Pinboard (jm)
https://pinboard.in/u:jm/public/
recent bookmarks from jmThe false positive rate for Ashton Kucher's "Thorn" anti-CSAM system is 1 in 10002024-01-25T14:42:31+00:00
https://twitter.com/matthew_d_green/status/1750509702629241341
jmthorn scanning csam ashton-kucher eu data-privacy false-positives surveillance accuracyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:76550c6217fc/EU AI Act briefing2023-12-12T10:51:25+00:00
https://danmcquillan.org/eu_ai_act.html
jm
The whole thing is premised on a risk-based approach(1)
This is a departure from GDPR, which is rights-based with actionable rights.
Therefore it's a huge victory for industry(2).
It's basically a product safety regulation that regulates putting AI on the market
The intention is to promote the uptake of AI without restraining 'innovation'(3)
Any actual red lines were dumped a long time ago.
The 'negotiation theatre' was based on how to regulate [generative] AI ('foundation models') and on national security carve-outs
People focusing on foundation models were the usual AI suspects
People pushing back on biometrics etc were civil society & rights groups
The weird references in the reports to numbers like '10~23' refer to the classification of large models based on flops(4)
Most of the contents of the Act amount to some form of self-regulation, with added EU bureaucracy on top(5)
As John Looney notes, classifying large models based on FlOps is like classifying civilian gun usage by on calibre.
]]>ai-act eu law llms ml flops regulation ai-riskhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:d4240cecd739/Bert Hubert on Chat Control2023-10-12T17:21:00+00:00
https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/client-side-scanning-dutch-parliament/
jmnow we are talking about 500 million Europeans, and saying, “Let’s just apply those scanners!” That is incredible. ... If we approve this as a country, if we as the Netherlands vote in favour of this in Europe and say, “Do it,” we will cross a threshold that we have never crossed before.
Namely, every European must be monitored with a computer program, with a technology [...] of which the vast, overwhelming majority of scientists have said, “It is not finished.” I mentioned earlier the example that the Dutch National Forensic Institute says, “We cannot do this by hand.” The EU has now said, “Our computer can do that.”
420 scientists have signed a petition saying, “We know this technology, some of us invented it, we just can’t do it.” We can’t even make a reliable spam filter. Making a spam filter is exactly the same technology, by the way, but then much easier. It just doesn’t work that well, but the consequences aren’t that scary for a spam filter.
Nevertheless, there are now MPs who say, “Well, I feel this is going to work. I have confidence in this.” While the scientists, including the real scientists who came here tonight, say, “Well, we don’t see how this could work well enough”.
And then government then says, “Let’s start this experiment with those 500 million Europeans.”
]]>eu scanning css chatcontrol internet monitoring surveillance bert-huberthttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:b8823261c362/The Culture War Funded by Russian Roubles2023-08-21T22:51:08+00:00
https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/09/the-culture-war-funded-by-russian-roubles/
jmBetween 2009-18, anti-gender actors from within the European Union, Russia and the US have spent at least $707.2 million in Europe, with the Russian Federation making up 26.6% of that spend, according to research published by the European Parliamentary Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Rights.
As reported in this paper, the two main Russian funders of anti-gender disinformation are Vladimir Yakunin and Konstantin Malofeyev – oligarchs sanctioned for their alleged involvement in the annexation of Crimea, after Russia’s 2014 invasion.
Their roubles have mingled with US dollars at the World Congress of Families; with Euros at the Novae Terra Foundation, and La Manif Pour Les Tous; and British pounds at Agenda Europe – in 2013, the assets manager of banker Sir Michael Hintze attended the network’s London summit, the following year Malofeyev’s man in Europe, Alexey Komov, was on the guest list.
The campaigns and individuals funded by this wealth have regularly spread anti-abortion, anti-LGBTIQ disinformation, including that abortion is “Satanic” and that there’s a “homosexual agenda” which wants to make children “sex education propagandists in the EU”. They also spread anti-trans rhetoric.
]]>russia politics terfs gender lgbtqi abortion europe eu trans-rightshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:55cfd3069679/Exclusive: OpenAI Lobbied E.U. to Water Down AI Regulation | Time2023-06-20T16:55:34+00:00
https://time.com/6288245/openai-eu-lobbying-ai-act/
jmOne expert who reviewed the OpenAI White Paper at TIME’s request was unimpressed. “What they’re saying is basically: trust us to self-regulate,” says Daniel Leufer, a senior policy analyst focused on AI at Access Now’s Brussels office. “It’s very confusing because they’re talking to politicians saying, ‘Please regulate us,’ they’re boasting about all the [safety] stuff that they do, but as soon as you say, ‘Well, let’s take you at your word and set that as a regulatory floor,’ they say no.”
]]>openai chatgpt eu regulation ai ml self-regulationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:ae8205598f69/EU hits Meta with record €1.2B privacy fine2023-05-22T09:51:49+00:00
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-hits-meta-with-record-e1-2b-privacy-fine/amp/
jmMeta also has until November 12 to delete or move back to the EU the personal data of European Facebook users transferred and stored in the U.S. since 2020 and until a new EU-U.S. deal is reached.
This is going to be technically infeasible given Meta's architecture, so the next question is, what happens when they fail to do it...]]>meta facebook dpc edpb data-protection data-privacy eu us fineshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:f8af88bb5b09/Your EU consumer rights2022-11-18T11:38:37+00:00
https://www.eccireland.ie/shopping-online-consumer-rights/
jmbuilt-in-obsolescence hardware rights consumer-rights eu right-to-repair repair faulty-goodshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:3fb220a8706f/JRC Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS)2022-08-10T11:48:07+00:00
https://re.jrc.ec.europa.eu/pvg_tools/en/#api_5.2
jmsolar-pv solar power home eu echttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:f7b29393b804/Chat Control2022-05-13T09:50:56+00:00
https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/posts/messaging-and-chat-control/
jm
The EU wants to oblige providers to search all private chats, messages, and emails automatically for suspicious content – generally and indiscriminately. The stated aim: To prosecute child pornography. The result: Mass surveillance by means of fully automated real-time messaging and chat control and the end of secrecy of digital correspondence.
Other consequences of the proposal are ineffective network blocking, screening of person cloud storage including private photos, mandatory age verification leading to the end of anonymous communication, censorship in Appstores and the paternalism and exclusion of minors in the digital world.
