[ORG PM] ORG Policy Update - 7 August 2015

Fri Aug 7 14:32:59 BST 2015

 ORG policy update/2015-w32

This is ORG's Policy Update for the week beginning 31/07/2015.

National Developments Coalition calls for a “right to remove” content for
children

iRights <http://irights.uk/>, a civil society initiative led by Crossbench
peer Baroness Beeban Kidron, has launched this week a list of five
“iRights” for children, one of them being the “right to remove”. This right
is defined as 'the unqualified right [for children and young adults], on
every Internet platform or service, to fully [and easily] remove data and
content they have created”. The aim is to allow young adults to get away
from potentially embarrassing past experiences.

This proposal is likely to be taken seriously, as iRights is backed by
European Union commissioner Neelie Kroes and Internet safety and security
minister baroness Joanna Shields
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Joanna_Shields>. The Children's
Commissioner is reportedly inspired
<http://irights.uk/irights-in-action-childrens-commissioner-in-england/> by
these proposals in her work to establish a “Growing Up Digital” taskforce
this autumn.

Questions have been raised
<http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/08/uk-peer-calls-for-universal-internet-delete-button-may-also-want-unicorns/>
on the feasibility of this proposition. It would require that a website
knows that a particular user was a child at the time he posted something,
and implies that users know where all copies of the information the users
wants to be deleted are located. It also raises the question of the
geographical scope, especially as Google re-affirmed last week that it
won't apply
<http://googlepolicyeurope.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/implementing-european-not-global-right.html>
the de-indexing of inaccurate or irrelevant informations (the “right to be
forgotten <https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/The_Right_To_Be_Forgotten>')
demanded by users to its worldwide and extra-European search services.

European Union EU – US data sharing agreement negotiations are coming to an
end

The European Union and the United States are, according to a leaked document
<http://www.euractiv.com/sections/infosociety/eu-close-sealing-deal-united-states-data-sharing-316814>,
very close to reaching a deal on the Safe Harbor, the data sharing
agreement that was put back into question after the Snowden revelations
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Guardian_and_Snowden_revelations_2013>.
It set standards that companies could voluntarily comply to in order to
facilitate the transfer of data between the EU and the US. In 2013,
documents leaked by the whistleblower have shown that the standard set by
this programme are insufficient and not properly enforced, so much so that
the European Parliament
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/European_Parliament> had called
<https://epic.org/2014/03/european-parliament-suspend-sa.html> for an end
to the programme altogether.

The European Commission
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/European_Commission> and the United
States have been negotiating a new agreement for more than two years. This
went far beyond the expected schedule, as no agreement
<https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2014/07/29/safe-harbor-under-increased-scrutiny>
could be reached on the exception for data interception in case of national
security concerns. Without providing many details, the leaked document
asserts that this problem has been solved and that a final agreement is
near.

International developments German chief prosecutor fired over Netzpolitik's
treason investigation scandal

Harald Range, the German senior prosecutor who was investigating two
Netzpolitik's journalists and one of their sources for treason, was fired
<http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2015/08/germanys-top-prosecutor-fired-over-netzpolitik-treason-probe/>
on Tuesday, August 4th, by the Justice Minister after a major public and
political outrage. This is the first time that journalists have been
charged with treason in Germany since 1962, and the news has sparked
<https://news.yahoo.com/german-media-treason-probe-sparks-major-political-rift-154848813.html>
street protests and outrage by major opposition parties. The journalists
published classified documents on the government's plan to further mass
surveillance in Germany.

The Chief prosecutor argued
<http://www.afp.com/en/news/german-media-treason-probe-sparks-major-political-rift>
that this forced early retirement was an “intolerable encroachment on the
independence of the judiciary” and that “freedom of the press and of
expression [,]including on the Internet, is not limitless”. The
investigation is suspended, but not terminated, and the scandal could go
on, as opposition parties have asked for details on the Justice Minister
and the Minister of the Interior's involvement and knowledge in this
investigation.
ICANN unveils plan for its independence from the US Department of Commerce

ICANN <https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/ICANN>, a key infrastructure
of the Internet whose main function is to establish the correspondence
between a domain name and numeric address, has published this week a report
<https://www.ianacg.org/icg-announces-call-for-public-comment-on-iana-stewardship-transition-proposal/>
on how it intends to deal with its new independence from the US Department
of Commerce. ICANN was under contract from the United States since 1998,
but is now moving further into a “multi-stakeholders” model free for
government interference.

