EDRi-gram: EU Parliament flip-flops backwards on copyright

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EDRi-gram 16.17
fortnightly newsletter about digital civil rights in Europe

EDRi-gram 16.17, 12 September 2018
Read online: https://edri.org/edri-gram/16-17/

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Contents
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1. Press Release: EU Parliament flip-flops backwards on copyright
2. Press Release: EU Terrorism Regulation: an EU election tactic
3. How the online tracking industry "informs" policy makers
4. Media reforms in Macedonia delayed due to more pressing security issues
5. Big Brother Awards 2018 Italy
6. Recommended Action
7. Recommended Reading
8. Agenda
9. About

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1. Press Release: EU Parliament flip-flops backwards on copyright
=======================================================================
On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament (EP) adopted amendments to
the European Commission's draft EU Copyright Directive, as a result of
the EP's previous rejection of the Legal Affairs Committee's proposals
as basis for negotiations with the EU Council.

The Parliament's today vote represents a backwards flip-flop to
supporting measures which it had previously dismissed.

"Negotiations will start between the Parliament and the EU Council: a
proposal that coerces internet companies into monitoring, filtering and
blocking our uploads versus one that more explicitly forces internet
companies into monitoring, filtering and blocking our uploads. The
result will be a cocktail of both poisons, to be put to a final vote
just a few short months before the 2019 European Parliament elections",
- said Diego Naranjo, EDRi Senior Policy Analyst

The aftermath of a law that regulates all internet companies in Europe
as if they were Google and Facebook is clear: an internet in Europe
where only Google and Facebook can survive. If such policies are
approved, the Copyright Directive reform will be an act of outstanding
self-harm for both European citizens and European businesses.

EDRi will continue to follow closely with the file's next steps and
advocate for putting Europeans' rights and freedoms at the forefront of
the negotiations with EU's Council on the Copyright Directive reform.
Next step: the final vote on the agreement between the Council and
Parliament – expected in January 2019.

Read more:
Copyright: Compulsory filtering instead of obligatory filtering – a
compromise? (4.09.2018)
https://edri.org/copyright-compulsory-filtering-instead-of-obligatory-filtering-a-compromise/

Press Release: EU Parliamentarians support an open, democratic debate on
Copyright Directive (05.07.2018)
https://edri.org/press-release-eu-parliamentarians-support-open-democratic-debate-around-copyright-directive/

Moving Parliament's copyright discussions into the public domain
(27.06.2018)
https://edri.org/moving-parliaments-copyright-discussions-into-the-public-domain-2-0/

Copyright reform: Document pool
https://edri.org/copyright-reform-document-pool/

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2. Press Release: EU Terrorism Regulation: an EU election tactic
=======================================================================
The European Commission's apparently endless stream of "solutions" to
stop the spread of online terrorist content has today been complemented
by yet another measure, a draft Regulation.

Despite a pile of existing tools and expired implementation deadlines,
the European Commission has hurriedly published, under the pressure of
Germany and France, a new Regulation that addresses (yet again) deleting
or disabling access to terrorist content by online companies. The
alleged urgency and importance of this proposal need to be seen in the
context of the upcoming European elections and terrorism as a leading
election topic in recent years.

"Eight months away from the EU elections, it is regrettable that the
Commission proposes (yet again) new legislation with minimal regard for
effectiveness or for fundamental rights – the pillars of our democracy",
said Maryant Fernández Pérez, Senior Policy Advisor at European Digital
Rights (EDRi).

"The Commission has an obligation under the Terrorism Directive to
assess its impact on human rights by 2021. Instead of analysing the
impact of existing initiatives, the Commission has proposed yet more
ill-defined measures", she added.

The proposal contains three main measures to address alleged "terrorist"
content.

First, it creates orders issued by (undefined) national authorities to
remove or disable access to illegal terrorist content within an hour.
Second, competent authorities can choose to make referrals of
terrorist-related potential breaches of companies' terms of service that
would be subject to the voluntary consideration of the companies themselves.
Third, it legislates on (undefined) proactive measures that can lead to
an authority requesting a general monitoring obligation.

This means that for the first time, the Commission is proposing the
possibility of an explicit derogation from Article 15 of the e-commerce
Directive which prevents governments from requiring internet companies
to monitor everything we say and publish online.