]]>surveillance censorship chat-control eu laws messaging apps privacy data-privacyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:133f804a604c/Consumer warranties and statutory rights2021-12-16T14:13:25+00:00
https://www.eccireland.ie/ecc-ireland-issues-advisory-on-consumer-warranties-and-statutory-rights/
jmStatutory rights are provided for by legislation (Irish law and EU law as transposed in Ireland). These act as a kind of “legal guarantee”, entitling consumers to seek redress where an item is faulty. Consumers may rely on their statutory rights regardless of whether an item has a warranty or not.
Under Irish law, consumers have up to six years to seek redress for faulty or defective items (both new and second-hand).
If the product is defective, the seller is generally responsible for providing redress.
If a fault arises within six months of purchase, it is presumed to have existed at the time of purchase. For this reason, the consumer should not have to provide proof of the defect.
If the fault arises more than six months after purchase, the seller may request that the consumer prove the fault did not arise as a result of misuse – for instance, by obtaining a report from an independent expert.
Where an item is faulty, the seller may first offer a repair or replacement item. If this is not possible or fails to correct the problem, a refund may then be provided. Remedies for faulty goods must be provided free of charge.
]]>rights repair support defective-goods guarantee warranty defects ireland euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:229b03a343b0/A sample GDPR Data Subject Access Request2021-11-05T10:49:21+00:00
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nightmare-letter-subject-access-request-under-gdpr-karbaliotis/
jmeu europe gdpr privacy dsar letters boilerplatehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:cf18f3e484b9/"Grievance Mining"2021-10-17T14:08:47+00:00
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/17/facing-chaos-and-needing-a-scapegoat-the-tories-seek-endless-fight-with-europe#comment-152562075
jmFrost is well aware of the futility of his demands – indeed, it is the whole point of his Lisbon performance. Instead of declaring victory, accepting the EU’s munificent offers and turning down the heat in Northern Ireland, he and Johnson prefer to make an impossible demand so that they can blame the EU for rejecting it.
They are, as the South Belfast MP, Claire Hanna, has put it, “mining for grievance”.
]]>grievances neologisms phrases boris-johnson uk brexit politics northern-ireland euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:ba5d9adc89f5/What's Inside the EU Green Pass QR Code?2021-07-05T09:36:30+00:00
https://gir.st/blog/greenpass.html
jmAs you can see, 23 year-old Gabriele was vaccinated in February, once, with BioNTech/Pfizer's Comirnaty. What is not included is the date during which she is considered immune. Those are calculated from the number of shots received and the date of vaccination, as well as the circumstances (going to a restaurant vs. going to work, for example) by the scanner app. Apart from the name/manufacturer of the received vaccine, there is no superfluous data inside, so the QR code is not a privacy nightmare, as some have feared.
]]>covid19 vaccination coronavirus green-pass eu qr-codes python data-privacyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:edde90e50939/OpenStreetMap looks to relocate to EU due to Brexit limitations2021-06-30T10:24:23+00:00
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jun/30/openstreetmap-looks-to-relocate-to-eu-due-to-brexit-limitations
jmOne “important reason”, Rischard said, was the failure of the UK and EU to agree on mutual recognition of database rights. While both have an agreement to recognise copyright protections, that only covers work which is creative in nature.
Maps, as a simple factual representation of the world, are not covered by copyright in the same way, but until Brexit were covered by an EU-wide agreement that protected databases where there had been “a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the data”. But since Brexit, any database made on or after 1 January 2021 in the UK will not be protected in the EU, and vice versa.
Other concerns Rischard listed include the increasing complexity and cost of “banking, finance and using PayPal in the UK”, the inability for the organisation to secure charitable status, and the loss of .eu domains.
The increased importance of the EU in matters of tech regulation also played a role: “We could more effectively lobby the EU [and] EU governments and have more of an impact, especially in countries where there is no local chapter,” Rischard wrote.]]>mapping brexit uk osm openstreetmap eu copyright databases iphttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:c66761c45e4c/Bert Hubert on the Huawei/5G backdoor controversy2021-04-19T09:42:24+00:00
https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/5g-elephant-in-the-room/
jmAs an icebreaker, [telco operators] were asked if they thought the Chinese could eavesdrop through “backdoors” in Huawei equipment. Every single hand went up. One of the bankers then asked, for balance, if they thought the US could access communications through key Cisco equipment. “All the hands went straight back up without hesitation” [....]
In a modern telecommunications service provider, new equipment is deployed, configured, maintained and often financed by the vendor. Just to let that sink in, Huawei (and their close partners) already run and directly operate the mobile telecommunication infrastructure for over 100 million European subscribers.
The host service provider often has no detailed insight in what is going on, and would have a hard time figuring this out through their remaining staff. Rampant outsourcing has meant that most local expertise has also left the company, willingly or unwillingly.
(via ITS slack)]]>telcos telecoms ops networking eu 5g china huawei nsa tappinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:d2ae6fa81687/critique of the Digital Green Certificate (DGC) proposal2021-04-09T09:02:21+00:00
https://twitter.com/carmelatroncoso/status/1380439779951673347
jmMy conclusion is: this is an immature design of an extremely complex infrastructure with no guaranteed security. The proposed scheme is likely to go down the slippery slope of discrimination and surveillance.
I'd like to end reminding my wild thought: Given that fraud is possible anyway, a simple paper-based solution with enough protection to deter cheating may be sufficient to get us through this summer, avoiding long-term consequences.
]]>surveillance dgc vaccination eu carmela-troncoso travelhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:75874645fbf3/Everything you wanted to know about the Hydrogen economy but were too busy to research2020-09-30T10:31:17+00:00
https://twitter.com/gnievchenko/status/1310544553024327682
jmh2 hydrogen green climate-change future eu europe twitter via:ftfhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:f7f426b0dc46/Sweden has the smallest average household size in Europe2020-09-21T10:14:59+00:00
https://twitter.com/AdamJKucharski/status/1307958852248272898
jmcovid-19 sweden households europe statistics eu housinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:940ab75a2d35/The EU General Data Protection Regulation explained by Americans2020-07-13T11:47:33+00:00
https://hroy.eu/posts/gdprExplainedByUS/
jmBashing the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) seems to have become one of American activists’ favourite hobbies in the tech field. Some criticism is entirely justified. But many claims that the GDPR is “counterproductive” or “misses the point” are based on misconceptions, rather than an accurate understanding of European data protection laws.