The report proposes
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/03/usa-internet-icann-idUSL1N10E0ZZ20150803>
that the technical aspect of handling Internet's name and addresses should
be transferred to a separate subsidiary which the experts, academics and
public interest advocates composing ICANN could hold under scrutiny and
replace with another if its performance is not good enough. The
organisation is calling for comments
<https://www.ianacg.org/icg-announces-call-for-public-comment-on-iana-stewardship-transition-proposal/>
on its report.

The transition is expected to take place next summer, despite the
unwillingness of senior American politicians to hand over the keys of this
major Internet infrastructure. Ex-president Bill Clinton has expressed fear
<https://recode.net/2014/03/23/bill-clinton-would-prefer-u-s-oversight-of-the-internet/>
that this would be a danger for free and open Internet; the Republicans have
argued
<http://time.com/58277/republicans-dont-want-america-to-give-up-control-of-web-addresses/>
that the “multi-stakeholders model” will allow for foreign government, such
as Russia, to "grab” control of the Internet. Human Rights organisation
such as Human Rights Watch or Freedom House have welcomed
<https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2014/04/10/public-interest-groups-send-letter-expressing-concerns-on-dotcom-act-to-hou>
the advancement of the multi-stakeholders model, giving more transparency
to the internet governance. The argument between both sides is mostly
symbolic, as the attribution of domain name does not have massive privacy
or free speech implications.
India blocks porn – and then turns it back on

On Saturday, August 1st, more than 800 pornographic websites were blocked
<http://www.legallyindia.com/Tech-Media-Comms/porn-sites-blocked> by
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)in India, by order of the Indian
government's Department of Telecommunications. Proponents of the ban argued
that this was a first step to fight against “violence against women and
moral corruption”. The current Indian government tightened
<http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/02/26/internet-freedom_n_6758696.html>
its control over the Internet earlier this year, in a move that was
controversial and criticised as a blow against freedom of expression.

The ban was lifted
<https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/5/9099387/india-reverses-porn-website-ban>
on Tuesday after public outcry, and now only applies to child pornography.
ISPs still express discontent as they are held legally responsible if they
give access to a website containing child pornography.

ORG Media coverage

See ORG Press Coverage
<https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/ORG_Press_Coverage> for full
details.
2015-08-06 – BoingBoing - UK govt wants your opinion on sending
file-sharers to jail for 10 years
<https://boingboing.net/2015/08/06/uk-govt-wants-your-opinion-on.html> Author:
Cory Doctorow Summary: Quotes Jim Killock on the consultation on raising
maximum jail sentence for copyright infringement 2015-08-06 – Advanced
Television - ORG questions 10 year online piracy sentence proposal
<http://advanced-television.com/2015/08/06/org-questions-10-year-online-piracy-sentence-proposal/>
Author:
Colin Mann Summary: Quotes ORG's response to the consultation on raising
maximum jail sentence for copyright infringement 2015-07-31 – BBC News - Rise
of facial recognition queried by US agency
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-33736385> Author: Summary: Quotes Jim
Killock on the implications for privacy of the rise of facial
recognition 2015-08-02
– Torrent Freak - Anti-Web Blocking Site More Popular in the UK than
Spotify & Skype
<https://torrentfreak.com/anti-web-blocking-site-more-popular-in-the-uk-than-spotify-skype-150802/>
Author:
Andy Summary: Quotes Jim Killock on why Cameron's plan to ban porn for
minors won't work ORG contact details

Staff page <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff>

   -

   Jim Killock, Executive Director
   <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#jim>
   -

   Javier Ruiz, Policy <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#javier>
   -

   Ed Paton-Williams, Campaigns
   <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#ed>
   -

   Pam Cowburn, Communications
   <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#pam>
   -

   Lee Maguire, Tech <http://www.openrightsgroup.org/people/staff#lee>
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