EFF to fight for digital rights in Europe
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(InfoWorld) - Consumers in Europe have another group looking out for their digital rights with the opening of a Brussels office by the U.S. nonprofit group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF has battled the U.S. government and corporations to protect the rights of consumers and technologists in areas like free speech, data privacy and digital rights management. It has brought or helped to defend cases against the U.S. Department of Justice, Apple, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, AT&T, and others. On Monday it opened an office in Brussels, home of the European Commission and the European Parliament, and said it would play a more active role in shaping European law and advocating on behalf of European citizens. The office was funded partly by Mark Shuttleworth, the South African dot-com billionaire who launched the Ubuntu Linux distribution, and by the Open Society Institute, a U.S. grants foundation chaired by George Soros. Erik Josefsson will be the EFF's European Affairs Coordinator. He was previously the head of the Swedish chapter of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, which helped overturn the proposal for a unified patent system in Europe. The EFF didn't say which issues it would pick up in Europe. Areas it could potentially get involved with include the battle under way against Apple to force it to open its digital rights management (DRM) system, so songs bought from its iTunes Store can play on music players other than Apple's iPod. It has already been involved in some European cases. A few years ago it set up a defense fund for the Norwegian teenager Jon Johannsen, known as "DVD Jon," who was accused of creating an illegal program, DeCSS, to watch DVDs on his Linux computer. He was eventually acquitted by a Norwegian court. In the U.S. the group has fought the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a controversial law that seeks to prevent people from cracking DRM systems to access copyright works, but which critics say has been misused to inhibit innovation and fair use. It also brought aÂ class action suit against Sony BMGÂ over the "rootkit" copy-protection technology used in some of its music CDs, helping U.S. and Canadian customers to get refunds. And it helped defend several bloggers who were sued by Apple for allegedly leaking information about upcoming products to online news sites. Its current cases include a class-action suit against AT&T for wire-tapping on behalf of the U.S. government, and a suit in Florida on behalf of citizens whose votes were not properly registered by e-voting machines.
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Hollywood movie studios on Tuesday stepped up their fight against internet piracy by pursuing lawsuits against people in the US and Europe who operate servers that relay
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Key dates in the European Union's antitrust proceedings against Microsoft Corp.:
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The UK music industry is set to launch legal action against people who download music from the internet.
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BRUSSELS -- The European Commission has issued a formal set of objections to Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc. taking control of ContentGuard Holdings Inc., a digital rights management (DRM) company, according to sources familiar with the case.
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A proposed law would require companies to keep detailed data about peopleâs Internet and phone use that goes beyond a European Union directive.
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The Council of Europe has called on its 46 member-states to introduce legislation on the right of reply to correct false information on online media.
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Pressure is growing on more nations to implement the Council of Europe's anti-cybercrime treaty.
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The effort to crack down on illegal music downloads moves across the pond.
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Human rights organisation Amnesty calls for tougher action against countries who seek to repress online freedoms.
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Independent music companies are launching a legal challenge to the European Union&#39;s decision to allow the merger of Sony and Bertelsmann (BMG).
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InfoWorld - One of Denmark's largest ISPs said on Wednesday it willÂ fight a court injunction mandating that it shut off access to a file-sharing Web site, in what could be a closely watched battle with the music industry in Europe.
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Blog: The international proposal backed by major broadcasters had drawn opposition from digital rights groups and librarians who said it would imperil the public's home and fair use rights.
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BRUSSELS, Oct 20 (IPS) - African and European civil society groups are  urging European citizens to put pressure on their governments to  halt regional trade agreements between the European Union and  developing countries.
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The international record industry escalated its fight against music piracy Thursday, announcing that it will file hundreds of lawsuits across Europe against individuals and groups it accuses of illegally sharing music through the Internet.    The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, representing record companies tired of losing millions of dollars in revenue, said its affiliates are filing 459 lawsuits in Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Austria...
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Digital music download service eMusic is  launching across Europe on Tuesday in a bid to become the top  alternative to market leader iTunes, the same distinction it  holds in the United States.
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Trying to outlaw using fake information to open e-mail accounts or set up websites, some European nations could run afoul of privacy advocates. By the Associated Press.