As a result, several US privacy advocates have therefore suggested alternative principles or rules… many of which, actually, have been part of EU data protection law since 1995.
]]>gdpr privacy data-protection eu data-privacy us-politicshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:7499f520b9c7/Fixers Know What ‘Repairable’ Means—Now There’s a Standard for It2020-07-13T11:44:53+00:00
https://de.ifixit.com/News/35879/repairability-standard-en45554
jmrepair ifixit eu en45554 standards europehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:399a6d523983/ECDC COVID-19 Contact Tracing Guidelines2020-05-18T10:45:26+00:00
https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Contact-tracing-Public-health-management-persons-including-healthcare-workers-having-had-contact-with-COVID-19-cases-in-the-European-Union%E2%80%93second-update_0.pdf
jmcovid-19 pandemics contact-tracing eu medicinehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:7a47a03aada0/EDPB on COVID-19 contact tracing apps2020-04-15T11:11:33+00:00
https://edpb.europa.eu/sites/edpb/files/files/file1/edpbletterecadvisecodiv-appguidance_final.pdf
jmedpb data-privacy privacy covid-19 eu ec contact-tracinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:a50c5b028683/EC regulations regarding cancelled flights2020-04-01T09:02:36+00:00
https://www.aviationreg.ie/_fileupload/Image/Regulation%20EC261%202004.pdf
jmaviation flights holidays cancellation consumer-rights consumer ec euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:ebb6d4ae1889/good twitter thread roundup on smartphone contract-tracing apps2020-03-22T22:59:10+00:00
https://twitter.com/julicouras/status/1241815017961541636
jmMobile contact tracing for #COVID19
A thread with multiple references about what is being done in the world, what has already been done and what is not being done in the European Union.
]]>contact-tracing tracking apps smartphone mobile euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:9aeb8156dedf/Denmark adopts climate law to cut emissions 70% by 20302019-12-11T12:19:29+00:00
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/12/06/denmark-adopts-climate-law-cut-emissions-70-2030/
jmDenmark’s parliament adopted a new climate law on Friday, committing to reach 70% below its 1990 emissions in the next eleven years.
The law targets carbon neutrality by 2050 and includes a robust monitoring system. New legally-binding targets will be set every five years, with a ten-year perspective. The first of these will be set in 2020.
In what the government claims is a first for a national legislature, the new law also has a commitment to climate engagement internationally. This includes an ongoing obligation to deliver on international agreements, including climate finance to developing countries.
]]>denmark green climate-change 2030 euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:fbe2803b655f/Spain Might Be The World’s Most Important Climate Test | HuffPost UK2019-12-11T12:18:41+00:00
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/spain-climate_n_5ddeb9f2e4b0d50f329b79a0?guccounter=2
jmthe Sánchez administration was forced to call another snap election last month. The Socialists again eked out a slim win, and this time agreed to form a coalition with Unidos Podemos, a party to its left. If Sánchez’s center-left vision of a Green New Deal could be criticized for not being ambitious enough, the inclusion of the anti-austerity Podemos could make the country the first to seriously attempt the kind of Green New Deal progressives elsewhere have laid out to curb soaring economic inequality and planet-heating emissions.
Green New Dealers on both sides of the Atlantic argue that addressing both crises at once is key to staving off a resurgent neo-fascist right wing. Vox, a far-right party openly nostalgic for Franco-era Spanish authoritarianism, surged from zero to 24 parliamentary seats last April. November’s election brought that total to 52, making it the third-largest party in Spain.
But, even with a new left flank in the governing coalition, experts say the chances of making transformative changes are slim, thanks to the European Union’s rules on spending and public ownership. It’ll be a test for how much effectively the Green New Deal can beat back the far right while still confined by what one researcher called the “straitjacket of austerity.”
]]>green-new-deal green gnd climate-change spain left-wing euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:bb050c0048cc/Carnival Cruise Line to pay a $20M fine over pollution2019-06-06T14:30:29+00:00
https://www.fastcompany.com/90359828/carnivals-cruise-ships-pollute-more-than-all-of-europes-cars-study?partner=rss
jmCarnival’s pollution problem is so bad that across its fleet, the large boats pollute 10 times more than all 260 million of Europe’s cars. That tidbit comes courtesy of a study by the European think tank Transport & Environment, which looked at 203 cruise ships sailing European waters in 2017.
The report also found that besides over-tourism and crashing into ports, there’s a good reason for European cities to dislike cruise ships: they are emitting sulfur dioxide all over the place. If you can’t keep your pollutants straight, sulfur dioxide causes both acid rain and lung cancer. Cruise lines, it turns out, have been dropping the gas all over Europe; the report says Barcelona, Palma Mallorca, and Venice were the cities worst affected by sulfur dioxide emissions. Per the FT, “sulfur dioxide emissions from cars was 3.2m kt versus 62m kt from cruise ships, with Carnival accounting for half that, the study found.”
]]>carnival cruises cruise-ships pollution europe eu driving environment climate-changehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:624b949ce214/Revealed: controversial plan to boost religious lobby in Brussels, as far right pledges to fight for ‘Christian Europe’2019-05-22T12:48:39+00:00
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/revealed-controversial-plan-to-boost-religious-lobby-in-brussels-as-far-right-pledges-to-fight-for-christian-europe/
jmmairead-mcguinness religion secular democracy eu meps europe lobbyinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:b57de52cd9ce/Facebook and Google pressured EU experts to soften fake news regulations, say insiders | openDemocracy2019-05-21T09:47:13+00:00
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/facebook-and-google-pressured-eu-experts-soften-fake-news-regulations-say-insiders/
jmThe EU’s expert group met last year as a response to the wildfire spread of fake news and disinformation seen in the Brexit referendum and in the US election of President Donald Trump. Their task was to help prevent the spread of disinformation, particularly at pivotal moments such as this week’s hotly contested European parliamentary elections.
However some of these experts say that representatives of Facebook and Google undermined the work of the group, which was convened by the European Commission and comprised leading European researchers, media entrepreneurs and activists.
