The ICANN board delayed action Sunday on a temporary Whois "specification" aimed at giving it time to come up with a new model that complies with EU privacy law. With the looming EU General Data Protection Regulation May 25 effective date, ICANN proposed an interim plan that balances the existing Whois model with the GDPR by "allowing for the robust collection of [domain name] registration data but also restricting the access to personal data to layered/tiered access," ICANN CEO Göran Marby blogged Friday. Users with a legitimate reason would be able to seek access to non-public data through registrars and registries, and could contact either the registrant or administrative and technical contacts through an anonymized email or web form, he said. Registrants could opt into having full contact details available. But the board didn't vote on the draft at this weekend's Vancouver meeting, emailed Michele Neylon, managing director of Irish domain registrar and hosting company Blacknight Internet Solutions. ICANN didn't comment Monday.
A German Supreme Court ruling that Eyeo GmbH's AdBlock Plus isn't anticompetitive will have "very tangible commercial implications" for online advertising and publishers of online content in the U.S. and elsewhere, Hogan Lovells (Hamburg) trademark and unfair competition attorney Anthonia Ghalamkarizadeh told us. The April 19 decision means Eyeo is free to continue marketing AdBlock Plus, by far the most popular and widespread adblocker in the world, she emailed. The service has rivals and faces opposition from publishers that are finding methods other than ads to fund their online content, she and others said.
The European Commission ramped up pressure on online platforms Thursday, telling them to be more open in dealings with other businesses and take more responsibility for fighting fake news. The platform transparency rules, aimed at creating a fairer business environment for smaller companies, include requirements that platforms make terms and conditions for professional users clearer and resolve disputes more efficiently. The disinformation proposal calls for an EU-wide code of practice and the possibility of regulation if significant changes aren't apparent by October. It won praise from the tech sector and others, while the transparency regulation prompted a mix of reactions.
As EU data protection authorities pan ICANN's proposed interim plan for to comply with the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR), the question becomes: What, in practical terms, will happen to the Whois database May 25, the effective date of the new law? Horror stories about threats to internet security, intellectual property rights protection and law enforcement activities arising from GDPR compliance abound. Some we spoke with said ICANN missing the compliance date could be a mess, but others said things aren't that dire.
Europe is lagging behind the U.S. in 5G preparedness now, but it doesn't have to, GSMA officials and others told us. There are many ongoing 5G-related activities, including a strategic focus on the technology by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) and Body of Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC), and there's strong political will to push Europe to the forefront, they said. But the 5G killer application remains elusive, EU efforts to boost investment in new networks have become bogged down, and political will is being sapped to some extent by more pressing issues such as Brexit and other world events, they said.
Debate over a European Commission proposal for a new e-privacy law is heating up as telcos and digital companies race to comply with the EU general data protection regulation. The e-privacy regulation (ePR), which would modify existing electronic privacy rules enacted as part of telecom liberalization, is an exception to Europe's general reluctance to impose sector-specific privacy regulations and a political move aimed at leveling the playing field between traditional providers and over-the-top players that offer telco-like services, Hogan Lovells (Paris) telecom and privacy lawyer Winston Maxwell told a Tuesday webinar. Communications providers said the current version of the draft is inflexible, while digital rights activists criticized EU governments' failure to move forward on the regulation.
ICANN gave European data protection authorities (DPAs) a proposed model for complying with the EU general data protection regulation, President Göran Marby said Monday. Unanswered questions remain, and ICANN needs "firm advice" from privacy chiefs and governments before moving ahead, he said at ICANN's meeting this week in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where NTIA Administrator David Redl also sought access to information in the group's database of website registrants. Stakeholders disagreed over making registrant email addresses public, the role of the Governmental Advisory Committee and how entities that will be able to access nonpublic registration data should be accredited. GAC members said Tuesday they're worried about lack of a required temporary system for dealing with access to nonpublic data before a formal accreditation system is implemented.
U.S. companies are generally taking the EU general data protection regulation seriously, but many will struggle to achieve compliance by the May 25 deadline, privacy experts said. There's a perception in Europe that American businesses are ahead in the rush to meet GDPR requirements, but one expert thinks European organizations are better prepared. Challenges for U.S. businesses are getting management buy-in, the absence of a strong American concept of data privacy, and the difficulties of finding all GDPR-relevant data across organizations, observers said.
Internet platforms and governments must raise their game against illegal content or face regulation, the European Commission said Thursday. It recommended operational measures companies and administrations take before it decides whether to propose legislation. The nonbinding recommendation builds on a September EC statement on tackling illegal content online and applies to all forms of illegal content. Digital rights activists, tech companies and ISPs slammed the action. The U.K., meanwhile, is also pressing platforms to do more.
Google and Microsoft were among the top 50 companies in EU lobbying spending in 2017. Google dropped from sixth in 2016 to 18th, ahead of Microsoft at 26th, LobbyFacts.eu said. Google was in the top 10 as of Wednesday, with an outlay of 5.25 million-5.5 million euros ($6.5 million-$6.8 million), upping the spending it reported to the EU transparency register to pass Microsoft (4.5 million-4.75 million euros). Google outpaced Microsoft and Facebook among lobbying organizations with the most high-level meetings at the European Commission, EU Integrity Watch reported. Continued strong lobbying on digital single market and digital economy issues by companies is increasingly accompanied by U.S.-style corporate tactics, European civil society organizations said.