"The Commission's proposal fails to provide any meaningful evidence on
how this regulation will prevent the dissemination of alleged terrorist
content online while it puts fundamental rights such as freedom of
expression and privacy at risk", said Fanny Hidvegi, European Policy
Manager at Access Now.

"The EU Commission should not make the usual mistake of rushing
legislation under the political pressure of Member States and the
upcoming European elections", she added.

The proposed Regulation follows the release of a Communication on
removal of online illegal content in 2017, a similar Recommendation  in
March 2018, pressure on the Commission from Germany and France in April
2018 and the September 2018 deadline for the implementation of the
Terrorism Directive that already covers blocking and removals of
terrorist content.

Further, the proposed Regulation builds on the internationally
criticised EU's headlong rush to implement one-size-fits-all automated
content filters to somehow solve diverse types of illegal content
online. This is a topic that will not only, it appears, serve as a
fruitful platform for European election candidates, but also as a
normalisation discourse on the privatisation of law enforcement in the
hands of internet giants.

European Digital Rights (EDRi) and Access Now will follow closely the
development of the file in the upcoming period and work to create a
sustainable approach to tackling the spread of online terrorist content
that does not keep watering down people's existing rights and freedoms.

Read more:
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council
on preventing the dissemination of terrorist content online
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/sites/beta-political/files/soteu2018-preventing-terrorist-content-online-regulation-640_en.pdf

LEAK: France & Germany demand more censorship from internet companies
[07.06.2018]
https://edri.org/leak-france-germany-demand-more-censorship-from-internet-companies/

Commission's position on tackling illegal content online is
contradictory and dangerous for free speech [28.09.2017]
https://edri.org/commissions-position-tackling-illegal-content-online-contradictory-dangerous-free-speech/

EU Commission's Recommendation: Let's put internet giants in charge of
censoring Europe [1.03.2018]
https://edri.org/eu-commissions-recommendation-lets-put-internet-giants-in-charge-of-censoring-europe/

Terrorism Directive - Document Pool
https://edri.org/terrorism-directive-document-pool/

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3. How the online tracking industry "informs" policy makers
=======================================================================
Following the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR), the online advertising industry's lobbying efforts moved to
undermining the ePrivacy Regulation proposal. The Regulation, building
on the GDPR, is designed to provide more specific provisions related to
privacy and confidentiality of communications in the context of
e-communications.

For example, the ePrivacy Regulation will regulate the way in which
online tracking companies operate and how the privacy of individuals can
be further protected. In this context, lobbying groups for the booming
online stalking industry are doing everything they can to label the
protection of citizen's privacy rights as harmful for the digital
economy. As recent evidence shows, these efforts do not even stop at
providing European Union policy makers with information that appears
designed to mislead.

In a Euractiv.com op-ed, Dr. Johnny Ryan (Chief Policy & Industry
Relations Officer at Brave Software), explained that "research"
circulated by lobby group IAB Europe was dubious, at best. The
"research" misleadingly misrepresented the revenues collected by
European publishers from behavioural advertising, by including the
advertising revenues of Google and Facebook – two powerful members of
IAB (Google is a direct member, Facebook is taking part through its
subsidiary company Atlas) who, in relation to this activity, are clearly
not "publishers" in the sense of traditional news outlets.

In this context, it is all the more misleading that the research report
spread by the IAB in September 2017 crams tech-giants and media-outlets
together into the category of 'publishers'. In an earlier position
paper, the IAB stated that the proposed ePrivacy regulation would
"derail European digital media outlets by significantly undermining
their ability to generate enough revenue to create and provide free
online content and services". However, as Dr. Ryan reports, only a
fraction of the claimed 10,6 billion euro revenue that European
publishers allegedly made with behavioural advertising in 2016 actually
goes to journalists and creative content providers.

Actively confusing the revenue of these actual publishers with the vast
sums harvested by Google and Facebook through stalking online browsing
behaviour (and, we have since learned, staking people's location offline
also), appears more than a little cynical. It is also a critical
omission of information that reflects badly on the IAB's respect for its
oath to provide complete and non-misleading information, which they made
as part of their registration for the EU Transparency Register. While
the main advocate for companies whose aim it is to monitor European
citizens' every step on the internet has proved a flexible attitude to
factual reporting in the past, this incident reaches a new level of
flexibility with the truth.

