Information Policy

Romanian Govt adopts Data retention law, but calls it inefficient

The Romanian Government adopted on 20 February 2007 the draft law on data retention, but despite the official press release that praises the new measure, several officials have complained about the lack of reality of the legal text.

The draft law was adopted by the Government at about one year after the Ministry of Information Technology and Communication (MCTI) presented the first draft, with no major changes in the text. This means that the Government has changed its previous intention to adopt the text as an Emergency Ordinance.

http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.4/romania-data-retention

Germany: New basic right to privacy of computer systems

The German Constitutional Court published on 27 February 2008 a landmark ruling about the constitutionality of secret online searches of computers by government agencies. The decision constitutes a new "basic right to the confidentiality and integrity of information-technological systems" as derived from the German Constitution.

The journalist and privacy activist Bettina Winsemann, the politician Fabian Brettel (Left Party), the lawyer and former federal minister for the interior Gerhart Baum (Liberal Party), and the lawyers Julius Reiter and Peter Schantz had challenged the constitutionality of a December 2006 amendmend to the law about the domestic intelligence service of the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia. The amendmend had introduced a right for the intelligence service to "covertly observe and otherwise reconnoitre the Internet, especially the covert participation in its communication devices and the search for these, as well as the clandestine access to information-technological systems among others by technical means" (paragraph 5, number 11). Parts of the challenges also addressed other amendmends which are not covered here.

The decision of today is widely considered a landmark ruling, because it constitutes a new "basic right to the confidentiality and integrity of information-technological systems" as part of the general personality rights in the German constitution. The reasoning goes: "From the relevance of the use of information-technological systems for the expression of personality (Pers?nlichkeitsentfaltung) and from the dangers for personality that are connected to this use follows a need for protection that is significant for basic rights. The individual is depending upon the state respecting the justifiable expectations for the integrity and confidentiality of such systems with a view to the unrestricted expression of personality." (margin number 181). The decision complements earlier landmark privacy rulings by the Constitutional Court that had introduced the "right to informational self-determination" (1983) and the right to the "absolute protection of the core area of the private conduct of life" (2004).

Information-technical systems that are protected under the new basic right are all systems that "alone or in their technical interconnectedness can contain personal data of the affected person in a scope and multiplicity such that access to the system makes it possible to get insight into relevant parts of the conduct of life of a person or even gather a meaningful picture of the personality." (margin number 203). This includes laptops, PDAs and mobile phones.

The decision also gives very strict exceptions for breaking this basic right. Only if there are "factual indications for a concrete danger" in a specific case for the life, body and freedom of persons or for the foundations of the state or the existence of humans, government agencies may use these measures after approval by a judge. They do not, however, need a sufficient probability that the danger will materialize in the near future. Online searches can therefore not be used for normal criminal investigations or general intelligence work.

If these rare conditions are met, secret online searches may only be used if there are steps taken to protect the core area of the private conduct of life, which includes communication and information about inner feelings or deep relationships. These protections have to include technical measures that aim at avoiding the collection of data from this core area. The Court goes on: "If there are concrete indications in the specific case that a certain measure for gathering data will touch the core area of the conduct of private life, it has to remain principally undone." If data from this core area is accidentially collected, it must be deleted immediately and can not be used or forwarded in any case.

Reactions to the decision were mixed. The opposition parties and many civil liberties groups acclaimed the birth of the new basic right with constitutional status and the high hurdles for any future use of governmental spyware. Others, among them many bloggers, were sceptical about the exeption clauses and how far they can be stretched by the government in future legislation and practice.

Secret online searches of personal hard drives and other storage media had been subject to intense political debate in Germany over the last year after the federal government had to admit it had already tried online searches for criminal investigations without legal grounds and was stopped by the Federal High Court. The federal government as well as several states plan to enact similar possibilities for their intelligence and law enforcement agencies, while the opposition parties and parts of the ruling Social Democrats are strictly against it. Privacy activists have called the plan "Federal Trojan" ("Bundestrojaner"). A real-life sized model of a trojan horse in Germany's national colors which was built by activists from EDRi member Chaos Computer Club (CCC) and used at several protest marches will soon be exhibited in the Museum of German History in Bonn.

Federal Minister for the Interior Wolfgang Sch?uble (Christian Democrats) said he expects that the coalition will soon agree on a bill to give the Federal Criminal Agency (BKA) the legal possibility to use online searches in the fight against international terrorism. Privacy advocates pointed out that Sch?uble now at least has to stick to a very narrow definition of fighting terrorist dangers and can not use this as a disguise for introducing general and far-reaching surveillance of personal computer systems.

http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number6.4/germany-constitutional-searches

SK: EU invests €993 million in Slovakian Information Society

The European Commission has approved an 'Information Society' Operational Programme for Slovakia for the 2007-2013 period, which will see some €1.2 billion invested in improving eGovernment services in the country.