In particular, the platforms opposed proposals that would have forced them to be more transparent about their business models. And a number of insiders have raised concerns about how the tech platforms’ funding relationships with experts on the panel may have helped to water down the recommendations.
In the wake of numerous reports of massive disinformation campaigns targeting the European elections, many linked to Russia and to far-right groups, EU politicians and transparency campaigners have called these fresh allegations about the tech platforms’ behaviour a “scandal”.
]]>google facebook disinformation russia eu democracy lobbyinghttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:c81a44f865dd/Ireland Blocks The World on Data Privacy2019-04-24T10:23:56+00:00
https://www.politico.eu/interactive/ireland-blocks-the-world-on-data-privacy/
jmLast May, Europe imposed new data privacy guidelines that carry the hopes of hundreds of millions of people around the world — including in the United States — to rein in abuses by big tech companies.
Almost a year later, it’s apparent that the new rules have a significant loophole: The designated lead regulator — the tiny nation of Ireland — has yet to bring an enforcement action against a big tech firm.
That’s not entirely surprising. Despite its vows to beef up its threadbare regulatory apparatus, Ireland has a long history of catering to the very companies it is supposed to oversee, having wooed top Silicon Valley firms to the Emerald Isle with promises of low taxes, open access to top officials, and help securing funds to build glittering new headquarters.
Now, data privacy experts and regulators in other countries are questioning Ireland’s commitment to policing imminent privacy concerns like Facebook’s reintroduction of facial recognition software and data-sharing with its recently purchased subsidiary WhatsApp, and Google’s sharing of information across its burgeoning number of platforms.
]]>ireland fail gdpr privacy data-protection data facebook eu regulationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:41ea9d499685/Europol Tells Internet Archive That Much Of Its Site Is 'Terrorist Content' | Techdirt2019-04-11T16:08:32+00:00
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190410/14580641973/eu-tells-internet-archive-that-much-site-is-terrorist-content.shtml
jmeu europol policing france archive.org archival web freedom censorship failhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:c01ee1b12f57/Formal GDPR complaint against IAB Europe’s “cookie wall” and GDPR consent guidance2019-04-03T09:37:02+00:00
https://brave.com/iab-cookie-wall/
jmTracking and cookie walls:
Visitors to IAB Europe’s website, www.iabeurope.eu, are confronted with a “cookie wall” that forces them to accept tracking by Google, Facebook, and others, which may then monitor them. Dr. Ryan has complained to the Irish Data Protection Commission that this is a breach of the GDPR, which protects people in Europe from being forced to accept processing for their data for any purpose other than the provision of the requested service.
“One should not be forced to accept web-wide profiling by unknown companies as a condition of access to a website”, said Dr Johnny Ryan of Brave. “This would be like Facebook preventing you from accessing the Newsfeed until you have clicked a button permitting it to share your data with Cambridge Analytica.”
Simon McGarr of McGarr Solicitors, who has worked on data protection cases for Digital Rights Ireland, represents Dr Ryan in his complaint. Mr McGarr said “Where companies rely on consent to process people’s data it is critical that this is more than a box ticking exercise. For consent to be valid, it must be freely given, informed, specific and unambiguous. There’s nothing intrinsically good or bad in cookie technology – what matters is ensuring it’s applied in a way which respects individuals’ rights.”
Challenging IAB Europe’s industry guidance on the GDPR:
The complaint to the Irish Data Protection Commission will also test IAB Europe’s GDPR guidance to the online advertising industry. IAB Europe has put itself forward as a primary designer of the online tracking industry’s data protection notices. It has told major media organizations, tracking companies, and advertising technology companies that they can sidestep the GDPR, and rely instead on the ePrivacy Directive, which IAB Europe has interpreted as more lax in protecting personal data.
IAB Europe has widely promoted the notion that access to a website or app can be made conditional on consent for data processing that is not necessary for the requested service to be delivered, despite the clear requirements of the GDPR, and statements from several national data protection authorities, that say otherwise.
“This complaint will make it plain that the media and advertising industry should not rely on IAB Europe for GDPR guidance”, said Dr Ryan.
]]>dpc ireland brave iab-europe iab cookies tracking gdpr law euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:c4de5422a77f/Article 13 will wreck the internet because Swedish MEPs accidentally pushed the wrong voting button / Boing Boing2019-03-26T22:00:37+00:00
https://boingboing.net/2019/03/26/jfc-fml-jfc.html
jma group of left-leaning Swedish MEPs have revealed that they pressed the wrong button, and have asked to have the record corrected. They have issued a statement saying they'd intended to open a debate on amendments to the Directive so they could help vote down Articles 11 and 13.
We lost on a technicality, and there is no recourse.
This is the most significant piece of internet regulation ever undertaken by a democratic government (that is, excluding Russian and Chinese internet regulations). It will do untold damage to the whole internet.
And it's because someone pushed the wrong button.
]]>sweden meps fail voting evoting censorship article-13 eu europehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:02368a699fe6/Brexit: Opening the Seals2019-03-21T16:25:38+00:00
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2019/03/brexit-opening-the-seals.html#comment-3122935
jmWhat happens if the EU, as expected, just reaffirms what Tusk said before the summit, that the EU might approve a short extension if the House approves the Withdrawal Agreement and Parliament again says no? Is it possible that submarine May would execute one of her U-turns on March 28 or 29 and revoke Article 50? By then, the petition for revocation could easily have 2 million signatures, giving her air cover in addition to Parliament’s “no ‘no deal’ motion. She’s guaranteed to go down in history as the worst PM the UK ever had if she presides over a crash out. That might change even her fabulously rigid mind. It seems highly unlikely given her well-established pattern of carrying on despite repeated defeats (Richard Smith recalled a famous deportation case when she was at the Home Office) but it can’t be ruled out.
]]>brexit fail disaster uk politics eu theresa-may torieshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:a0928352c85c/Amendment-apocalypse: Spineless MPs just voted against reality2019-01-29T21:53:34+00:00
http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2019/01/29/amendment-apocalypse-spineless-mps-just-voted-against-realit
jm... in a way, it was typical May tactics. She prioritised vague promises over content. She sabotaged something - anything - in order to fight another day. She made promises she could not keep on issues she knew to be false. Once again, she said anything, anything at all, to survive just a little longer.