EU parliamentarians and EU Member States need to question the supposed
'economic value' of ubiquitous monitoring on their voters. All the more,
the evidence should also serve as a warning to the Austrian Council
Presidency, which has pledged to "ensure strong privacy protection in
electronic communications while also taking into account development
opportunities for innovative services". As it has been demonstrated, the
alleged 'development opportunities' of behavioural advertising in the EU
are mainly to the benefit of advertising duopoly. Will the Austrian
presidency live up to its motto of a "Europe that protects" by
supporting a strong ePrivacy regime?

Read more:
ePrivacy: Over-regulation or opportunity? (07.09.2018)
https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/opinion/eprivacy-over-regulation-or-opportunity/

EU Council considers undermining ePrivacy (25.07.2018)
https://edri.org/eu-council-considers-undermining-eprivacy/

Your ePrivacy is nobody else's business (30.05.2018)
https://edri.org/your-eprivacy-is-nobody-elses-business/

Five things the online tracking industry gets wrong (13.09.2017)
https://edri.org/five-things-the-online-tracking-industry-gets-wrong/

Massive lobby against personal communications security has started
(27.07.2016)
https://edri.org/massive-lobby-personal-communications-security-started/

(Contribution by Yanic Blaschke, EDRi intern)

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4. Media reforms in Macedonia delayed due to more pressing security issues
=======================================================================
Recent political developments have affected the implementation of the
reforms in the area of freedom of expression in Macedonia. The focus of
government institutions on overcoming political obstacles to joining
NATO and the EU had put most other reforms on the backburner.

The political tension in the Republic of Macedonia has increased in
recent months ahead of the referendum, scheduled for 30 September 2018,
which will enable the voters to express their opinion on the agreement
signed with Greece in June in order to solve the long-standing name
dispute. Fulfilment of the agreement includes change of the name of the
country to Republic of North Macedonia, which is precondition for
lifting the Greek veto that had been preventing Macedonia from joining
NATO and the EU. Joining these alliances had been a long-term strategic
goal of the country, in particular as a safeguard against internal and
regional security threats.

Civil society organisations dealing with media had warned that changes
to the electoral code made in July 2018, ahead of the crucial September
referendum on NATO and EU accession, would re-introduce
government-funded advertising in the media, which was abolished as one
of the first steps of the overall long-term reform process.

In order to fulfil the conditions for accession to the European Union,
Macedonia is required to continue the process of institutional changes,
based on the Urgent Reform Priorities set by the EU in 2016. The URP
include re-examining of the legal framework affecting freedom of
expression. The four key urgent reform priorities area in the field of
media and freedom of expression include:

1. Reform of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in order to ensure
its independence and increase the quality of its reporting and overall
content production.
2. Establishing mechanisms for transparency and accountability with
regard to government advertising.
3. Addressing the main obstacles which journalists face in obtaining
access to public information.
4. Revising the legal and procedural rules related to defamation, and
promotion of self-regulation and arbitration as alternative to court
actions.

The pace of these reforms, which started in June 2017, when the new,
pro-EU and pro-NATO government came into power, has been uneven and
incomplete. According to the most recent periodical report by the
Observatory of Media Reforms (OMR), a monitoring project by EDRi member
Metamorphosis and partner civil society organisations PINA and Agora,
most of the reforms had been only "partially fulfilled," and some, like
defamation legislation, has not been tackled at all.

Reform of the PBS at a standstill

The reform of the PBS is related to a wider reform of several so-called
'media laws' (Law on media, Law on audio and audiovisual media services,
etc.) which also affect the composition and the mandate of governing
bodies of the PBS and of regulatory institutions, in particular the
Agency for Audio and Audiovisual Media Services. While the government
has started the process of changing these laws, by the summer of 2018 it
has come to a standstill due to complex set of influences.The government
mainly has been pointing to filibustering by the parliamentary
opposition as key obstacle, blaming the former ruling party for
attempting to keep in office the members of governing bodies appointed
by them. However, civil society has stressed the need to build public
consensus on the final form of these laws in order to prevent setting
legal loopholes which would enable the executive to exert undue power.

Meanwhile, the situation in the PBS Macedonian Radio and Television has
been deteriorating, as it has been failing in its basic task to
strengthen the cohesion of the society by providing unbiased information
catering to the needs of all citizens, including various ethnic
communities. Research by the OMR revealed severe lack of capacities,
both financial and technical, including human resources.