The contribution of the European Community to the programme, allocated through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), amounts to some €993 million. This represents approximately 9.1% of the total EU investment earmarked for Slovakia under the Cohesion Policy for 2007-2013, and is expected to give a significant boost to the development of eGovernment services in Slovakia.

The programme recognises that further development of the information society infrastructure is necessary in Slovakia in order to harness the potential of new information and communication tools, and that eGovernment services will contribute to a more inclusive society.

http://www.epractice.eu/document/4409

The Development Of The Internet In Botswana

Alain Megias, IBLS

Botswana, which is bordered by Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe, has had high growth rates due to its sound economic management and its diamond mining industry. In order to diversify the economy, the Government created in 1999 an International Financial Services Center, and also put the focus on the development of Information and Communication Technologies.

Botswana has some strong advantages compared with other African countries: (i) it is a stable democracy with an excellent track record since independence in 1966, (ii) it has consistently invested a high proportion of its budget on education and skills training, (iii) it has a thriving domestic financial sector, which includes banks, insurance companies and a growing stock market, (iv) it has acceded to international conventions and is strictly observing internationally accepted guidelines on combating money laundering and financial crime. As a result, Transparency International, in its Corruption Perceptions Index of 2003, has rated Botswana the least corrupt country in Africa. These elements, added to a favorable offshore regime and to a strong political will to develop Internet use, give Botswana a chance to succeed in the development of Information and Communication Technologies.

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=articles&id=C668C494-71C8-4AFA-BE5D-6F17DF523036

EU Law on Competition for Electronic Communication Networks and Services

Communications is one of the most regulated areas by any government. Taking this fact into consideration and knowing this could hinder the expansion of e-commerce among the Member States, the European Union ("EU") implemented Commission Directive 2002/77/EC on September 16, 2002 ("E-communication Directive"). The E-communication Directive promotes for the liberalization of communication sectors within the Member States and purports to achieve open electronic communication networks and services, with no restrictions, in the EU. This article summarizes the most relevant issues of this EU Directive and provides some short history on its implementation obstables.

http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=1995

YouTube lost for many as Pakistan attempts to block local access

Most of the world's Internet users lost access to YouTube for several hours Sunday after an attempt by Pakistan's government to block access domestically affected other countries. The outage highlighted yet another of the Internet's vulnerabilities, coming less than a month after broken fiber-optic cables in the Mediterranean took Egypt off line and caused communications problems from the Middle East to India.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_8359882?nclick_check=1

VNPT to invest a billion dollars on broadband

VietnamNet Bridge reports that incumbent operator Vietnam Post and Telecoms Group (VNPT) intends to invest USD1 billion in 2008 on the development of its broadband network, upping capacity to 200Gbps by mid-2008, and 300Gbps later on. The telco hopes to attract 1.5 million broadband internet subscribers by the end of the year, bringing in revenues of VND2.25 trillion ( USD140.6 million). VNPT is currently building an NGN network and replacing its current optical cable system to enable the development of its broadband network in the future.

http://www.telegeography.com/cu/article.php?article_id=21912&email=text

Building Consensus on Internet Access at the Internet Governance Forum

This paper identifies and documents the main areas of discussions and ‘recommendations’ that were generated under the Access theme at the second Internet Governance Forum in Rio De Janeiro, November 2007.

Whilst recognising that the IGF is currently viewed and operates primarily as a space for discussion, the paper finds that (specifically in the case of Access) it is also a space in which commonality of opinion occurs to the level at which ‘recommendations’ can be made and repeatedly asserted independently/individually in the workshops, and strategically reinforced at different levels of the IGF.

The levels addressed in the paper include:

• the three 'thematic' workshops on access
• the reporting back session
• and the main access plenary

The paper finds the generation and articulation of recommendations to be in line with the mandate of the IGF, specifically:

Advising all stakeholders in proposing ways and means to accelerate the availability and affordability of the Internet in the developing world.