[...] it has significant medium-term implications too. Firstly, it shows why the backstop was needed in the first place. This country has become an unreliable negotiating partner. It will demand something one day then seek to detonate it the next. The events in the Commons today actually had the ironic effect of reaffirming to the EU the need for the backstop insurance policy.
On a broader level, we are about to go around the world asking for trade deals. But we're seen, by everyone, on the largest stage imaginable, to be fundamentally politically insane. We've gone mad and everyone is looking.
This is as bleak a day as we have had in the entire Brexit process. All roads now seem blocked. MPs won't back an extension to Article 50. They won't back May's deal. And they won't back no-deal. They've opted for fairy tales over action. Things are looking very bad indeed.
]]>brexit politics uk eu backstophttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:700e63cb2334/Google spent $60 million on building Content ID2018-09-13T10:12:35+00:00
https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/13/12165194/youtube-content-id-2-billion-paid
jmGoogle’s new report takes aim at this claim. It asserts that Content ID is a highly effective solution, with over 98 percent of copyright management on YouTube happening through Content ID, and just 2 percent coming from humans filing copyright removal notices. Google also says the music industry opts to monetize more than 95 percent of its copyright claims, meaning they leave the videos up on the service. It claims a whopping half of the music industry's YouTube revenue comes from fan content — covers, remixes, dance versions, etc. — claimed via Content ID. The report also puts a hard figure on how much Google has spent so far on Content ID: $60 million.
]]>filtering copyright eu article-13 copyfight content-id google web ugchttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:d8ce4f90612d/Twitter thread regarding GDPR-compliance for append-only logs/event sourcing systems2018-06-14T21:10:09+00:00
https://twitter.com/martinkl/status/1007320751463124992
jmtwitter threads gdpr compliance law eu append-only logs blockchain event-sourcing architecture storage kafka kinesishttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:a66f2ec82c4c/Software Development and GDPR2018-06-08T14:18:00+00:00
http://www.oisin.blog/2018/06/03/programming-and-gdpr.html
jmYou could think, as a developer, that the lawyers worry about this kind of fine-grained issue. They don’t. This is one of those situations where they say, well, here’s the risk, you have to make a decision, document it, and be ready to back that up in front of a judge should the soup hit the fan.
In this particular case it’s straightforward enough. Are you in control of the presence of data in your database? Yes. It’s up to you to delete it when requested. Are you in control of the data on your harddrive? Yes. It’s up to you to delete it when requested. Are you in control of the operating system implementation or database implementation of deletion? No. Could you get the data back if you wanted to? Yes – but that’s not part of your usual run of business, so why would you explicitly do that? What if some bad dude steals your harddrive and then rummages through it? Ok we are getting a little far-fetched here for most businesses that are not keeping special category data, but if this does happen, then you have failed in your security controls.
I guess my overall point here is that GDPR Compliance is a continuum, not a tickbox. You want to be doing the best you can with it and document why you can go so far and not further. The companies that will be getting the big legislative fines are the guys that are willy-nilly exporting special category data out of the EEA en masse without the knowledge of the people associated with that data. The rest of us just need to muddle along as best we can.
]]>gdpr privacy dev tech coding data-protection law eu storagehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:c663de250cbd/How the #repealshield Twitter Blocklist is legal under GDPR2018-05-30T11:34:57+00:00
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1001740417057067010.html
jmrepealthe8th repealshield twitter blocklists gdpr law ireland eu abusehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:b378df48db21/Europe fires back at ICANN's delusional plan to overhaul Whois for GDPR by next, er, year • The Register2018-04-30T09:46:14+00:00
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/27/europe_icann_whois_gdpr/
jmSo was it European law experts Hamilton that wrongly advised ICANN that it could request for a "moratorium" over the new law until it came up with a new solution?
It seems unlikely given their expertise and the fact it was them that first warned ICANN that it had wrongly persuaded itself that it was not affected by the new law. What seems more probable is that ICANN's staff and management board simply persuaded themselves that they could stall for time for no reason other than the fact that it would be convenient for them.
]]>icann fail gdpr whois law regulation euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:4dbc0c12ac1a/Use the GDPR to find who has advertised to you on Facebook, and get them to delete your details2018-04-23T09:22:47+00:00
https://www.mcgarrsolicitors.ie/2018/04/23/use-the-gdpr-to-find-who-has-advertised-to-you-on-facebook-and-get-them-to-delete-your-details/
jmSometimes you get ads on Facebook and you are just not interested in what they’re selling. This is a way to find out who has uploaded your email address into facebook to target ads at you, and then- if you’re in the EU- how to use the new General Data Protection Regulation to get those advertisers to delete you from their system.
Totally going to do this. roll on May 25]]>gdpr facebook privacy ads data-privacy euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:bbcc41557144/A flaw-by-flaw guide to Facebook’s new GDPR privacy changes | TechCrunch2018-04-18T15:07:01+00:00
https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/17/facebook-gdpr-changes/
jmOverall, it seems like Facebook is complying with the letter of GDPR law, but with questionable spirit. Sure, privacy is boring to a lot of people. Too little info and they feel confused and scared. Too many choices and screens and they feel overwhelmed and annoyed. Facebook struck the right balance in some places here. But the subtly pushy designs seem intended to steer people away from changing their defaults in ways that could hamper Facebook’s mission and business.
]]>gdpr design facebook privacy data-protection data-privacy social-networking eu lawhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:b2f326655ebb/Europe dumps 300,000 UK-owned .EU domains into the Brexit bin - The Register2018-03-30T09:53:00+00:00
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/03/29/eu_dumps_300000_ukowned_domains_into_brexit_bin/
jm
"As a result of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, a holder of a domain name does no longer fulfil the general eligibility criteria... the Registry for .eu will be entitled to revoke such domain name on its own initiative and without submitting the dispute to any extrajudicial settlement of conflicts."
