EU blocks cheap alcohol online
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EU judges refuse to allow consumers to buy drinks and cigarettes online at lower duties from other countries.
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The European Union's second-highest court dismissed on Tuesday a case taken by Czech brewer Budejovicky against its U.S. rival Anheuser-Busch  over the use of trademarks such as Budweiser.
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Eurocrats, terrorists vie for techno-dunce supremacy The European Commission (EC) has announced plans to frustrate terrorism by suppressing online guides on bomb-making.â¦
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Â· Government launches alcohol abuse strategyÂ· Critics call for happy hours and promotions ban
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Alternative technologies are once again blocked in Europe.
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(InfoWorld) - In a surprise move, the European Commission said Wednesday it is shelving plans to overhaul Europeâs rules on copyright fees, after intense lobbying from France and from groups representing artists and authors. The Commission, the executive body of the European Union, was planning to replace the patchwork of national rules with a Europe-wide code designed to better suit the digital age. Presently most countries impose copyright levies on a wide range of products, from photocopiers to mobile phones, and including recordable formats such as CD-Rs, blank cassettes and even paper. The size of levies varies widely from country to country. Only the U.K., Ireland, and Luxembourg do not impose any such levies. Copyright levies are supposed to compensate artists and authors who donât receive any payment when their copyrighted music, documents, or pictures are duplicated by consumers. The Commission wanted to harmonize the rules and scrap levies on most hardware. Its aim was to reduce the fees, which in some cases increase the price of goods dramatically. For example, in Spain consumers have to pay almost â¬300 ($398) in levies when they buy an 80GB MP3 player; in Austria the equivalent charge is just â¬8, according to the Copyright Levies Reform Alliance (CLRA), a coalition of businesses dedicated to harmonizing and lowering copyright fees in Europe. The Commission said it was abandoning the rule change for now. It had planned to publish a proposal before the end of this year. âMore reflection is needed on this complex issue,â spokeswoman Pia AhrenKilde Hansen told journalists. She wouldnât give a new timetable for the legal proposal. She acknowledged that the French prime minister Dominique de Villepin had written to the Commission earlier this month, urging it to drop the plan but she insisted that the Commission will decide for itself when the proposal will be launched. The Commission has been planning to harmonize copyright levies across the E.U. since 2000. Since then the case for scrapping most levies has grown stronger. Digital rights management software, which allows copyright owners to track the copying of their works, has become commonplace. The Commissionâs climb down sparked an angry reaction from the companies and industry groups pushing for a change to the system. âEuropean industry is deeply disturbed by the European Commissionâs apparent about-face on the planned reform of copyright levies,â said Mark McGann, spokesman for the CLRA in a statement issued Wednesday. âWith this decision, it is clear to industry that the Commission has abandoned any serious efforts to establish transparency, efficiency and fairness in the way these levies are set, collected and distributed,â he added, warning that without the revamp of copyright levies, several large European companies now intend to file official complaints with the Commission that will likely result in a wave of infringement procedures against certain member states. âThe reform of copyright levies would then move from the European executive to the European Court of Justice,â CLRA said in its statement.
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The Czech Republic blocks a deal to reform alcohol duties in the EU, arguing that it unfairly helps wine producers.
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Filtering out rogue operators Online gambling operators outside Europe will have to seek Government permission to advertise in the UK. The British government's reform of gambling law mandates the seeking of permission in an attempt to crack down on rogue operators.â¦
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By Stephen Castle  One of Google's most popular services came under threat yesterday when a court banned the search engine from reproducing articles from Belgian newspapers and opened the door to similar challenges elsewhere in Europe.
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BRUSSELS -- EU regulators blocked a hostile takeover bid by low-fare carrier Ryanair for Ireland's Aer Lingus yesterday, saying it would limit consumer choice and likely boost ticket prices.
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Watchdog cries foul over 'dodgy' software auctions The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has begun an international clampdown against people selling illegitimate software online.â¦
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The BPI, the UK record industryâs trade association, is targeting people who make their music collection available on the internet, illegally, for other web users to share.
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Russia's lower house of parliament passed legislation that would make it illegal to drink beer in public, news reports said Thursday.
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The World Trade Organization has criticized the European Union&#39;s protections of the identities of regional products like Parma ham and French Champagne, saying the union
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Broadband inequality and piracy to blame The European Commission has identified unequal broadband provision and piracy as major "roadblocks" to the development of Europe's online creative content industries.â¦
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Plans to limit mobile phone call costs for consumers who travel abroad within Europe are attacked by the industry.
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Mobile phone operators must  act before July 1 to avoid the European Union imposing lower  prices for texting or surfing the Web via mobile phones when  abroad, the bloc's top telecoms regulator said on Monday.