Google+ has made its platform more consumer-friendly but Twitter and Facebook must do more, the European Commission said Thursday. The EC and national consumer protection authorities asked the companies in March to align their terms of service with EU laws, but they have only partially done so, it said. Failure to comply could mean penalties, said Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourová. The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said the platforms' slow response is worrying. Facebook said it plans further updates to its terms later this year. Meanwhile, EC efforts to cope with illegal online content was criticized for being overly hasty and not based on evidence.
With the deadline for compliance with the EU general data protection regulation looming, many companies are still far from ready, business organizations we spoke with said. The GDPR takes effect May 25. Despite the seriousness of noncompliance, preparations are uneven, with U.S. tech companies and global digital enterprises further along than smaller businesses, industry representatives said. Lacking is final guidance from the EU Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (WP29), which said Wednesday its last set of guidelines should be completed in coming weeks.
EU efforts to finalize revamped copyright rules have been hampered by lack of consensus among governments and lawmakers on what to do about copyright protection in user-uploaded content and whether news publishers should have a new right to protect extracts of their publications that appear online, stakeholders said. The so-called "value-added" provision and the "snippet tax" are contained in articles 13 and 11, respectively, of the European Commission's proposed directive for copyright in the digital single market. The provisions are so controversial that the new EU Bulgarian presidency asked for "political guidance" on how to resolve the standoff.
The U.S. and EU are dealing with similar digital connectivity issues, and have more common ground than reports would lead one to believe, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and others said Wednesday at a webcast Computer & Communications Industry Association trans-Atlantic digital economy dialogue in Brussels. The future of digital connectivity is "extremely bright" given interesting trends in technologies and governments' commitment to reforming regulations, said Carr. CCIA's event preceded Thursday's EU-U.S. information society dialogue.
ICANN plans to choose an interim Whois model that complies with the EU general data protection regulation (GDPR) were delayed to mid-February to allow more discussion time, CEO Gðran Marby blogged. Earlier this month, he proposed three approaches and asked for input. ICANN had intended to settle on one model by the end of this month, but it's clear more time is needed, he said Thursday. NTIA's head also had Whois GDPR concerns (see 1801290041). Meanwhile, responses to an ICANN consultation showed interest in some form of layered access to domain name owners' information.
A unilateral decision by ICANN's board to suspend review of domain name stability and security practices could jeopardize the internet body's transparency and accountability, new NTIA Administrator David Redl said in a Dec. 12 letter. Board members announced the action Oct. 28, saying the review "is a critical input for ICANN in service of its mission," but it's "imperative" the community assure itself the Security, Stability and Resiliency Review "is appropriately composed and structured." NTIA accused ICANN of violating its principles of openness and participation. The suspension "appears to have been done with little notice given and no clear rationale provided," NTIA said. ICANN bylaws provide little role for the board in workings of a review team, it said. The U.S. agency said its "concerns are compounded by the fact that the review teams ... are a critical accountability tool in the post [Internet Assigned Numbers Authority] stewardship transition phase of ICANN, something all stakeholders, particularly those in the United States are watching closely." ICANN hasn't yet responded, a spokesman said this week. NTIA's concerns are shared by many ICANN Governmental Advisory Committee members, and the agency expects the multistakeholder community will act, a spokesman said Tuesday.
ICANN's plans to make registries hold domain name owners' contact information or face data protection problems with a coming EU-wide privacy regime, called general data protection regulation, are sparking blowback from government officials and others. ICANN's "thick Whois consensus policy" requires all new domain name registrations be submitted to the registry as "thick" starting May 1 and all relevant registration data for existing domains be shifted from "thin" to thick by Feb. 1, 2019, the ICANN board said in a resolution adopted Oct. 29. ICANN defines "thin" registrations as those with only technical information such as domain name servers and creation dates, and "thick" as including registrants' contact details. EU privacy chiefs and the Internet Governance Project (here) said the plan will likely run afoul of privacy rules.
It's "very clear" Europe has a long-term commitment to net neutrality even as the U.S. prepares to potentially reverse course, said Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) Chairman Sébastien Soriano Wednesday. On a webcast debriefing of BEREC's Dec. 7-8 plenary meeting, he said one key difference between the U.S. and EU is that institutional setups differ. The U.S. position on net neutrality can change every two years because it's in the hands of a regulator, while in Europe it's set by policymakers, he said. Reopening the discussion about withdrawing the rules "would be totally absurd," said Soriano, who heads French telecom regulator ARCEP (Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes).
Privacy Shield still has significant problems that, if not quickly fixed, could lead to legal action, said the Article 29 Data Protection Working Party (WP29) in its inaugural review. The opinion on efficacy of the trans-Atlantic personal data flow agreement listed unresolved issues for the commercial aspects and access to personal data by U.S. surveillance agencies. The European Commission said it's working with the U.S. administration to address the concerns.
Negotiations on a treaty updating broadcasting protections against signal piracy inched forward at the Nov. 13-17 World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR), participants said Monday. Despite expectations of "business as usual" (see 1710240009), the meeting saw "incremental changes" with resolution of some long-pending questions, said WIPO Copyright Law Division Director Michele Woods, in an interview. European Broadcasting Union Head-Intellectual Property Heijo Ruijsenaars told us earlier he hoped key issues such as scope, objectives and rights had been resolved. Woods said there's forward movement, but work remains.