Apply usual Reg pinch of salt of course. The real announcement states 'this information is subject to any transitional arrangement that may be contained in a possible withdrawal agreement, which is an ongoing negotiation between the United Kingdom and European Commission.' So I guess the plan is to get an agreement in place to avoid this.]]>brexit domains dot-eu eu uk dns the-registerhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:2626bed794a4/Theresa May's Blue Monday -- Fintan O’Toole2017-12-05T22:11:35+00:00
http://www.nybooks.com/daily/2017/12/05/theresa-mays-blue-monday/
jmHaving backed down, May was then peremptorily informed that she was not even allowed to back down. She left her lunch with the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to take a phone call from the DUP’s Arlene Foster, who told her that the deal she had just made was unacceptable. May then had to go back in and tell Juncker that she could not agree to what she had just agreed to. It is a scarcely credible position for a once great state to find itself in: its leader does not even have the power to conduct a dignified retreat.
]]>eu ireland brexit uk theresa-may dup politics ec fintan-otoolehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:9848778d8fa3/VLC in European Parliament's bug bounty program2017-12-04T22:44:18+00:00
https://hackerone.com/vlc
jmThe European Parliament has approved budget to improve the EU’s IT infrastructure by extending the free software security audit programme (FOSSA) and by including a bug bounty approach in the programme.
The Commission intends to conduct a small-scale "bug bounty" activity on open-source software with companies already operating in the market. The scope of this action is to:
Run a small-scale "bug bounty" activity for open source software project or library for a period of up to two months maximum;
The purpose of the procedure is to provide the European institutions with open source software projects or libraries that have been properly screened for potential vulnerabilities;
The process must be fully open to all potential bug hunters, while staying in-line with the existing Terms of Service of the bug bounty platform.
]]>vlc bug-bounties security europe europarl eu ep bugs oss video open-sourcehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:d3b9876db221/Bella Caledonia: A Wake-Up Call2017-12-04T11:50:14+00:00
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2017/12/03/a-wake-up-call/
jmSwathes of the British elite appeared ignorant of much of Irish history and the country’s present reality. They seemed to have missed that Ireland’s economic dependence on exports to its neighbour came speedily to an end after both joined the European Economic Community in 1973. They seemed unacquainted with Ireland’s modern reality as a confident, wealthy, and internationally-oriented nation with overwhelming popular support for EU membership. Repeated descriptions of the border as a “surprise” obstacle to talks betrayed that Britain had apparently not listened, or had dismissed, the Irish government’s insistence in tandem with the rest of the EU since April that no Brexit deal could be agreed that would harden the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The British government failed to listen to Ireland throughout history, and it was failing to listen still.
]]>europe ireland brexit uk ukip eu northern-ireland border historyhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:58e57a56259d/European Commission study finds no link between piracy and lower sales of digital content2017-09-25T10:06:51+00:00
https://www.finder.com.au/eu-piracy-study
jmAccording to the report, an average of 51% of adults and 72% of minors in the EU have pirated digital content, with Poland and Spain averaging the highest rates of all countries surveyed. Nevertheless, displacement rates (the impact of piracy on legitimate sales) were found to be negligible or non-existent for music, books and games, while rates for films and TV were in line with previous digital piracy studies.
Most interesting is the fact that the study found that illegal game downloads actually lead to an increase in legal purchases. The report concludes that tactics like video game microtransactions are proving effective in converting illegal users to paying users.
The full report goes in-depth regarding potential factors influencing piracy and the challenges of accurately tracking its impact on legitimate sales, but the researchers ultimately conclude that there is no robust statistical evidence that illegal downloads reduce legal sales. That's big news, which makes it all the more troubling that the EU effectively buried it for two years.
]]>piracy eu studies downloads ec games movies books contenthttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:ce0babb6cff3/Dark forces, Brexit and Irexit2017-08-01T11:34:13+00:00
https://brianmlucey.wordpress.com/2017/07/09/dark-forces-and-brexit/
jmThe EU have made it clear, as they have to, that there will be no frictionless borders between the union and the UK. Brexit will be dislocative. As smaller irish companies start to go to the wall post Brexit expect the calls for “something to be done” to start to include Irexit [an Irish exit from the EU a la Brexit]. But this way madness lies. [...]
we export more in education services than in beverages ; we exportthree times or more manufactured goods than food; we export six times more in chemicals and related; value added by industry or by distribution and transport is more than 10 times that of agriculture. Seeking Irexit on the basis that it would be good for agribusiness is seeking to amputate a hand for a broken finger.
]]>agribusiness ireland irexit brexit economics eu politicshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:72034b0ae42d/Amazon Global Product Price Check2017-07-19T12:00:20+00:00
https://www.heidoc.net/amazon/amazon_global_check.php?asin=B01E3SNO1G
jmprices amazon via:its price-check comparison shopping eu uk asinhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:07331145a519/EU Prepares "Right to Repair" Legislation to Fight Short Product Lifespans2017-07-10T11:29:58+00:00
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/government/eu-prepares-right-to-repair-legislation-to-fight-short-product-lifespans/
jmright-to-repair repair eu law hacking planned-obsolescence hardware consumerhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:3e59d19e204c/GDPR Advisors and Consultants - Data Compliance Europe2017-05-31T15:20:42+00:00
http://www.datacomplianceeurope.eu/
jmOur consultancy helps our clients understand how EU privacy law applies to their organisations; delivers the practical and concrete steps needed to achieve legal compliance; and helps them manage their continuing obligations after GDPR comes into force. Our structured approach to GDPR provides a long-term data compliance framework to minimise the ongoing risk of potential fines for data protection breaches. Our continuing partnership provides regulator liaison, advisory consultancy, and external Data Protection Officer services.
]]>gdpr simon-mcgarr law privacy eu europe data-protection regulation datahttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:a6348c94c2dc/ECJ rules sale of multimedia player enabling streaming of illegal content onto TV screen breaches copyright2017-04-26T11:15:28+00:00
https://twitter.com/EUCourtPress/status/857142194003738624
jmvia:tupp_ed piracy streaming dodgyboxes tv ecj euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:2c20a7477296/May's Brexit plan is falling apart and the press are talking about Easter eggs2017-04-05T10:55:36+00:00
http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2017/04/04/may-s-entire-brexit-plan-has-fallen-apart-and-the-press-are
jmNow the prime minister has embroiled herself in a negotiation in which we are at a disadvantage in terms of time and negotiating capacity. There will of course be no admission from Brexit MPs about this. They fixate on the one prediction economists got wrong - the surprising resilience of consumer spending - while ignoring everything their side was wrong about, like the fall in sterling, the announcement of a second Scottish independence referendum, the threat of a sudden hard border in Ireland or the crisis over Gibraltar.
