A Rare Invitation To Help Shape European Copyright Law

Back in May last year, we wrote about how the European Commission's "Licences for Europe" initiative had turned into a fiasco, with public interest groups and open access supporters pulling out in protest at the way it was being conducted. The central problem was the Commission's attempt to force everything into the straitjacket of copyright licensing, refusing to allow alternative approaches to be discussed. Fortunately, its public consultation on copyright, launched back in December, and closing soon, does not make this mistake, and is broad in scope: 

On Techdirt.

In Response To Growing Protests, EU Pulls Corporate Sovereignty Chapter From TAFTA/TTIP To Allow For Public Consultation

Here on Techdirt, we've been writing about the dangers of corporate sovereignty for a while. In recent months, more and more people and organizations have pointed out that the plan to include an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) in the TAFTA/TTIP agreement currently being negotiated is fraught with dangers -- and also completely unnecessary given the fair and efficient legal systems that exist on both sides of the Atlantic. It seems that this chorus of disapproval has finally been noticed, in Brussels at least: 

On Techdirt.

Help: EU Net Neutrality Consultation Closes Today

As you may recall, back in September the European Commission finally came out with its proposals for net neutrality, part of its larger "Connected Continent" package designed to complete the telecoms single market. I learned yesterday that the European committee responsible for this area, ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy), has launched something of a stealth consultation on these proposals. Stealth, because neither I nor anyone else that I know covering this area, was aware of them, which is pretty bizarre.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Letter to European Commission on IPRED

Following my post yesterday about the extraordinary failure of the IPRED consultation process, I enclose below my letter sent to the European Commission on the subject, calling for an extension to the consultation, and for alternative ways of making submissions:

On Open Enterprise blog.

The Great IPRED Consultation Fiasco

Last week I made a couple of urgent pleas to readers to complete the major EU IPRED consultation, which was being conducted on the Web. Since I needed to be able to refer to my own answers, I saved these as a draft online so that I could go back to them, polish them, and then submit them.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Please Respond Now to Biased IPRED Consultation

Yesterday I mentioned the important consultation on IPRED, how it was closing soon, and what a good idea it would be if you applied to take part immediately. I also noted there's a helpful guide to filling in the consultation, from EDRI, but I omitted to mention that there is an equally great one from the Pirate Party MEP Amelia Andersdotter, which I thoroughly recommend.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Last Chance: Consultation on Net Neutrality in EU

Back in July, I wrote about a consultation on net neutrality from the EU, entitled On-line public consultation on "specific aspects of transparency, traffic management and switching in an Open Internet". Just to remind you, here's the background:

On Open Enterprise blog.

EU Open Voluntarism Consultation: Your Views

If you cast your mind back to the heady days of summer, when we were all worried about what ACTA might do, one of the problems was with Article 27, whose third paragraph reads:

On Open Enterprise blog.

EU Wants to Sneak in a Mini-ACTA by the Backdoor

Even after ACTA was rejected by the European Parliament on 4 July this year, the European Commission was still refusing to admit that the treaty was misguided and dangerous. To this day, it's not clear what it is planning in terms of trying to bring it back in another form, or by negotiating some kind of ACTA Lite with the other signatories.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Could Your Company Survive a Net Block?

As part of the seemingly endless round of consultations (I'm not complaining - this is how it should be done), the UK government is asking about parental internet controls:

On Open Enterprise blog.

The Googlisation of Surveillance

As promised, here is my submission to the Joint Parliamentary Committee considering the UK government's Draft Communications Bill:

On Open Enterprise blog.

Comment on the UK Government's Snooping Bill

The Draft Communications Bill [.pdf] is one of the most controversial pieces of UK legislation proposed in recent years - not least because it represents a betrayal of election promises by the coalition to roll back state surveillance in the UK. As usual, the government is attempting to claim that current plans are "different" because the databases are distributed, not centralised; but the fact that searches will be possible across all the decentralised holdings means that there is no practical difference. This is quite simply another example of politicians promising one thing to get elected, and then doing its opposite.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Urgent: Please Reply to UK Copyright Consultation

It seems like the UK copyright studies and consultations have been going on for years - first with the Gowers Review, followed by the Hargreaves Report and concluding with the current consultation on copyright. That consultation ends this Wednesday, so time is running out to make a submission.

