EU Terrorist Content Proposal, Good Intentions But Risks To Online Rights And Europe’s Tech Sector

EU, Internet Freedom, News & Events, Privacy & Security

Brussels, BELGIUM — Today the European Commission presented its proposal for a regulation on ‘preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online.’ This proposal puts a range of new obligations on online companies which will disproportionately burden smaller European firms. The Computer & Communications Industry Association supports the EU’s goal of tackling terrorist content online.Hosting services…

Copyright: MEPs Voss, Cavada and cross-party group of 50 MEPs’ amendments (239-250-251) endanger open online platforms

Blog, EU, News & Events, Patent Reform & Copyright

Last July, a majority of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) rejected the draconian provisions of the copyright directive. Tomorrow the plenary will vote on a new version of the directive. Proposed amendments to the copyright directive from rapporteur Axel Voss and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats continue to present a threat to the…

Tech Industry Offers Recommendations Ahead of G20 Digital Economy Ministerial

EU, News & Events, Taxes & Trade

Washington — The Computer & Communications Industry Association released a statement, along with 10 other industry associations today, offering recommendations for the members of the G20 ahead of the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial taking place on August 23-24 in Argentina.   The Argentinian Presidency of the G20 set ambitious goals for discussions on the digital…

European Commission Issues Problematic Antitrust Decision Against Android

Competition, EU, Internet Freedom

Brussels, BELGIUM — The European Commission today issued an antitrust decision against Google with respect to its Android mobile operating system (OS). The decision alleges that Google’s practice of offering a suite of proprietary Google apps to device manufacturers gives an anti-competitive advantage to certain Google apps. It also considers anti-fragmentation agreements with device manufacturers,…

EU and Japan adopt data flow deal, will they now fight against forced data localisation globally?

EU, News & Events, Taxes & Trade

Brussels, BELGIUM — The European Union and Japan today recognised each others’ data protection systems to allow the free flow of data between their economies. The agreement is linked to the major trade agreement signed today, the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.  The EPA unfortunately addresses only few barriers to digital trade.  On data flows the…

European Parliament Vote Calls For Better Handling Of Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

EU, News & Events, Privacy & Security

Brussels — Today, the European Parliament’s Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) adopted its report on the proposed EU Cybersecurity Act. The report includes provisions to  improve how EU Member States manage cybersecurity vulnerabilities to avoid large-scale exploitation of software vulnerabilities as seen during the “WannaCry” attack.  Negotiations between the European Parliament, Council and Commission…

MEPs Call For Changes To Privacy Shield, Threaten Suspension

EU, Internet Freedom, News & Events, Privacy & Security

Brussels, BELGIUM — The European Parliament today passed a non-binding resolution calling for the suspension of the EU-US Privacy Shield framework by September 1, unless several improvements are made. The European Commission and the U.S. Administration will formally review the enforcement of the Privacy Shield in September. The Computer & Communications Industry Association has been…

European Parliament Rejects Copyright Mandate

EU, News & Events, Patent Reform & Copyright

Brussels, BELGIUM — The Members of the European Parliament today voted to reject the introduction of a press publishers’ right in Europe (the so-called “link tax”) and of content filtering mechanisms across a broad range of online services. Negotiations within the Parliament will now continue. The Computer & Communications Industry Association, along with hundreds of…

CCIA Welcomes Austrian EU Council Presidency

EU

Brussels, BELGIUM — The Computer & Communications Industry Association welcomes the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.  Austria will steer negotiations from July 1 to December 31 on key EU proposals such as copyright, e-Privacy, online platforms, and digital taxation. The following can be attributed to CCIA Europe Vice President Christian Borggreen:…