This is not point scoring. Unless there is a sober assessment of what is going right and wrong on both sides there can be no realistic negotiating posture. We are condemned to keep making the same mistakes again and again and working ourselves into ever-more disadvantageous positions.
]]>eu politics brexit uk fail theresa-mayhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:40fb40ecf305/[1606.08813] European Union regulations on algorithmic decision-making and a "right to explanation"2017-03-13T15:02:02+00:00
https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.08813
jmWe summarize the potential impact that the European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation will have on the routine use of machine learning algorithms. Slated to take effect as law across the EU in 2018, it will restrict automated individual decision-making (that is, algorithms that make decisions based on user-level predictors) which "significantly affect" users. The law will also effectively create a "right to explanation," whereby a user can ask for an explanation of an algorithmic decision that was made about them. We argue that while this law will pose large challenges for industry, it highlights opportunities for computer scientists to take the lead in designing algorithms and evaluation frameworks which avoid discrimination and enable explanation.
oh this'll be tricky.]]>algorithms accountability eu gdpr ml machine-learning via:daveb europe data-protection right-to-explanationhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:ddf1e1cd4cb1/Commentary: The ‘Irish’ Startup Attribution Problem2016-12-05T13:47:21+00:00
http://www.dublinglobe.com/ecosystem/opinion/the-irish-startup-attribution-problem
jmSuccessful Irish tech companies have a skewed geographic profile. This presents a data gathering problem for the data companies but its also a strong indicator of the market reality for Irish startups. The size of the local market and a focus on software business in particular means many Irish startups are transitioning to the US (some earlier and with more commitment than others), and getting backed by a spectrum of local and international VCs.
Correcting for this put Ireland's tech venture investment in the second half of 2014 at $125m, midway between Sweden and Finland, 8th in Europe overall.]]>ireland tech startups investment vc europe euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:36907f01f208/Stephen Coutts – Irexit by Default? The Maintenance of Open Borders and Constitutional Realignment in the event of a hard Brexit2016-10-11T14:39:34+00:00
https://delilawblog.wordpress.com/2016/10/10/stephen-coutts-irexit-by-default-the-maintenance-of-open-borders-and-constitutional-realignment-in-the-event-of-a-hard-brexit/
jmtrade customs borders uk brexit imports ireland euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:303c88c425fb/We are witnessing nothing less than a Tory reformation | Rafael Behr | Opinion | The Guardian2016-10-05T09:54:09+00:00
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/05/birmingham-witnessing-tory-reformation-conservative-conference-brexit
jmFinally there are the self-styled buccaneers of the free-trade seas. Boris Johnson would probably cast himself as Sir Walter Raleigh – polymath, wordsmith, adventurer. That leaves Liam Fox to play Sir Francis Drake, looking for domestic glory in global circumnavigation but seen from abroad as a pirate.
This is all myth and fantasy, of course. But parties have always been sustained by internal mythologies, and the task of exiting the EU is so complicated and fraught with danger that fantasy becomes a necessary comfort. As one former minister says of the puritan choristers: “They have spent their lives working towards this dream. Of course they don’t want to accept that it’s a nightmare.”
Tory pro-Europeans are in the impossible position of using rational argument against faith. If they counsel compromise on migration or the single market, they are accused of talking Britain down or trying to refight the referendum. They have few reinforcements across the political water. Labour is a shambles. The Lib Dems are puny in parliament. Scotland has its own distinct politics, and in Nicola Sturgeon its own remainian queen with her own independence agenda.
The Tories do not speak for all of England, but in the absence of credible opposition they feel as if they do, and will act accordingly. To those millions who did not vote to leave the EU, the message is clear: you are free to pray for whatever you like. Your antique rites will be tolerated. But do not expect your concerns to be represented in the court of Queen Theresa. Be humble instead. Swallow your doubts and take a pew in the reformed national church of Brexit.
]]>reformation uk politics brexit eu puritanism fanaticismhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:9f376277e5da/'If you've got money, you vote in ... if you haven't got money, you vote out' | Politics | The Guardian2016-06-26T15:13:04+00:00
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/commentisfree/2016/jun/24/divided-britain-brexit-money-class-inequality-westminster?CMP=share_btn_fb
jmThe prime minister evidently thought that the whole debate could be cleanly started and finished in a matter of months. His Eton contemporary Boris Johnson – and, really, can you believe that the political story of the last four months has effectively been a catastrophic contest between two people who went to the same exclusive school? – opportunistically embraced the cause of Brexit in much the same spirit. What they had not figured out was that a diffuse, scattershot popular anger had not yet decisively found a powerful enough outlet, but that the staging of a referendum and the cohering of the leave cause would deliver exactly that. Ukip were held back by both the first-past-the-post electoral system, and the polarising qualities of Farage, but the coalition for Brexit effectively neutralised both. And so it came to pass: the cause of leaving the EU, for so long the preserve of cranks and chancers, attracted a share of the popular vote for which any modern political party would give its eye teeth.
]]>brexit europe eu uk eton ukip politicshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:793999db2a0e/There are liars and then there’s Boris Johnson and Michael Gove2016-06-26T13:19:47+00:00
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jun/25/boris-johnson-michael-gove-eu-liars
jmThe Vote Leave campaign followed the tactics of the sleazy columnist to the letter. First, it came out with the big, bold solution: leave. Then it dismissed all who raised well-founded worries with “the country is sick of experts”. Then, like Johnson the journalist, it lied.
]]>eu politics uk brexit boris-johnson michael-govehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:c6a63dfe1ed9/Terrorism and internet blocking – is this the most ridiculous amendment ever? - EDRi2016-06-20T10:23:25+00:00
https://edri.org/terrorism-internet-blocking-ridiculous-amendment-ever/
jmSo, there you have it: Blocking is necessary, except it is not. Safeguards need to be implemented, except they don’t need to be. This approach is legal, except it isn’t. The text is based on the Child Exploitation Directive, except it isn’t. Is this really how we are going to create credible legislation on terrorism?