On Open Enterprise blog.

ACTA Update VII

One of the widely-recognised problems with ACTA is the lack of transparency surrounding its negotiation. Since I have addressed this issue at length elsewhere, I won't repeat myself here. But it occurred to me that there is another way of looking at transparency, and that is in terms of consultation. In a sense, it's the flip side of transparency.

On Open Enterprise blog.

Making Open Data Real: A Response

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the “Making Data Real”consultation, promising to post my response. I have to admit that replying to the questions it asks has been far harder for this than for any other consultation that I've responded to.

I should hasten to add that this is not from any failing in the consultation itself. Indeed, it is commendably thorough both in its exposition of the issues, and in terms of the questions posed. But that's almost the problem: it is asking very deep questions in an area where few people - myself included - have really managed to frame anything like coherent responses.

On Open Enterprise blog.

UK Independent Review of "IP" and Growth

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the UK's ”Independent Review of Intellectual Property and Growth”, which is currently soliciting submissions from interested parties. The corresponding Web site is very helpful, providing background information and an entire section that seeks to explain what exactly the review is looking for.

On Open Enterprise blog.

EU Consultation on Post-i2010 - Please Do It

Stupidly, I thought this EU consultation would be the usual clueless nonsense, unredeemable even by witty comments from people like me. I was wrong. It's actually an incredibly wide-ranging questionnaire about very important topics. Indeed, it's not even obvious to me what my "correct" answers should be - it actually makes you think.

Here's a small sample of the deep questions it wants us to consider:

The future of the sustained internet services growth - internet to drive innovation

Challenges and issues here include:

- Design and development of the future internet - semantic web, Internet of Things, scalability, mobility, security etc.

- Keeping the internet open to competition, innovation and user choice - issues here include: interoperability, keeping the internet and internet-based services open and a level playing field for innovation (end-to-end connectivity, service level agreements, cross-platform services, net neutrality and open business models), open standards, low barriers to entry, etc.

...

Promoting access to creativity at all levels

In terms of expectations, Internet users' and the creative content providing sector have never been as at odds as they are today. Creative industry players are struggling to find new viable business models that are able to ensure sufficient revenues for creators and to meet consumer expectations. The market for digital content is still fragmented and broadcasters and other content providers, together with end-users are prevented from benefiting from a true digital Single Market.

Participative platforms have grown as passive users (readers, viewers, consumers etc.) have become active producers (or "prosumers"). These users tend to ignore their statutory rights and their obligations towards rights holders for the content they transform or/and simply share in web 2.0 communities. Moreover, intermediaries generally impose take-it- or-leave-it complex standard terms of use to their users. Against this background, users currently do not enjoy a clear set of rights balancing the conditions set by rights holders (with DRMs [Digital Rights Management] and/or license agreements) and internet services or platforms imposing restrictive standard terms of use.

...

Openness as a global issue

The challenge is to keep the internet open, based on open platforms and open standards. Many issues can only be resolved through international cooperation. The ICT strategies in the EU have often been inward-looking, which is difficult to justify, given the globalisation of modern ICT and the internet.

...

Challenges of participatory web

The growth of the participatory web is adding new challenges and pressures on public administrations, as well as opportunities. Web 2.0 enables citizens to shift their relationship with government. There is increasing demand on administrations to become ever more transparent and open to citizen involvement both in the delivery of services and in the design of public policies. If managed correctly, these demands may lead to delivery of better, more personalised services at lower cost as well as more trust in the public administration. This also applies to key services such as health care and education, where practitioners and beneficiaries of the service alike can benefit from mutually enriching communities of interest.

This is all really important stuff; so if you are an EU citizen, please take part - you have until this Friday, 9 October. The good news is that you don't need to fill in the whole thing - you can just pick and choose the bits that matter to you. Usefully, you can download the questionnaire in a variety of languages before you fill it in online - I highly recommend doing so.

Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca.

A Tale of Two Consultations

One of the running themes on this blog is the importance of engaging with the powers that be, specifically through responding to government and European requests for comments on proposals.

You would think that those putting together such requests would do everything in their power to maximise the feedback they receive, but alas that's not always the case....

On Open Enterprise blog.

Theses Unbound

OK, I admit it: I chose this for the title again. Well, "consultation on a national e-theses service for the UK" isn't quite so exciting.