Government advertising halted, then reintroduced with Electoral Code
amendments

In August 2017, the government declared that it will cease commercial
advertising in the media and that it would continue to communicate with
the public through the PBS and its social media presences, including
sponsored Facebook ads. While not providing explanations about several
specific issues within this area, for the most part of its first year in
power it indeed ceased the flow of public money into private media,
which was a key source of media corruption during the previous decade.
Legislative changes to the Electoral Code related to the implementation
of the referendum, passed through fast-track procedure in July 2018,
include provisions that the State Election Commission (SEC) can impose
fines on the media for 'unbalanced reporting' and allow use of
taxpayers' money by state bodies for media campaigns.

Fearing that new legislation can "legitimize political propaganda in the
media paid for by taxpayers' money" several civil society
organizations—the Association of Journalists of Macedonia (AJM), the
Independent Union of Journalists and Media Workers (SSNM), the Council
on Media Ethics in Macedonia (CMEM), Macedonian Institute for Media
(MIM) and the Institute of Communication Studies (IKS)—condemned the
interpretation of the new legislation by the SEC.

These organisations also started advocacy efforts warning various
stakeholders about the possible negative consequences, which had been
supported by European Federation of Journalists, and alerted the Council
of Europe. AJM "expressed great concern about the recent amendments to
the Election Code for the legalization of political propaganda in the
media with public money and the indirect regulation of the online media,
which could have a negative effect on the freedom of the media."

Delayed consultations on Freedom of Information Law and other laws stalled

In August 2017, the Macedonian government started "addressing the main
obstacles which journalists face in obtaining public information" by
declassifying a range of documents which had previously been classified
within the state institutions. It also provided free access for
journalists to public interest databases owned by two state institutions.

The journalist community also demanded amending the Law for Free Access
to Information of Public Character, in particular in regards to
shortening the response deadlines. While the government indeed started
the process of legislative changes, including public consultations on
this law from January 2018, its conclusion is still pending. As the
draft law has not yet been proposed, the Observatory rated this priority
"partially fulfilled."

In addition, no revision of the regulations related to defamation has
been launched, in particular with regard to the Law for Civic
Responsibility for Libel and Insult, as well as related procedural
rules, which need to be aligned with the practice of the European Court
of Human Rights, and the recommendation of the Senior Experts' Group on
systemic Rule of Law issues led by former European Commissioner Reinhard
Priebe. While it expressed strong political will to support the
self-regulation mechanisms, the government had not adopted concrete
measures to do so. The Observatory considered this priority "completely
unfulfilled."

Like with other reform processes that had been put on hold due to the
most urgent priority in recent history of Republic of Macedonia, the
changes of media legislature are expected to continue after the 30
September referendum.

Read more:
Observatory of Media Reforms – OMR (available in Macedonian and Albanian
only)
http://mediaobservatorium.mk/

Current Media Laws, on the website of the Agency for Audio and
Audiovisual Media Services
http://avmu.mk/en/legislation/domestic-legislation/laws/

Changes of media legislation in Macedonia are guided by the Urgent
Reform Priorities
https://internetfreedom.blog/2017/11/24/changes-of-media-legislation-in-macedonia-are-guided-by-the-urgent-reform-priorities/

Urgent Reform Priorities
https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/former-yugoslav-republic-macedonia/17011/urgent-reform-priorities_en

Experts and journalists target AAVMU bill once again (19.04.2018)
http://meta.mk/en/experts-and-journalists-target-aavmu-bill-once-again/

Final Agreement for the Settlement on the Name Issue (11.06.2018)
http://vlada.mk/?q=node/15057&ln=en-gb

Manchevski: The opposition has been filibustering the media laws for
four months (12.06.2018)
http://meta.mk/en/manchevski-opposition-block-media-laws-for-four-months/

SEC has no right to impose media presentation for the referendum
(07.08.2018)
http://znm.org.mk/?p=4579&lang=en

Macedonia: Election Commission authorized to fine media for 'Unbalanced
Reporting' (13.08.2018)
http://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2018/08/13/macedonia-election-commission-authorised-to-fine-media-for-unbalanced-reporting/

MTV is on life support, has weak video signal and the secondary audio
programming is nowhere near implementation (30.11.2017)
http://meta.mk/en/mtv-is-on-antique-life-support-has-weak-video-signal-and-the-secondary-audio-programming-is-nowhere-near-implementation/

(Contribution by EDRi member Matamorphosis, Macedonia)

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5. Big Brother Awards 2018 Italy
=======================================================================
The 2018 Italian edition of the Big Brother Awards was held in Bologna
on 8 June 2018, with the support of a grant from the European Digital
Rights Fund. The award ceremony took place during the 23rd edition of
the E-privacy conference.