]]>edri blocking internet censorship eu ephttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:d8d2efc762ec/Can the United Kingdom government legally disregard a vote for Brexit?2016-06-15T10:25:57+00:00
http://blogs.ft.com/david-allen-green/2016/06/14/can-the-united-kingdom-government-legally-disregard-a-vote-for-brexit/
jmOn the day after a vote for Brexit, the UK will still be a member state of the EU. All the legislation which gives effect to EU law will still be in place. Nothing as a matter of law changes in any way just because of a vote to Leave. What will make all the legal difference is not a decision to leave by UK voters in a non-binding advisory vote, but the decision of the prime minister on how to react before making any Article 50 notification. And what the prime minister will do politically after a referendum vote for Brexit is, at the moment, as unknown as the result of the result of the referendum itself.
]]>brexit law uk government referenda eurosceptics euhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:c3987a3bf7a8/UK at serious risk of over-blocking content online, human rights watchdog warns | Ars Technica UK2016-06-08T16:58:45+00:00
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/06/uk-serious-risk-over-blocking-content-online-human-rights-watchdog/
jmThe blacklist operated by the IWF effectively amounts to censorship. Not only are the blacklist and notices sent to members of the IWF kept secret, but there is no requirement to notify website owners when their site has been added to the blacklist. Even where statutory rules do exist with respect to notice and take-down procedures (namely, the Terrorism Act 2006 and the Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013), the provisions are not so concerned with safeguards for the protection of freedom of expression, as with offering an exemption from liability for ISPs.
]]>iwf censorship uk filtering coe eu europehttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:8305aa5ac7c7/German Privacy Regulators Fined Adobe, Others Over U.S. Data Transfers2016-06-07T11:41:38+00:00
http://fortune.com/2016/06/06/germany-privacy-adobe-unilever/
jmAdobe was fined 8,000 euros, Punica 9,000 euros and Unilever 11,000 euros. The regulator said they had put in place alternative legal mechanisms for transferring data to the United States following the fine. “The fact that the companies have eventually implemented a legal basis for the transfer had to be taken into account in a favorable way for the calculation of the fines,” said Johannes Caspar, the Hamburg Commissioner for Data Protection. “For future infringements, stricter measures have to be applied.”
]]>data-protection eu fines us privacy safe-harborhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:f115e94ab2a7/Ireland will need referendum to create EU court for patents2016-05-12T10:33:32+00:00
http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-referendum-patent-court-771051-Jan2013/
jmpatents eu sean-sherlock absurd referenda ireland iphttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:a37797a08d71/Anti-innovation: EU excludes open source from new tech standards2016-04-22T13:24:28+00:00
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/04/anti-innovation-eu-excludes-open-source-from-new-tech-standards/
jmThe European Commission is surprisingly coy about what exactly ['open'] means in this context. It is only on the penultimate page of the ICT Standardisation Priorities document that we finally read the following key piece of information: "ICT standardisation requires a balanced IPR [intellectual property rights] policy, based on FRAND licensing terms."
It's no surprise that the Commission was trying to keep that particular detail quiet, because FRAND licensing—the acronym stands for "fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory"—is incompatible with open source, which will therefore find itself excluded from much of the EU's grand new Digital Single Market strategy. That's hardly a "balanced IPR policy."
]]>open-source open frand eu echttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:92a49b71c8d5/ECHR: Websites not liable for readers' comments2016-02-05T13:22:00+00:00
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35495863
jmechr law eu legal comments index-hu hungaryhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:78c9422f3f3b/Why is Safe Harbour II such a challenge? - EDRi2016-02-02T14:07:00+00:00
https://edri.org/safe-harbour-negotiations/
jmThe only possible deal that is immediately available is where the European Commission agrees a politically expeditious but legally untenable deal, creating a time bomb rather than a durable deal, to the benefit of no one. In absence of reforms before an agreement, individuals’ fundamental rights would remain under threat.
]]>edri law eu ec ecj surveillance snooping us-politics safe-harborhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:3bfa4a8d3933/ECB forcing Ireland to pay the bondholders was like a hostage situation | David McWilliams2016-01-29T14:10:36+00:00
http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2016/01/28/ecb-forcing-ireland-to-pay-the-bondholders-was-like-a-hostage-situation
jmAt the time, many of us citizens thought the State was being craven in the face of the EU but it is now clear that Trichet’s ECB was prepared to let the Irish banks go to the wall, prompting a new bank run in 2010. This is like a hostage situation. The ECB was saying to the Irish government: you managed in September 2008 to prevent a bank run with the guarantee (which should always have been temporary and conditional) but now we are going to threaten you with another bank run – because we are still funding your banks and you must pay all the bondholders and add the cost to the national debt of the country. So the implicit threat was: “We will close the banks, cause a bank run and you will be left to pick up the pieces politically, socially and economically.”
]]>banking ireland politics ecb eu bondholders jean-claude-trichet economicshttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:d69056ae6ca0/EU counter-terror bill is 'indiscriminate' data sweep2015-12-10T14:32:40+00:00
https://euobserver.com/justice/131457
jm"To identify if someone is travelling outside the EU, we don't need an EU PNR. This data are already easily available in the airline reservation system,” [Giovanni Buttarelli, the European data protection supervisor] said. EU governments want more information in the belief it will help law enforcement in tracking down terrorists and are demanding access to information, such as travel dates, travel itinerary, ticket information, contact details, baggage information, and payment information of anyone flying in or out of the EU. ... EU PNR data would be retained for up to five years
]]>pnr eu law privacy data-protection europe counter-terrorism travel air-travelhttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:915e08fd259a/Senior Anglo bondholders revealed in department note2015-11-28T13:50:40+00:00
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/senior-anglo-bondholders-revealed-in-department-note-1.2446809
jmAmong the major holders were a Dutch pension fund, ABP; another Dutch fund, PGGM; LGPI in Finland, which manages local government pensions; and a Swiss public entities pension. A number of major asset managers were also named, including JP Morgan in London; DeKA and ADIG, two German investment managers; and Robeco from the Netherlands. Big insurance companies, including Munich Re, Llmarinen from Finland and German giant Axa were also named, along with big banks such as BNP, SocGen, ING and Deutsche.
]]>bondholders anglo economy ireland politics eu senior-bondholdershttps://pinboard.in/https://pinboard.in/u:jm/b:51119ed386f1/