[ A Black Out Europe campaign has started on Facebook. ]
EDRI have sent out the following analysis of the current Telecoms Package amendments:
Several alarming amendments to the Telecom Package second reading in the European Parliament are to be voted on 31 March 2009 by ITRE/IMCO committee. The amendments are meant to give additional control to [...]

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Open letter, sent to Chief Privacy Officers or equivalent at:
(i) Microsoft
(ii) Google / Youtube
(iii) Facebook
(iv) AOL / Bebo
(v) Yahoo
(vi) Amazon
(vii) Ebay
Dear Sir / Madam,
We are writing this open letter to you to ask you if you will act to protect your users’ privacy.
We are asking you to exercise your ability to opt out of the [...]

Read the rest of "Open Letter - Call for major websites to opt out of Phorm"

In an open letter sent today to David Lammy, UK Minister for Innovation, some of the country’s most eminent economists and intellectual property scholars, have hit out at government proposals to consider changing policy on term extension. The letter, which has also been sent to the Cabinet Office, the Treasury and the Culture Minister, voices [...]

Read the rest of "Leading Academics Hit Out as Government Abandons Evidence-Based Policy on Copyright."

The House of Lords Constitution Committee report Surveillance: Citizens and the State is out today. The Open Rights Group gave evidence to the committee and we are pleased with many of their recommendations.
The report argues that privacy and the application of executive and legislative restraint to the use of surveillance and data collection powers are [...]

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Update (22.01.09): The European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) and French digital rights activists La Quadrature du Net have added their support to the joint statement,

Today, organisations representing consumers, citizens and libraries around the world united to condemn copyright term extension in Europe. The joint statement was sent to MEPs who sit [...]

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In a press conference on monday the European Commission denied a request by French President Nicholas Sarkozy, to reject an amendment voted on by the European Parliament in September’s Telecoms Package vote:

“The amendment on a new regulatory framework for telecommunications stated “no restriction may be imposed on the fundamental rights and freedoms of end-users, without [...]

Read the rest of "EU Commission says ‘non’ as France tries to ditch key telecoms package amendment"

The Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR) has today sent the Home Office in-depth legal analysis [pdf] of the Phorm behavioural advertising system. The analysis has been produced by FIPR’s General Counsel (and ORG Advisory Council member) Nicholas Bohm, and complements the technical analysis produced by Richard Clayton earlier this month [pdf]. The analysis [...]

Read the rest of "FIPR calls on Home Office to withdraw misleading advice on Phorm"

Last month, we announced that Phorm, the company whose technology delivers targetted ads based on where you visit on the web, were planning to hold a public meeting to face their critics. Details of the meeting have now been announced.
When: Tuesday, 15 April, 1830 - 2030
Where: The Lecture Theatre, Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental & [...]

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Richard Clayton has now published his technical analysis of Phorm. There’s a good introduction to it on his Light Blue Touchpaper blog.
Phorm explained the process by which an initial web request is redirected three times (using HTTP 307 responses) within their system so that they can inspect cookies to determine if the user has opted [...]

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On Wednesday, at their invitation, I went to Phorm’s offices in Central London. I was accompanied by ORG Advisory Council member (and Foundation for Information Policy Research Treasurer) Richard Clayton. We were there, on Phorm’s invitation, to find out how the systems that they are selling to BT, Virgin and TalkTalk actually work. Over the [...]

Read the rest of "ORG and FIPR meet with Phorm"