Webcast available here - Prof. Danny Weitzner is very impressive.
Google's testimony repeats Tim Wu's analysis that Internet censorship may be a non-tariff barrier to trade.
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Google and Italy - criminal conviction for video post
Yesterday, in a landmark ruling, Google executives were convicted for the abuse of privacy of a disabled Italian child. The boy was bullied and videoed, the video posted on YouTube in 2005, and it was viewed several thousand times over 2 months before it was notified to YouTube, who then pulled the video off the site within a day. So far, so normal. Its Notice and Take Down (NTD) - see Chapter 4 of my new book.
What is unusual is that Italian prosecutors chose to go against the E-Commerce Directive's rules on NTD and press for a prosecution of Google executives. The suspended sentences were handed out yesterday.
Reaction has been loud, centred on requirements that YouTube might have to pre-screen videos in future, which would be prohibitively expensive. But its worth considering that my blog pre-screens comments, Yahoo's Flickr site apparently pre-screens images in Germany where Google screens search results since 2002 (to avoid Neo-nazi images being displayed), and many countries are introducing laws to block even non-local content that offends against child pornography laws.
Is the E-Commerce Directive thus unraveling? Or is UK politician Tom Watson correct to state: 'This is the biggest threat to internet freedom we have seen in Europe. The only people who will support this decision are Silvio Berlusconi and the governments of China and Iran. It effectively breaks the internet in Italy'?
What is unusual is that Italian prosecutors chose to go against the E-Commerce Directive's rules on NTD and press for a prosecution of Google executives. The suspended sentences were handed out yesterday.
Reaction has been loud, centred on requirements that YouTube might have to pre-screen videos in future, which would be prohibitively expensive. But its worth considering that my blog pre-screens comments, Yahoo's Flickr site apparently pre-screens images in Germany where Google screens search results since 2002 (to avoid Neo-nazi images being displayed), and many countries are introducing laws to block even non-local content that offends against child pornography laws.
Is the E-Commerce Directive thus unraveling? Or is UK politician Tom Watson correct to state: 'This is the biggest threat to internet freedom we have seen in Europe. The only people who will support this decision are Silvio Berlusconi and the governments of China and Iran. It effectively breaks the internet in Italy'?
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
UK Parliament report on reforming privacy and libel
In response to recent cases including Moseley, the super-injunctions, libel costs and the infamous phone hacking by Murdoch's tabloids, the Parliamentary Committee on the Media has issued a large report which is short on detail but contains a lot of sensible analysis.
Saturday, 13 February 2010
Book released on Turkish Internet censorship
More here and here:
There may be different approaches to the growth of the Internet in different societies and the impact of the Internet on different nation-states may have different results. Different nation-states present a different level of economic development, respect for rights, trans-nationality, and technological sophistication. While Turkey may be considered at a developing stage with respect to the Internet, others may be far more sophisticated with regards to Internet access, use, and penetration. Inevitably, this will be reflected in the policy making process and approaches to the governance of the Internet. Because of cultural, historical and socio-political diversity, there will inevitably be divergent approaches to the growth and governance of the Internet in different European societies. For example, while the German and French governments have political fears and sensitivities about the use of the Internet by Neo-Nazis, the United Kingdom takes a more relaxed attitude to the dangers of racism but conversely has a long cultural tradition of repression towards the availability of sexually explicit material. On the other hand, the Turkish government may be more concerned about defamatory statements made in relation to state officials and politicians, other values related to the State and the dissemination of racist and terrorist propaganda. No doubt, those concerns must not lead to the violation of international standards for the protection of freedom of expression in democratic societies.
Restricted Access by Yaman Akdeniz & Kerem Altıparmak assesses the nature of Internet content regulation and censorship in Turkey by providing an overview of the current legislative regime from a critical perspective. This will include legislative attempts to regulate Internet content in Turkey as well as a critical assessment of the recently enacted Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publications and its related regulations. This will also include an analysis of the legal responsibilities of various actors including content providers, hosting companies, access providers (ISPs), and Internet cafes. The book also assesses how the current regulatory systems work and how websites, predominantly situated outside the Turkish jurisdiction, are blocked by court and administrative orders by giving examples. The book also assesses blocking orders which fall outside the scope of the new legislation.
