Tag: Telcos

Earlier this week the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee of the European Parliament was scheduled to vote on the European Telecoms Single Market proposal, legislation critical to determining the future of network neutrality in Europe. But instead of voting on Monday, the Committee decided to postpone the vote — because of a problem with plastic bags.

On Monday, 24 February, the Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee of the European Parliament will vote on the European Commission’s Telecoms Single Market proposal. This proposal includes provisions that put the future of the internet at risk as if not adequately amended, it would allow telcos to restrict the rights of internet users and establish a two-tiered internet in Europe.

Venezuela has become the first South American government to take credit for shutting down nationwide access to the servers of massive online social networks to stifle political demonstrations.

Nearly a month after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit) struck down the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) authority to enforce existing network neutrality rules, the FCC announced its response. In a statement today, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler engaged in impressive verbal acrobatics to avoid the simple truth: In order to protect the open and innovative internet the FCC must correct its earlier mistakes and expand the agency’s regulatory authority over internet service providers (ISP) under Title II of the 1996 Communications Act.

In September 2013, the European Commission presented its proposed regulation for a single market for electronic communications (see Access’s analysis here). The Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee is the lead committee for this proposal and will provide its final report on February 24, before the legislative proposal is voted on by the full European Parliament in early April 2014.

Yesterday, the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) presented its final report on the activities of the American and British spy agencies surveillance programmes and their impact on E.U. citizens’ fundamental rights.

2014 was already set to be a critical year for internet governance, with some key meetings planned having the potential to push the needle on much needed reform. But in the aftermath of Snowden’s revelations, it looks like 2014 could be the year for change. With rising political pressure, heightened public awareness and activism, and a new global meeting on the future of internet governance, 2014 could provide the opportunity to advance a positive reform agenda that: preserves the interoperable/global nature of the internet; is secure and facilitates the exercise of human rights, for all users without discrimination or regard for where they happen to connect; is inclusive in decision-making so that policies reflect the public interest. This is the first in a series of blog posts in which we will break down the major international internet governance moments on our radar for 2014.

In 2013, the world learned that the NSA’s reach into our privacy extends further and deeper than we ever could have imagined.