Overview

Country	IG	IPR	Privacy
Global	World Wide Web Consortium abandons consensus and decides to standardize DRM September 19, 2017 Canada's top court backs order for Google to remove firm's website from global searches June 29, 2017 Wikipedia blocked in Turkey May 2, 2017 more »	The fight for patent-unencumbered media codecs is nearly won January 8, 2018 US court grants ISPs and search engine blockade of Sci-Hub November 6, 2017 Should robot artists be given copyright protection? June 26, 2017 more »	New U.S. CLOUD Act is a threat to global privacy February 7, 2018 Facebook beats privacy lawsuit in U.S. over user tracking July 3, 2017 Global civil society groups call for suspension of the EU-US Privacy Shield March 3, 2017 more »
EU	Leaked document: Does the EU Commission really plan to tackle illegal content online? September 21, 2017 European Commission fines Google for abusing dominance June 27, 2017 MEPs back end-to-end encryption for all citizens June 20, 2017 more »	EU Council legal services unclear about censorship filters October 18, 2017 Civil society calls for the deletion of the #censorshipmachine October 16, 2017 Leaked document: EU Presidency calls for massive internet filtering September 6, 2017 more »	EU court rules against Facebook class action January 25, 2018 MEPs votes on e-Privacy October 20, 2017 European court halts retention, bulk transfer of passenger data July 26, 2017 more »
Ireland	Web Summit in Ireland and tax loophole November 9, 2014 iCloak gadget aims to boost Internet Privacy July 17, 2014	Irish Broadband providers ordered to block illegal streaming sites April 25, 2017 Ireland: 6.25 percent corporate tax on intellectual property November 15, 2014	Irish court reviews U.S. surveillance developments June 9, 2017 Irish police phone tapping undermines citizens’ rights May 31, 2017 US government asks to join key EU privacy case on transatlantic data flows June 14, 2016 more »
Spain	Catalonian website on independence referendum shut down after judge ruling October 2, 2017 Spanish police raid .Cat domain name registry offices September 20, 2017 Spanish Constitutional Court kills the Catalonian digital tax July 25, 2017 more »	Spanish Guardia Civil blocks access to 23 webs that provided movie downloads February 20, 2018 Spain is removed from the US content piracy blacklist May 3, 2017 Spanish Supreme Court rejects the request of the content creators industry to be compensated for digital canon April 26, 2017 more »	Spanish Data Protection Agency fines Whatsapp and Facebook for sharing and processing personal data without consent March 19, 2018 Spanish Court recognizes an individual's right to be forgotten against Google November 28, 2017 Spanish DPA fines Facebook 1,2 million euro September 11, 2017 more »
Lithuania	No items.	No items.	Firsts conference on data protection in Lithuania October 11, 2016 Safe Harbor decision and possible consequences for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania October 27, 2015
Malta	No items.	Malta and China sign MoU on intellectual property July 8, 2015 Malta - a new Intellectual Property Hub November 24, 2014 Orphan works directive implemented into Maltese law November 7, 2014	No items.
