[Advocacy Advisors] EU Policy Monitoring Report - July

Thu Aug 1 17:02:18 UTC 2013

On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 6:51 AM, Dimitar Dimitrov <
dimitar.dimitrov at wikimedia.de> wrote:

> #PRISM #EUdataP
>
> 1. Prism and Data Protection - Reactions and Wikimedia actions
>
> Why is this relevant?
>
> As stated elsewhere, rights of privacy are necessary for intellectual
> freedom [1]. As a major global information provider we are part of the
> “bigger” picture.
>
> What happened?
>
>  As announced, the Wikimedia Foundation has signed a letter urging the US
> government for more transparency as a reaction to recent surveillance
> debates. [2] Other signatories include Mozilla, Reporters Without Borders
> and companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft. Wikimedia Deutschland
> has signed an open letter too, to “ensure respect for the fundamental right
> to privacy and informational self-determination”. [3] Other signatories are
> the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Creative Commons Deutschland,
> Transparency International and Greenpeace. Meanwhile, there is considerable
> debate in Brussels on whether Snowden could and should be nominated for the
> Sakharov (freedom of thought award by European Parliament) and Nobel
> prizes.
>
> What comes next?
>
> The Snowden case has significantly changed the landscape for the current
> and future data protection and internet privacy regulations. It would be
> wise to think about whether we (the Wikimedia movement) have or should have
> clear positions on these topics in the future, or, whether it would be
> wiser stay out of it for the most part.
>

With regards to "thinking about this", besides the discussion on meta, it
may be interesting/informative to this group that WMDE had a Poll on
related issues:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Umfragen/Stop_Watching_Us

With an almost 50/50 split between do something (banners, blackout) and do
nothing (either do nothing now, or avoid the issue altogether).

>  #L4E
>
> 3.Licences for Europe - Inside the work groups
>
> Why is this relevant?
>
> This is a consultation process by the European Commission on licensing of
> digital content. It is seen as part of a larger initiative to completely
> overhaul copyright, although there have been voices questioning the
> seriousness of such an intention. Generally speaking, this dialogue must be
> seen in the context of the Commission currently bargaining the agenda for a
> future Copyright reform - which aspects will we be on the table in the next
> few years.
>
> What happened?
>
> At the mid-term plenary session the work done so far in the work groups
> has been presented. The most relevant group for us - User Generated Content
> - has seen the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) leave the process and
> being replaced by a group that claims to represent User Generated projects,
> but no one has heard of.
>
> This is currently forcing all remaining civil society organisation in the
> work group to consider whether they should stay on board of a “pseudo”
> discussion. Content-wise, the talk dominated by industry organisations is
> going toward created more licensing for user-generated content, on top of
> what we already have.
>
>  What comes next?
>
> As Wikimedia’s core issue is user-generated content and the Commission is
> looking for new civil society partners to join the consultation, it would
> be useful to decide until September whether we want to participate or stay
> out due to the fact that we can’t gain (almost) anything and the
> credibility of the process has taken numerous hits.
>

My own sense is that we should stay out, but look for ways to make clear
why we are staying out. Perhaps we can discuss more at Wikimania, Dimi.

>  #NnT
>
> 5. Notice and Takedown - And now what?
>
> Why is this relevant?
>
> Notice and Takedown procedures define legally who is responsible for
> (allegedly) unlawful content online and how to handle such cases in
> practice.  It is very likely that the questions of liability will be
> defined or refined if it comes to a Directive.
>
> What happened?
>
> It is presently unclear whether this Commission will go ahead and propose
> a Takedown and Notice Directive. Regardless of that development, a
> Recommendation (non-binding) is in the making and expected by the end of
> the year. Meanwhile, a group of 6 MEPs has released a letter [14] urging
> Commissioner Barnier to go ahead a publish a draft Directive and not hide
> the obviously heated discussions by shifting focus to a Recommendation.
>
> What comes next?
>
> There is not enough information for the moment to know what will be
> proposed and when. However, if a Recommendation is made, there is no way to
> change it in Parliament and it is up to each Member State whether they want
> to implement it or not.
>
> Further links:
>
> We have a Notice and Takedown file on Meta, which needs your help [15]
>
> A good overview of the topic so far by IPtegrity.com [16]
>

Relatedly, Michelle was interviewed by EFF about CDA 230:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/07/cda-230-success-cases-wikipedia

Luis
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