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

Policy matters

Policy does matter. We may think that the Internet is a free digital environment, where no laws apply but there are many cases which contradict this notion.

In this section of Iptegrity.com, I  report on EU policy related to the Internet and online content, in particular, where policy intiatives affect   access to film, music and television, and I highlight issues for the  policy debate in relation to the Internet.  For 2008-2009, copyright enforcement has been the hot topic, with net neutrality emerging as well, in 2009.   My focus is on the European Union and  its member states - for example,  I am currently covering Internet  policy - specifically copyright enforcement intiatives - in France and the UK.

I am most interested in the citizen's perspective. However, the issues I cover will affect the Internet and telecoms industries, as well as the media and entertainment industries.  

Iptegrity.com offers  original reporting from the EU, as well as comment and opinion on issues raised in other media, including non-English language media in Europe. Iptegrity.com is the main English-language news source for the Telecoms Package review of EU telecoms law.

Part 2 of a series of 3 postings on the leaked EU TTIP discussion document

 Just as the European Parliament is about to vote on  new data protection rules, TTIP touches on another aspect of privacy.

Has a discussion on communications traffic data slipped into the EU-US trade talks (TTIP)? It seems as though it might have done. Iptegrity previously reported on the re-work of telecoms law  that is signalled by a series of provisions in a European Commission document  that is to form the basis of discussion at the TTIP talks. Within that context, the issue has slipped in via a back door.

Read more: Confidentially TTIP – but is it private?

Part 1 of a series of 3 postings on the leaked EU TTIP discussion document

 The European Union could give away  unlimited rights to foreign telecoms companies to buy up rivals in Europe as part of the proposed new transatlantic trade deal  (TTIP).  This is one of an astonishing set of proposals revealed in a  Commission document leaked by the German newspaper Die Zeit last week.  The leaked document further indicates  a possible re-write of the EU telecoms framework, outlining  a ‘mini’ version of the EU Telecoms Package for discussion.  

Read more: Lex AT&T? EU Commisson’s TTIP proposal to revise telecoms law

A back-room political compromise on net neutrality  that is  being quiety negotiated in the European Parliament  is currently sitting on a knife-edge. It is the only element of the Telecoms Regulation (Connected Continent) that has not been agreed between the different party groups (as previously predicted by Iptegrity).  The Committee vote is on Monday.

 The big  stakes are  whether  a telco-led agenda  for  priorised Internet services  will be permitted. This agenda will also have serious implications for ordinary telephone services and how television is delivered. In addition, there are issues surrounding Neelie Kroes flagship anti-discrimination clause.

***Update Tuesday 25 February - the vote has been postponed until 10  March.***

Read more: The EU's net neutrality compromise - what does it really mean?

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.

 

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