Progress on a treaty to update broadcasting protections inched forward during the Dec. 7-11 World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meeting in Geneva, some of those following the talks told us. Broadcasters said they feel better now that several forward-looking options are on the table and delegates are discussing the text of a possible agreement. But those we spoke with said key issues such as what signals should be protected and what rights broadcasters should be granted remain unresolved.
Dugie Standeford
Dugie Standeford, European Correspondent, Communications Daily and Privacy Daily, is a former lawyer. She joined Warren Communications News in 2000 to report on internet policy and regulation. In 2003 she moved to the U.K. and since then has covered European telecommunications issues. She previously covered the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and intellectual property law matters. She has a degree in psychology from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
Cross-border portability of digital content and a possible "snippet tax" on news aggregators are part of a proposed European Commission copyright reform package raising concerns among stakeholders, they told us last week. The proposal includes a regulation to allow those who subscribe to Internet content services in their home countries to access them when they travel in Europe, and a communication setting out a vision for a modernized European copyright regime. The package represents the first move toward a digital single market, with other legislative and policy proposals to follow, the EC said.
The EU Internet Forum aims to fight online terrorism and hate content via a public-private approach, the European Commission said in launching the project Thursday. EU governments, the European Parliament, Europol and the EU counterterrorism coordinator are expected to work with major online companies on a joint, voluntary strategy for finding and addressing the material, the EC said. The companies were mostly tight-lipped about what their role might be. European Digital Rights strongly criticized the failure to include civil society groups in the discussion and accused the EU of trying to pressure the Internet industry into solving public policy problems. ISPs were left out.
Platform regulation is becoming a hot topic in Europe, with the European Commission and U.K. Parliament mulling possible action, France eyeing a "duty of loyalty" for platforms, and an Italian bill making its way through the legislature. The EC approach is so vague it's unclear what, if anything, will emerge, said a digital rights activist. That vagueness could mean the debate will remain theoretical for a long time, or it could be jump-started by other events, a telecom consultant said. One key question is whether there's a need for new laws, since platforms already are highly regulated, said an attorney who handles telecom and media cases.
Zero-rating concerns haven't gone away, despite EU agreement on net neutrality rules, said industry and public interest commentators in interviews. That split also was clear during a Nov. 11 European Parliament plenary debate. While many lawmakers said zero rating is good for consumers, subject to monitoring by national telecom regulators to ensure net neutrality, others criticized colleagues, governments and the European Commission for failing to take explicit action against it. That prompted an angry retort from Digital Economy & Society Commissioner Günther Oettinger.
The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved net neutrality legislation in line with its negotiated compromise with EU governments. The original European Commission-proposed telecom single market (TSM) package was whittled down to two issues -- ending mobile roaming charges across Europe and enshrining net neutrality into EU law. Some members of the European Parliament (MEPs) offered amendments aimed at aligning the compromise text with earlier legislative language, but all were rejected and the law was adopted. Tuesday's outcome holds lessons for the U.S., said Roslyn Layton, vice president of Danish telecom consultancy Strand Consult. Digital rights and consumer groups were disappointed with the result; telecom organizations were cautious.
With companies that send personal data to the U.S. facing a January deadline to find legal transfer mechanisms now that the safe harbor agreement is dead, the question is whether the EU and U.S. can successfully negotiate "safe harbor 2.0." Max Schrems, whose challenge to the Irish data protection commissioner over Facebook's storage of Europeans' personal information in the U.S. led to the Oct. 6 European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision overturning agreement (see 1510060001), predicted there would be no new agreement. Privacy lawyers we spoke with said there will likely be another safe harbor but that many obstacles remain. European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourová, who updated the European Parliament Civil Liberties Committee Monday on negotiations with the U.S., said progress is being made but agreement won't be easy.
Data transfers still taking place under the safe harbor agreement are "unlawful," EU data protection authorities confirmed Friday. In a statement following a meeting on the ramifications of the Oct. 6 European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision killing safe harbor (See 1510060001), the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (WP) "urgently" called on EU governments and institutions to "open discussion with US authorities" on legal and technical solutions to allow data to flow while respecting privacy rights. The group of national privacy authorities said it will launch "appropriate" national information campaigns that could include direct contact with all known companies that used to rely on the agreement. The statement shows the WP is trying to balance concerns for safe data flows with reasonable expectations, said Hogan Lovells (London) data protection attorney Eduardo Ustaran.
COPENHAGEN -- Despite growing consensus on some aspects of 5G, many issues remain open, speakers said at a conference this week. The timeline for rollout seems to be coalescing around 2020, although some Asian countries are preparing for commercial deployment a bit sooner, they said. But there is "less clarity about the business case," said Nigel Jefferies, who chairs the World Wireless Research Forum, which organized the conference that ran Monday and Tuesday. 5G success will depend on its tie-in with other industry sectors, several panelists said.
The European Commission vowed to ratchet up privacy talks with the U.S. following Tuesday's rejection by Europe's highest court of the EU-U.S. safe harbor agreement for transfer of personal data. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled safe harbor invalid and ordered the Irish data protection authority to determine whether Facebook's transfer of European subscribers' data to servers in the U.S. should be suspended on the ground that U.S. privacy protections are inadequate. The decision confirms the EC's approach in its negotiations for a new agreement, EC Vice-President Frans Timmermans said at a news conference.