The European Commission has put reforming the continent's digital market at the heart of a drive to improve consumer rights, amid concerns about the efficiency of the online single market. The proposal forms part of a ...

The European Commission has given Google “a matter of weeks” to propose a “remedies package” in order to avoid formal legal proceedings and possible fines over allegations that the online search giant is abusing its ...

Software pirates are most likely to be young men according to a survey carried out by software industry lobby group the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The BSA study of nearly 15,000 computer users, published on ...

Ambitious plans to create the EU's largest ever cultural funding programme are a step closer to reality after ministers offered broad support for the European Commission's Creative Europe programme at a meeting in ...

The European Commission wants re-vamped state aid rules to be part of Europe’s 2020 growth strategy, according to a paper released on Tuesday (8 May) by the EU executive. In a paper on ‘EU State Aid Modernisation’, EU ...

The European Commission and national governments are seeking to crack down on the rules granting access to their internal documents despite a ruling by the European Court of Justice calling on them to release legal ...

EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes has admitted defeat on the controversial anti-counterfeit treaty Acta, with her official spokesman telling reporters that the treaty's demise is a "political reality". ...

MPs on the UK's House of Commons European Scrutiny committee have demanded that the new EU patent court be based in London in order to mitigate against what it described as "the most damaging effects of a unitary EU- ...

The European Commission has threatened to table a comprehensive set of child internet safety rules if the software industry fails to self-regulate to protect children online. Unveiling its "European strategy for a ...

The EU's first cloud computing project is ready for use, according to a statement on Tuesday (May 1st) by the EU-funded Optimis project. The scheme will make its first cloud software available from 1 June to be ...

Guy Verhofstadt became the latest leading figure to oppose the anti-counterfeit treaty Acta when his Liberal group announced that they could not approve the deal without significant re-negotiation. At a press conference ...

EU copyright law does not ban the re-sale of computer programme licences, according to a ruling on Wednesday (25 April) by the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice. The judgement by the EU court follows a dispute ...

EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes Tuesday (24 April) reiterated her call for an EU-wide internet security strategy, arguing that EU authorities have not done enough to establish defence mechanisms to prevent ...

Heated debate on online privacy law has re-emerged in Washington with the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (Cispa) set to be the first bill on internet piracy to be adopted by the US Congress. Meanwhile, ...

The MEP charged with scrutiny of the little-loved anti-counterfeit 'Acta' treaty has called for a boycott, raising prospects that parliament will kill it in June or July. David Martin - a British member of the centre- ...

Film directors and screenwriters should be guaranteed minimum intellectual property rights by EU law, according to a group of leading trade organisations representing authors. In a joint statement issued Tuesday (10 ...

The UK’s Conservative-led coalition government has come under attack over plans to introduce legislation extending the powers of the police and security services to monitor personal emails and the use of social media by ...

The battle for the future of the music publishing industry is set to run until the summer after the European Commission revealed its plan to delay judgment on the take-over of British music publishing giant EMI until ...

EU commission Vice-President Viviane Reding on Wednesday (28 March) urged MEPs to back her proposals to overhaul the EU Data Protection law, saying that citizens and businesses "can't wait two years for adoption." ...

MEPs in the parliament's trade committee Tuesday (27 March) rejected a proposal to refer Acta to the European Court of Justice, meaning the controversial anti-counterfeit treaty is set to be voted on before summer. ...

The European Commission is on Wednesday (28 March) set to propose a European Cybercrime Centre in a bid to tackle rising levels of online crime across Europe. The agency, which is expected to open in 2013, will also be ...

The EU should allow people to pay for downloaded music by text message, according to a European Parliament report on the audiovisual sector. The proposal is one of the key reforms offered by Jean Marie Cavada, the ...

Dentists who play music in their surgeries can breathe a sigh of relief after they were officially exempted from paying music royalties according to a ruling announced last week (15 March) by the European Court of ...

The European Commission on Wednesday (14 March) launched plans to re-writer EU rules on state aid for cinema this year. Member States across the EU provide around €3bn per year in support for film production, with the ...

MEPs from across the political spectrum have united against an anti-immigrant internet hotline set up by the party of controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders. Deputies from all political groups - aside from the ...

Leading Internet freedom group La Quadrature du Net has reiterated its demands for an EU web neutrality law following last week’s disclosure that European Internet operators regularly use traffic management techniques ...

Online search engine Google is under fire for its new privacy policy, which came into force yesterday (1 March), with the French Data Protection Authority (CNIL) saying it breaches EU law. Justice commissioner Viviane ...

The debate on the controversial anti-counterfeit treaty, Acta has moved to the European Parliament, with MEPs set to pose their own questions to the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice. At the first meeting of ...

President Obama’s chief Internet advisor has described the administration’s Online Bill of Rights as the most decisive statement on Internet privacy by the US government. Speaking to EUobserver, Commerce Department ...

US President Barack Obama on Thursday (23 February) unveiled a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights aimed at improving data privacy protection on the Internet. The bill, which forms part of a White House report: 'Consumer ...

Five EU countries rank among the world’s top ten for policies that promote cloud computing, according to a study published on Wednesday (22 February) by the Business Software Alliance (BSA), an ICT body representing ...

In the face of mounting public and political pressure, the European Commission on Wednesday asked the Union's highest court to clarify whether the controversial anti-piracy treaty (ACTA) is in line with EU law. Trade ...

Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has insisted that US authorities cannot override EU laws on data privacy, following concerns expressed by MEPs that certain US laws and legal subpoenas could force EU companies to ...

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has struck the latest blow in the debate over internet policing, ruling on Thursday (16 February) that online social network sites cannot be forced to construct measures to prevent ...

The European Commission will publish a draft proposal of collective rights management within weeks, said Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier. Barnier told the European Parliament's legal affairs committee on ...

UK cyber security advisor Pauline Neville-Jones has joined calls by experts for governments to beef up their cyber security networks. In a speech to the Global Strategy Forum, the former defence minister described the ...

British Labour MEP David Martin was appointed on Tuesday (7th February) as the European Parliament’s rapporteur for the European Parliament’s report on the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), an ...

The European Commission has stepped into the growing row over the anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, Acta, as leading MEPs refuse to fast-track parliamentary approval due to bad faith in the talks. Speaking to ...

Europe is lagging behind the US in the cloud computing economy according to new research released by the London School of Economics. The new study, titled ‘Modelling the cloud’ was commissioned by IT-giant Microsoft, ...

Digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes has promised to present a European cloud strategy this summer, as part of a plan to reform the online market in the EU. Speaking at a meeting of the IP Forum in the European ...

Portuguese city Guimaraes launched the start of its year as European Capital of Culture (ECOC) on Saturday (21 January) against a backdrop of budget cuts which threaten to derail the success of the event. The city ...

A group of 25 of the world’s leading information and communication technology (ICT) firms have joined forces in a bid to improve cyber security for children in the EU. The ICT Coalition for a Safer Internet for Children ...

Online encyclopaedia Wikipedia on Wednesday (18 January) triggered a 24-hour blackout of its English language site in protest against anti-piracy legislation currently under discussion in the US Congress. Wikipedia - ...