Tag archive: European Union

The European Commission has outlined a proposal for reforming data protection laws in the European Union, touting the move as a way to both protect consumers' and individuals' privacy as well as save businesses billions every year by reducing the overhead needed to comply with current regulations. As outlined by EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding, the proposed laws would make data protection requirements uniform across the… Read More

A new study put out about internet usage in the European Union points to a large increase in access and broadband connection in households since 2006. However, almost a quarter of EU citizens still haven't ever used the internet. The data was published by the European Eunion's statistical office, Eurostat. The study concerns individuals aged 16-74, and usage during the first quarter of 2011. It can be surreal to imagine for some of… Read More

Speaking at the Freedom Online conference at The Hague, European Commissioner Neelie Kroes called for the European Union to develop and distribute technology to help bloggers and others living under oppressive regimes to communicate safely—and anonymously—with the rest of the world. Kroes outlined a four-part strategy that included not only developing technology to aid in communication, but also teaching activists how to use it, developing… Read More

The European Union announced this week that it will ban the use of X-ray body scanners in airports across the EU due to “health and safety” concerns. The same security scanners, which are used to find firearms and explosives hidden on passengers' bodies, will still be used at airports in the US. A ProPublica/PBS NewsHour report from earlier this month exposed the health risks associated with the use of these types of security… Read More

European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) acknowledges there are distinct benefits to social networking and so-called “life-logging”—where users post or disclose ever-more-detailed information about their daily lives to the Internet. However, the practice can also have the effect of creating a Big Brother-like surveillance state wherein aspects of many users' lives are logged without their… Read More

Microsoft's massive $8.5 billion deal to buy Skype seems to be working its way through U.S. regulatory scrutiny without much trouble, but there may be a new wrinkle emerging in the European Union. Italian VoIP company Messagenet has written to the European Commission warning that if Microsoft is permitted to acquire Skype, it will solidify Skype's dominant position in VoIP calling, excluding other VoIP companies from the market.… Read More

Samsung, having previously been banned from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in much of Europe, will have its day in court. On August 25 in Düsseldorf, the tech giant will get to argue for its side following an unprecedented set of injuctions from Apple. Apple recently filed injuctions in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.S., claiming Samsung “slavishly” copied Apple's iPads and iPhones with its Galaxy lineup of… Read More

Google today officially acknowledged an investigation of its business by the US Federal Trade Commission. In a statement on the company blog entitled “Supporting choice, ensuring economic opportunity,” Google confirmed that it had “received formal notification” of the FTC inquiry. The company insists that its business practices aim only to deliver quality results to its users. And, most of all, Google argues that using is… Read More

Members of the European Union were to have implemented the EU's ePrivacy Directive by today, May 25, after two years of prep time to comply with the law's requirements. However, in a development that surprises almost no one, virtually no European countries have done so, with only Denmark, Estonia, and the United Kingdom having indicated they've taken any action at all—and the UK's response was to give companies… Read More

On May 25, a new European Union law will require all websites to get the “explicit consent” of viewers any time information is stored on their computers using text files called “cookies,” which are often used to track web usage, and deliver relevant advertising, reports the BBC. The law is designed to inform web users that they are being tracked, and to give them more control over who can or cannot access their browsing… Read More

Google is already facing antitrust scrutiny in Europe over how sites get ranked in Google's search results; now, France's 1PlusV is adding more fuel to the fire, filing a new complaint with the European Commission that Google deliberately prevents companies using vertical search technology from using AdSense. 1PlusV is the search engine company behind Ejustice.fr, and is also a party to the existing antitrust investigation the EC… Read More

Federal regulators have begun to scrutinize the terms of Apple's newly-announced subscription feature for apps, sources familiar with the matter tell the Wall Street Journal. The US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have begun preliminary investigations into whether Apple has violated antitrust laws by requiring app publishers to sell their content subscriptions through the iTunes App Store, and for charging then a… Read More

Internet giant Google has run into increasing amounts of friction with the European Union, with the European Union launching a formal antitrust investigation almost a year ago. The EU's scrutiny has focused not only on the company's Google Books and Google Street View projects, but has also spilled over into the company's core online advertising business and even looking into whether the company demotes competitors in search… Read More

A new study released by the European Commission finds that while most Internet filtering software does a good job of blocking access to particular Web sites, the technology is significantly less successful at filtering “Web 2.0″ content like social networking services and blogs. And just to make parents more nervous, only a handful of products can do anything about filtering content to mobile phones, portable devices, or game… Read More

First Street View and now this. Europe does not want to leave Google alone. European Union antitrust regulators are investigating the search company on complaints that it has abused its dominant position by giving its own services preferential placement in search results, demoting competing websites and services, and stopping some websites from accepting rival ads. Microsoft's Ciao service from Bing, French legal search engine… Read More