Tag: internet

Europe’s burgeoning app manufacturers are braced for imminent new guidance on data privacy that could cover features often essential to some applications such as geolocation.

Child safety online is listed as one of the main priorities in the Digital Agenda for Europe, but censorship on the internet isn't the way forward, a top European Commission official said.

The picture of thousands Europeans protesting against ACTA is still fresh. They stopped it, but today they have an even better reason to demonstrate at the forthcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT), argues Ivailo Kalfin.

EU countries should step up their efforts to protect children online through laws and cooperation, a majority of the European Parliament said in a resolution voted on Tuesday (November 20) in Strasbourg. But the Parliament resolution won't help anyone, says the Pirate Party.

In a resolution adopted last week, the European Parliament defined what 'vulnerable consumers' are - the elderly, the needy as well as those with mental and physical disabilities. But every consumer can be considered vulnerable, argue two Danish MEPs interviewed by EurActiv.

Cyber security, intellectual property piracy and regulatory reach from the telecommunications industry are all putting the free online space under threat, Vinton Cerf, one of the inventors in the epoch-changing technology, told EurActiv, underscoring  that there is a danger of killing off the innovation that underpins it.

British MEP David Martin, in charge of steering the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) through the European Parliament, said yesterday (12 April) that he would urge lawmakers to reject the controversial treaty.

Online social networks cannot be forced to block users from downloading songs illegally, as this would push up their costs and infringe on privacy, Europe's highest court said today (16 February), adding to a worldwide debate on internet policing.

Facebook, Google, Twitter and other social networking sites will support European citizens’ initiatives that will be launched starting 1 April, corporate representatives said during a conference in Brussels last week.

Two controversial draft bills on internet piracy and copyright protection, which are currently being examined in the US Congress, are raising concerns in Brussels with the European Commission warning about its potential consequences on Europe.

The European Court of Justice issued yesterday (24 November) a historic ruling establishing that member states cannot impose the filtering of the Internet for the purpose of preventing illegal downloads of copyrighted files.

Women are under-represented in SME-funding despite being best positioned to exploit internet technology and social media to create 'local' SMEs, according to MEPs. 

New data shows that Europe's most crisis-riven countries are suffering from a deficit of internet connectedness. There is no simple solution, but governments need to encourage better infrastructure and engagement, says David Dean, because without the web, growth will not come easily. 

Online shopping has doubled in the richer northwestern areas of the EU even though consumers are left wondering how they can get their money back from a retailer in another country.

A growing number of EU citizens say they use the Internet to get information about the European Union, while daily newspapers are significantly losing ground and television remains the primary source of EU news, a Union-wide poll reveals.

EU citizens must be protected from abusive advertising practices that have emerged on online social networks, forums and blogs, members of the European Parliament said.

The United States is behind the wall of secrecy surrounding global trade talks to combat counterfeiting, say EU policy sources, who claim that American officials are refusing to let their European counterparts publish the draft agreement online.

The European Parliament is developing a new virtual role-playing game and social networking forum to boost citizens' understanding of how the EU works. But critics predict the website will become an expensive "virtual ghost" with very few users. 

Neelie Kroes, the Dutch commissioner in charge of the EU's Digital Agenda, said she has no specific plans to support the so-called 'Internet of Things', which aims to connect everyday objects such as books, fridges or cars to the information superhighway via tiny microchips.

If the EU does not solve the e-skills gap, fewer engineers on the market will likely keep salaries high and slow down the digital development in Europe and prevent small and medium size companies to compete in the global economy, said the head of cabinet for EU Information Society Commissioner Neelie Kroes yesterday (4 May). 

The European Union and Microsoft are likely to end a decade-long dispute next week when EU antitrust regulators will accept the US software company's amended offer on allowing consumer choice on Internet browsers, sources said.

Law enforcement agencies will be able to cut off the connections of Internet users suspected of illegally downloading films and music, lawmakers and EU ministers agreed in the small hours of this morning (5 November).

Microsoft will give consumers the choice of twelve different web browsers after the company gave in to EU antitrust demands to stop bundling its Windows operating software with its own popular browser, Internet Explorer.