Whilst a variety of recommendations were made, these can be categorised into the following broad areas:

• Enhancement of the development of and access to infrastructure - in recognising that the availability of internet infrastructure needs to be considered hand-in-hand with the affordability of the infrastructure, this recommendation calls for the consistent implementation of competitive regimes and the creation of incentives that facilitate the coexistence of competitive and collaborative models for providing and/or improving access.
• Localisation of ICT and Telecom policies and regulation – refers to calls for a review of the ways in which access issues are articulated and ICT/Telecom policy and regulation is formulated. It asks that the translation/customisation of largely urban-centric policies be challenged and that greater emphasis be given to demand-side characteristics and the needs of rural/local communities.
• Promoting the development potential of ICTs and integrating access infrastructure initiatives with other basic needs – calls for a multi-sectoral approach to infrastructure development and regulation; specifically the integration of ICT regulation and policy with local development strategies, as well as the exploitation of complementarities between different types of development infrastructure

This paper proposes that the convergence in opinions about how to address the challenges of access may be a result of a maturity in understanding of the issues relating to access that has built up over time and is discussed in other related bodies and fora. However, thinking and understanding of ‘tools’ and implementation procedures/processes of solutions for resolving/addressing these well understood issues and challenges cannot be described as having attained a similar level of maturity – in fact, particularly in the case of rural/local access they can be described as infantile.

http://rights.apc.org/documents/IGF_AccessRecommendations_0208.pdf

Celebrate Music Freedom Day On 3 March

In less than a week, radio stations, newspapers and musicians across five continents will focus on music censorship for Music Freedom Day. Play a controversial song, interview a censored musician, or dedicate your next song to freedom of musical expression on Monday, 3 March.

Freemuse, an organisation that advocates free expression for musicians and composers, is offering radio producers free original radio interviews in broadcast quality - from the banning of music centres in Pakistan's tribal areas, to the Algerian rap, "152 mesures contre la censure", recorded especially for the day.

A concert and seminar in Oslo, Norway featuring Kris Kristofferson from the U.S., Ferhat Tunc from Turkey, Mari Boine from Norway and Chiwoniso Maraire from Zimbabwe will be broadcast via satellite radio around Europe and streamed on the Internet worldwide.

Also, be sure to watch out for the winner of the first ever Freemuse Award, which honours a musician, individual or organisation that has "worked for freedom of musical expression in a remarkable way."

http://www.freemuse.org/sw19297.asp

Egypt to Launch Second Fixed-Line Licence in June 2008

Egypt's National Telecoms Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has announced that the country's second fixed-line licence auction will start on 19 June 2008, the first step in bringing an end to the fixed-line monopoly Telecom Egypt has had.

The new licence will bring competition, choice and innovation to the under-served Egyptian fixed-line sector.

Growth in fixed-line services has been slow and has rapidly been overtaken by mobile services.

Additional competition will stimulate growth in the sector; however, the new operator will have to provide a range of bundled packages to ensure profitability.

Egypt is in the final stages of fully liberalising its telecoms sector; the country now has three mobile operators, and will provide the gateway for a second fixed-line operator in the second half of the year. Bidding companies can obtain the licence specifications and conditions booklet from the regulator's headquarters from 13 March 2008. Those interested will have to pay US$10,000 for the booklet and need to submit an auction guarantee of £E10 million (US$1.8 million).

At the end of 2006, the incumbent, Telecom Egypt, had 10.8 million fixed lines and a penetration level of 14.4%, which is around half the mobile penetration level. As part of the fixed-line licence terms, the government will also offer an international calling licence to the winner. Since 2004, fixed-line growth per annum has never exceeded 8% and was 4.3% at the end of 2006. Telecom Egypt currently provides retail telecommunication services, including access, local, long distance and international voice, internet and data, and other services. It also provides mobile interconnectivity through its 44.79% holding in Vodafone Egypt, one of the three Egyptian mobile operators. Although there are 10.8 million subscribers for fixed-line services, the real demand for the home service will come from broadband and the range of services it can offer. Whilst broadband penetration is low as a percentage of the number of fixed lines in operation, it has been increasing rapidly; at the end of 2006, Telecom Egypt had 92,300 ADSL subscribers, whilst the country as a whole has 400,000 subscribers.

The news is essential to generate innovation and service diversity within the Egyptian telecoms market. Telecom Egypt has not been able to provide adequate services at a low enough price to increase demand significantly. At the end of the third quarter of 2007, its fixed-line customer base increased 3% to 11 million, compared to 10.7 million in the first nine months of 2006.

At least threee operators have previously expressed interest in the licence: Orascom, Etisalat and Raya. Of the three, both Orascom and Etisalat have a very high chance of winning the bid. Etisalat has the greater financial resources, and has already launched the third mobile operator in the country. Etisalat is also very keen on investing in emerging markets and has already made acquisitions in the African region. The second favourite to win the licence is Orascom, which has a 28.8% stake in Egyptian mobile operator MobiNil; its influence in the Egyptian market for other services, including construction and IT products, makes it a very important player in the auction. Whilst it is uncertain which other operators will bid for the licence, it seems likely that at least eight telcos will have shown interest by the auction date.

http://communicationsdirectnews.com/do.php/130/29312?7649