Europe Roundup: More Protests and Halts to ACTA Ratifications
BY Antonella Napolitano | Tuesday, February 7 2012
In Europe, protests against the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement are not stopping, while some EU countries are instead halting the ratification of the treaty. In the UK, the Supreme Court is using Twitter to update on the Supreme Court's judgments in real time. 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 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
The Europe Roundup: A FixMyStreet Milestone for mySociety
BY Antonella Napolitano | Monday, January 30 2012
Another milestone for FixMyStreet, open data in Finland and privacy issues in Germany. And don't miss today's tweetchat with Commissioner for Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes 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
A New Data Protection Law for Europe: Giving Data 'Back' to Citizens?
BY Antonella Napolitano | Thursday, January 26 2012
Yesterday morning, European Commissioner for Justice Viviane Reding officially announced the creation of a much-awaited new data protection law. The aim of the bill is to give citizens full control of their personal data available online and to provide a single set of rules for European and international companies that use this data in their business. A game-changing move that will have significant impact on how these Internet companies work. Read More
The Europe Roundup: Twitter to Hire a Team in Germany
BY Antonella Napolitano | Monday, January 23 2012
Twitter is about to hire a team in Germany, the third in Europe; in France a map shows open data initiatives happening at any level. Meanwhile, an historical town in Wales is about to have its own Wikipedia. Read More
The Europe Roundup: The Art of Surveillance
BY Antonella Napolitano | Wednesday, January 18 2012
A European parliamentary inquiry will serve to shape a comprehensive EU approach on Internet freedom and human rights. Meanwhile the German government is testing a spyware used by former Egypt government, raising many concerns. But surveillance might also be material for artists. Read More
A Last Word on Internet "Blocking" in Belarus
BY Antonella Napolitano | Wednesday, January 11 2012
A new law obliges Belarusian businesses that use the Internet to sell goods or services inside Belarus to host those services on servers physically inside Belarus, bringing that country's businesses more closely under the control of its government. So as an argument now rages in the United States about how to regulate access to foreign websites for purposes of copyright protection, in Belarus, the discussion focuses on the particulars of how to regulate its domestic Internet. Read More
Edgeryders: how sharing and collaboration can build a vision for the European young generation
BY Antonella Napolitano | Tuesday, January 10 2012
In times of crisis the younger generation seems to be the one that is and will be most affected and without any clue on how to face unprecedented challenges. The Council of Europe and the European Commission are trying to help them by creating a think tank on youth’s transition to an independent active life. They’re doing in an unusual way, though, with a project where the transition experts are young people themselves. Read More