Friday 31 January 2014

How standards work

draft-iab-filtering-considerations-06: "The Internet is structured to be an open communications medium. This
openness is one of the key underpinnings of Internet innovation, but
it can also allow communications that may be viewed as undesirable by
certain parties. Thus, as the Internet has grown, so have mechanisms
to limit the extent and impact of abusive or objectionable
communications. Recently, there has been an increasing emphasis on
"blocking" and "filtering," the active prevention of such
communications. This document examines several technical approaches
to Internet blocking and filtering in terms of their alignment with
the overall Internet architecture." 'via Blog this'

Wednesday 29 January 2014

Blocking BitTorrent search sites 'ineffective': Pirate Bay ban lifted for Dutch ISPs

Blocking BitTorrent search sites 'ineffective': Pirate Bay ban lifted for Dutch ISPs • The Register: ""The service providers' subscribers in any case mainly use proxies or resort to other torrent sites," the appeals court said. "The blockade is therefore ineffective."

Anti-piracy group BREIN, which applied for the Pirate Bay banning order back in 2012, yesterday criticized the appeals court – and claimed Dutch internet traffic to the Pirate Bay was down despite the overall increase in torrenting of copyrighted videos and music.

BREIN director Tim Kuik said his group, which is left with Ziggo and XS4All's 400,000 euro legal bill, is considering filing an appeal to the Dutch Supreme Court." 'via Blog this'

SCL Event Report: Foundations of IT Law – Module 2: Internet Law

SCL Event Report: Foundations of IT Law – Module 2: Internet Law: "Chris Marsden explained that much of his presentation was heavily based on a chapter in his recent book, the Oxford Bibliography of Internet Law (OUP, 2012) and would focus mainly on the liability of intermediaries rather than individuals.

In analysing the position under the E-Commerce Directive 2000, Chris noted the dangers for internet service providers (ISPs) of having actual knowledge of content, and the desirability for them of acting as 'mere ciphers'.  Should ISPs engage in any 'active' filtering, they lose the protection afforded to them by Article 14, so a position of 'masterly inactivity' (except when instructed otherwise by law enforcement agencies) is the safest default position" 'via Blog this'

Sunday 19 January 2014

What Does Network Neutrality Look Like Today?

Net neutrality in Europe: What Does Network Neutrality Look Like Today? Haro...: What Does Network Neutrality Look Like Today? | Public Knowledge : "This doesn’t make the FCC entirely helpless. But it does mean that ...

Thursday 2 January 2014

Dutch govt presents policy vision on internet ecosystem

Dutch govt presents policy vision on internet ecosystem - Telecompaper:
"Dutch government wants a stronger foundation to net neutrality rules, with these also extended to other 'gatekeepers', such as businesses that filer or aggregate information, like search engines, operating systems and app ecosystems... the rise of OTT and on-demand services may require regulation of the audiovisual sector to be relaxed. The Dutch government said it's ready to take the lead on this in EU discussions.
In addition, issues such as integrity, continuity and privacy are increasingly the domain of 'new' players, and not just market incumbents, and these new players should face the same responsibilities, both towards public authorities and end-users." 'via Blog this'

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Cyberleagle: Internet legal developments to look out for in 2014 part 2

Cyberleagle: Internet legal developments to look out for in 2014:
"8. PRISM, TEMPORA, Snowden. Watch out for the legal challenges launched by various public interest groups following the Snowden revelations. These include two applications (by Liberty and Privacy International) to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and a case taken (by Big Brother Watch, the Open Rights Group, English PEN and Dr Constanze Kurz) direct to the European Court of Human Rights.
9. The saga of the Digital Economy Act 2010. The May 2013 Online Infringement of Copyright Roundtable minutes state that letters are not contemplated to start going out until ‘the latter half of 2015’." 'via Blog this'

Cyberleagle: Internet legal developments to look out for in 2014

Cyberleagle: Internet legal developments to look out for in 2014: "Blocking orders.  Constantin Films v UPC is pending in the CJEU. This is a case on copyright blocking orders. The Advocate General issued his Opinion on 26 November 2013. In the continuing absence of an English version, here are the Court’s Press Release and my summary of the Opinion. A judgment during 2014 is likely." 'via Blog this'