Big tech accountability? Read how we got here in  The Closing of the Net 

Internet Trials

The policy debate doesn't always happen within the official policy fora such as  European Commission consultations, or Parliamentary committees. Especially when it comes to the Internet and online content. Certain interest groups  take it into other venues. The courts are being called on the interpret the law, and the caselaw is used by courts all around Europe in the context of their judgments.   This section looks at instances of legal action against Internet providers by private interest groups, or actions by Member States who are implementing laws and initiatives. Iptegrity's concern, as ever, is the protection of the open Internet and free speech. In the courts, this will be addressed in the context of the right to freedom of expression or privacy.


If you are interested in copyright caselaw  you may like my book The Closing of the Net which discusses the UK copyright blocking judgments and the Megaupload case in New Zealand.

 

If you are interested in copyright policy, you may like my previous books A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms and The Copyright Enforcement Enigma - Internet Politics and the ‘Telecoms Package’

The Pirate Bay founders have lost their appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which handed down  its decision on their case this week. The ECHR  has upheld the Swedish  judgement on  the bit-torrent  file-sharing site – a judgement  that imposes a  prison sentence and a massive damages claim, on the basis of secondary liability for copyright infringement. What’s interesting is how the ECHR  views the balance of copyright versus fundamental rights.

Read more: European Court Pirate Bay ruling – what rights are balanced?

In an unprecedented attack on freedom of expression in Britain, a Catholic news website in the UK is being asked to reveal a source,   and threatened with  court action based on a  law used by  the copyright industries in peer-to-peer enforcement cases.  The action, being brought in the High Court today, will attempt to get the name of the source using a Norwich Pharmacal order, normally reserved for intermediaries in copyright cases.

Read more: Copyright industry tactics tried against Catholic news website

Can file-hosting services or cyberlockers be made liable for enforcing copyright? It seems they can, according to a ruling in the German courts earlier  this month.

Read more: File-hosting liability: are German courts alone in the dark?

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Iptegrity in brief

 

Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten. I’ve been analysing analysing digital policy since 2008. Way back then, I identified how issues around rights can influence Internet policy, and that has been a thread throughout all of my research. I hold a PhD in EU Communications Policy from the University of Westminster (2010), and a Post-graduate diploma in marketing.   I’ve served as an independent expert on the Council of Europe  Committee on Internet Freedoms, and was involved in a capacity building project in Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. I am currently (from June 2022)  Policy Manager - Freedom of Expression, with the Open Rights Group. For more, see About Iptegrity

Iptegrity.com is made available free of charge for  non-commercial use, Please link-back & attribute Monica Horten. Thank you for respecting this.

Contact  me to use  iptegrity content for commercial purposes

 

States v the 'Net? 

Read The Closing of the Net, by me, Monica Horten.

"original and valuable"  Times higher Education

" essential read for anyone interested in understanding the forces at play behind the web." ITSecurity.co.uk

Find out more about the book here  The Closing of the Net

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Copyright Enforcement Enigma launch, March 2012

In 2012, I presented my PhD research in the European Parliament.

The politics of copyright

A Copyright Masquerade - How corporate lobbying threatens online freedoms

'timely and provocative' Entertainment Law Review


 

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