The winners of the Italian Big Brother Awards 2018

Technological Threat:
The award was shared among:
● Amazon AWS IoT Services
● Google Cloud IoT
● Particle Industries, Inc.

The above companies sell IoT (internet of things) development and
management services to IoT device developers and sellers. By doing so
they create "walled gardens" where adopters and their users are captive,
and they become a hub of data transmission from all devices.

National threat: Italian Parliament
With no discussion at all, the Parliament silently inserted mandatory
6-year storage of telecommunications data and extended provisions on
internet traffic data storage into a law pertaining to elevator safety
rules.

International Threat: and Lifelong Threat: (Surprise, surprise!) Facebook
The win comes thanks to the Cambridge Analytica affair. Skipping
technicalities, here is an extract from the prize explanation:
"Is this a credible representation of the original: The recent scandals
have led its founder [Mark Zuckerberg] to show disarming honesty. In a
public hearing in the US Congress he showed the true nature of Facebook,
which is not a social one but "Senator, we run ads"."

Privacy Hero: Altroconsumo
The Italian consumer advocacy organization Altroconsumo that started the
first consumer class action
against Facebook, asking for compensation due to unauthorized use of
their personal data.

The full video of the ceremony (in Italian) can be accessed on the
e-privacy site.

Read more:
Big Brother Awards – tips and materials for organisers (02.05.2018)
https://edri.org/big-brother-awards-tips-and-materials-for-organisers/

(Contribution by Hermes Center, EDRi member, Italy)

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6. Recommended Action
=======================================================================
Hear the talks at Freedom not Fear!
Keep an eye on the (changing) schedule, and join talks with EDRi's team
and members.
https://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Freedom_Not_Fear_2018/Schedule

Call for Participation at 35C3
The 35th Chaos Communication Congress will take place on 27 December
2018 in Leipzig, Germany.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 15 October 2018.
https://events.ccc.de/2018/09/11/35c3-call-for-participation-and-submission-guidelines/

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7. Recommended Reading
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Elements for the reform of copyright and related cultural policies
https://www.laquadrature.net/en/elements-for-the-reform-of-copyright-and-related-cultural-policies

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8. Agenda
=======================================================================
21.09.2018, Berlin, Germany
"Das ist Netzpolitik!" Conference #14np
https://netzpolitik.org/14np/

21.09.2018, Brussels, Belgium
Freedom not Fear
https://www.freedomnotfear.org/

22.09.2018, Dresden, Germany
Symposium Datenspuren 2018
https://www.datenspuren.de/2018/

28.09.2018, Berlin, Germany
#FIfFKon18 Brave New World
https://www.fiff.de/fiffkon18-brave-new-world

28.09.2018, Copenhagen, Denmark
Data Ethics Forum
https://dataethics.eu/en/conference18/

11.10.2018, Warsaw, Poland
Copy Camp 2018
https://copycamp.pl/en/

27.12.2018,  Leipzig, Germany
35th Chaos Communication Congress
https://events.ccc.de/2018/09/11/35c3-call-for-participation-and-submission-guidelines/

============================================================
12. About
============================================================
EDRi-gram is a fortnightly newsletter about digital civil rights by
European Digital Rights (EDRi), an association of civil and human rights
organisations from across Europe. EDRi takes an active interest in
developments in the EU accession countries and wants to share knowledge
and awareness through the EDRi-gram.

All contributions, suggestions for content, corrections or agenda-tips
are most welcome. Errors are corrected as soon as possible and are
visible on the EDRi website.

Except where otherwise noted, this newsletter is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. See the full text at
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Newsletter editor: Anamarija Tomicic - edrigram@edri.org

Information about EDRi and its members: http://www.edri.org/

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