Debate on a requirement that communications service providers sto...
Debate on a requirement that communications service providers store data on Internet and phone traffic began Friday in the German Parliament’s lower house. The measure would adopt into national law the European Union (EU) Data Retention Directive, mandating that…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
traffic data on all voice communications and data messages be held for six months. Some German states represented through Parliament’s upper house want longer terms, said Axel Spies, an attorney representing the German Competitive Carriers Association (VATM). Alternate telecom providers fear the German bill because it does not say how carriers and Internet service providers will be reimbursed, he said. Providers now get a lump 17 euros an hour to handle interception requests, far below cost; data retention rules will demand costly gear, infrastructure and personnel, Spies said. VATM wants the retention period to run no more than six months, he said. The directive also faces objections in Austria, European Digital Rights (EDRI) said. A spokesman for Austria’s Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology said the government will not meet the adoption deadline the directive set due to strong response to a proposed national law, EDRI said. The 90 comments included several from the entertainment industry demanding longer retention terms, lower thresholds and access to retained data for copyright violations, EDRI said. The ministry will be diligent in processing the comments even if that brings a warning from the EU, the organization said. A “general aversion” to data retention has emerged in Austria, with resistance fairly broad, EDRI said. Labor and the Chamber of Commerce both oppose the measure, and even the federal chancellor’s office worries about constitutional violations, the organization said.