Freedom of expression has been one of the key issues in Turkey’s democratisation process. The European Court of Human Rights has found Turkey in violation of the ECHR in a number of article 10 cases. The new Turkish law on Internet contains provisions that have potential to cause similar violations. Thus, this study examines the new regulations bearing this situation in mind. The book also contains an overview of international developments with regards to Internet content regulation at the European Union, and Council of Europe levels.
In Restricted Access, the authors Akdeniz & Altıparmak argue that Law No. 5651 was rushed through the Parliament just before the Parliament was dissolved for the 2007 general elections, and it has received no broad public support before or after its enactment. More importantly, the authors identify several problems and procedural defects with the application of Law No. 5651. Furthermore, Akdeniz & Altıparmak argue that the current Turkish regime, through its procedural and substantive deficiencies, is designed to censor and silence political speech. Its impacts are wide, affecting not only freedom of speech but also the right to privacy and fair trial. In its conclusion, Restricted Access calls for the abolishment of the Law No. 5651, and calls upon the government, among other recommendations, to commission a major public inquiry to develop a new policy which is truly designed to protect children from harmful Internet content while respecting freedom of speech, and the rights of Turkish adults to access and consume any type of Internet content.
There may be different approaches to the growth of the Internet in different societies and the impact of the Internet on different nation-states may have different results. Different nation-states present a different level of economic development, respect for rights, trans-nationality, and technological sophistication. While Turkey may be considered at a developing stage with respect to the Internet, others may be far more sophisticated with regards to Internet access, use, and penetration. Inevitably, this will be reflected in the policy making process and approaches to the governance of the Internet. Because of cultural, historical and socio-political diversity, there will inevitably be divergent approaches to the growth and governance of the Internet in different European societies. For example, while the German and French governments have political fears and sensitivities about the use of the Internet by Neo-Nazis, the United Kingdom takes a more relaxed attitude to the dangers of racism but conversely has a long cultural tradition of repression towards the availability of sexually explicit material. On the other hand, the Turkish government may be more concerned about defamatory statements made in relation to state officials and politicians, other values related to the State and the dissemination of racist and terrorist propaganda. No doubt, those concerns must not lead to the violation of international standards for the protection of freedom of expression in democratic societies.
Restricted Access by Yaman Akdeniz & Kerem Altıparmak assesses the nature of Internet content regulation and censorship in Turkey by providing an overview of the current legislative regime from a critical perspective. This will include legislative attempts to regulate Internet content in Turkey as well as a critical assessment of the recently enacted Law No. 5651 on the Regulation of Publications on the Internet and Suppression of Crimes Committed by means of Such Publications and its related regulations. This will also include an analysis of the legal responsibilities of various actors including content providers, hosting companies, access providers (ISPs), and Internet cafes. The book also assesses how the current regulatory systems work and how websites, predominantly situated outside the Turkish jurisdiction, are blocked by court and administrative orders by giving examples. The book also assesses blocking orders which fall outside the scope of the new legislation.
Freedom of expression has been one of the key issues in Turkey’s democratisation process. The European Court of Human Rights has found Turkey in violation of the ECHR in a number of article 10 cases. The new Turkish law on Internet contains provisions that have potential to cause similar violations. Thus, this study examines the new regulations bearing this situation in mind. The book also contains an overview of international developments with regards to Internet content regulation at the European Union, and Council of Europe levels.
In Restricted Access, the authors Akdeniz & Altıparmak argue that Law No. 5651 was rushed through the Parliament just before the Parliament was dissolved for the 2007 general elections, and it has received no broad public support before or after its enactment. More importantly, the authors identify several problems and procedural defects with the application of Law No. 5651. Furthermore, Akdeniz & Altıparmak argue that the current Turkish regime, through its procedural and substantive deficiencies, is designed to censor and silence political speech. Its impacts are wide, affecting not only freedom of speech but also the right to privacy and fair trial. In its conclusion, Restricted Access calls for the abolishment of the Law No. 5651, and calls upon the government, among other recommendations, to commission a major public inquiry to develop a new policy which is truly designed to protect children from harmful Internet content while respecting freedom of speech, and the rights of Turkish adults to access and consume any type of Internet content.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Bloggers as professional journalists?
Interesting article analyzing what requirements could make a blogger a professional, or not....
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Fascinating presentation on TV Vest (2008) case implementation
Norwegian Media Authority explains how it is implementing the TV Vest judgment which held that banning political advertising by small political parties infringes Article 10.
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