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Showing posts with label Malmstrom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malmstrom. Show all posts

Friday, April 30, 2010

EC to censor Internet by mandating filtering: 'Cleanternet'?

To illustrate just how good intentions can lead to censorship and encourage others to follow our lead, here's what the naive newbie Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom intends to do - divert resources from removing child porn websites by mandating a pan-European filtering system.
First, it was child porn, then extreme porn, then suicide sites, then terrorist support, then racism, then xenophobia, then gender discrimination, then libel, then they took your children away...this video nicely shows how it works.
It fits with a broader consumer rights agenda for Europe (the 'Stockholm' syndrome?) that is led by Viviane Reding and generally looks pro-freedom and privacy (p11-Reding) and scary censoring (p35/36 Malmstrom):
  • Communication on new legal framework for data protection after entry into force of Lisbon Treaty;
  • New comprehensive legal framework for data protection (but note pp29-30);
  • Communication on 'Privacy and Trust in Digital Europe': ensuring citizens’ confidence in new services;
  • Recommendation to authorise the negotiation of a personal data protection agreement with US;
  • Communication on core elements for data protection in EU-3rd country agreements for law enforcement purposes. I hope the EC uses the study I worked on in 2007 - I was responsible for the India bit!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Neelie Kroes needs to update her web page

New Swedish Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom has her own blog (in Swedish) and was keen to publicise her meeting to discuss financial data exchange with the US under the SWIFT system.
By contrast, the agenda, speeches, in fact the whole of Neelie Kroes' website has not seen any activity of note in the two weeks since she started the job. Presumably she's engaged in spring cleaning internally within the DG.
I do apologise for describing her as geriatric - 68 is not ancient and she'll only be 73 at the end of her term, younger than my mum who would give me a clip round the ear for using the term - especially as a key component of the INFSO agenda is persuading the retired onto the web.
But she could do with showing a little more online activity - a blog would be a nice touch, for instance...
P.S. Good to see my old colleague Constantijn van Oranje in the Kroes cabinet - I'm surprised there are no English articles about his appointment, but then a prince in any other country...he's sharp and collegial and will be an excellent addition to the team! Maybe he can blog for her...
UPDATE 2/3/2010: the press releases are now on her personal pages.