Brussels, BELGIUM — Discussions around a possible ‘snippet levy’ or ‘news aggregation tax’ targeting online services like search engines and news aggregators have slowly but surely reached Brussels. In the last month alone we witnessed two considerable developments. First, the legal committee of the European Parliament decided the vote down an amendment to MEP Reda’s…
Brussels, Belgium — Luxembourg takes over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union today (Wednesday) at a crucial moment. After a meeting with outgoing European Council President Martin Schulz earlier this week, the Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel told reporters priorities will include Europe’s economy,competitiveness, jobs and the single market. The Computer…
Brussels — The European Commission announced today that Roberto Viola will become the new Director-General of the European Commission’s Communications Networks, Content and Technology Directorate General on 1st September 2015. The Computer & Communications Industry Association looks forward to working with Director-General Viola in his important efforts to achieve a European Digital Single Market. The…
Washington — Just weeks after President Obama signed surveillance reform legislation, Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) have introduced what could prove to be the next step in the process of rebuilding confidence in the U.S. government and tech sector — the Judicial Redress Act of 2015. The pending legislation extends redress rights…
Brussels — The European Court of Human Rights has weighed in on the responsibility of news sites for user generated comments. It ruled that an Estonian news site Delfi could be held liable for comments readers posted following a news story about a ferry company. Delfi removed the offensive comments at the request of the…
Washington — A U.S. China commission is scheduled to hear testimony Monday morning on digital trade barriers in China. As a longtime critic of the trade barriers inherent in Internet censorship, the Computer & Communications Industry Association has previously testified as to why these barriers violate international legal commitments. CCIA will renew these arguments on…
Washington — The House Judiciary Committee approved language for its patent reform bill Thursday that would go a long way towards reining in the still-growing patent troll industry. It would require clarity in court filings and reduce the costs of patent litigation. One debated language change involved whether patent trolls can request venue changes to…
President Obama quickly signed surveillance reform legislation after the Senate passed the USA Freedom Act Tuesday evening. The Act ends the bulk collection of phone and other records and offers better transparency and oversight for existing surveillance programs. What will this mean for surveillance reform in the U.S. – and what will it mean for…
Washington — After years of controversy over mass surveillance by the U.S. government, and lengthy negotiations on the reform of those practices, the Senate has passed the USA FREEDOM Act with a 67 to 32 vote. This legislation permanently ends the bulk collection of phone records by the NSA and will provide greater transparency and…