Belgium	Belgian regional parliament asks for suspension of TTIP talks November 3, 2015 Belgian coalition demands suspension of the TTIP negotiations July 2, 2015	Brussels Court of Appeal: the word ‘ius’ is descriptive and can not be registered as a trade mark February 23, 2015	EU Commission to keep watch on Belgium’s rights-harming, disproportionate Passenger Name Record system February 27, 2017 Facebook wins privacy case against Belgian data protection authority June 29, 2016 Belgian court orders Facebook to stop tracking non-members November 10, 2015 more »
Italy	Italy proposes regulation for government hacking May 4, 2017 Censorship in Italy: Child protection is the excuse again October 19, 2016 AVMSD Refit or Reform? Audio Visual Media Services in the Digital Era September 12, 2016 more »	Towards the end of the monopoly of SIAE? June 6, 2016 Operation against IPR violation promoted by FIEG March 30, 2016 The Guardia di Finanza blocked 87 pirate websites March 25, 2016 more »	Italy extends data retention to six years November 29, 2017 Italy plans to extend telecoms data retention and increase censorship powers August 1, 2017 Google meets Italy's demands on data use practices July 29, 2016 more »
Austria	New law speeds up recall of "spying hardware" April 11, 2017 Austrian parliament urges action against illegal surveillance March 20, 2015 Austrian Internet users to pay for intransparent web blocking scheme March 11, 2015 more »	Austria refers Facebook ‘Hate-Speech’ case to the CJEU January 30, 2018 France: 13 million in damages awarded for linking to downloadable copyright works July 31, 2017 Google News Spain closes after AEDE tax approval December 18, 2014 more »	CJEU hate speech case: Should Facebook process more personal data? January 24, 2018 Success Story: A win on Austrian surveillance legislation October 18, 2017 Proposed surveillance package in Austria sparks resistance February 8, 2017 more »
Slovakia	No items.	No items.	The Slovak Constitutional Court cancelled mass surveillance of citizens April 30, 2015
Bulgaria	The process of drafting a Cybersecurity Act commenced February 16, 2018 Cybersecurity policies will be part of the updated Strategy for National Security December 14, 2017 Bulgaria improves access to Open Government Data and its re-use with further legislative measures August 6, 2016 more »	Amendments in the Bulgarian Copyright and Neighboring Rights Act January 26, 2018 Bulgaria: Website blocking of 39000 unlicensed literary works ordered by the cybercrime division December 15, 2017	Personal data breach of 10.000 students, parents and teachers in Bulgaria December 20, 2017 Key amendments to the Electronic Government Act passed by the Bulgarian Parliament July 4, 2016 e-ID will soon be available to Bulgarian citizens after the adoption of an Electronic Identification Act May 11, 2016 more »
Portugal	No items.	Portugal passes bill to restrict use of DRM April 17, 2017 Portugal becomes 8th contracting state to formally ratify the Unified Patent Court Agreement September 4, 2015 Voluntary agreement against copyright infringements August 12, 2015 more »	Portuguese Government authorizes sound recordings using public surveillance cameras in Lisbon October 3, 2017
Finland	Legal challenges for digital services in Finland September 22, 2015 Finns show industrial internet expertise at Slush conference November 21, 2014	Finnish court demands strong proof for copyright infringements June 28, 2017 Finnish Supreme Court: unauthorized copying of employer's databases and files is a copyright offence September 21, 2015 Finland’s Citizen Copyright Initiative Fails: A Sad But Necessary Win for Cross-Border Online Copyright Enforcement? October 17, 2014 more »	Finnish PM urges fast-track of intelligence law August 22, 2017 Finland: Web service to request verifying of secret registry data November 5, 2014
Poland	Ceta, Poland and human rights on the agenda this week October 24, 2016 Poland: Consequences of proposed amendment to Polish Gambling Act for foreign operators November 17, 2014	Intellectual property November 25, 2014 Copyright: Commission asks FRANCE, POLAND and ROMANIA to apply EU rules July 10, 2014	Poland: New project on public institutions’ surveillance practices November 5, 2014 Poland: Wojciech Wiewiórowski will remain DPC for the second term August 1, 2014
Netherlands	Dutch NRA: T-Mobile may continue to violate net neutrality October 18, 2017 Dutch court approves zero rating offer of telecom operator April 20, 2017 Dutch Smart City strategy under development March 20, 2017 more »	Premier League obtains injunction in the Netherlands January 31, 2018 Unauthorized subtitles for movies & TV shows are illegal, Dutch court rules April 25, 2017 Dutch copyright enforcement body is pushing developers to take down open source software December 2, 2015 more »	Test at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol: quick and easy boarding using facial recognition February 19, 2018 Corporations use facial recognition for marketing and profiling February 19, 2018 Dutch police increasingly using facial recognition technology February 19, 2018 more »
Germany	Federal Network Agency prohibits parts of Telekom’s “StreamOn” service December 15, 2017 Germany: draft hate crime legislation June 27, 2017 Internet companies can’t be judges of free speech April 18, 2017 more »	Coalition agreement of CDU/CSU and SPD asks to consider modern ways of IPR utilization and ancillary copyright for press publishers February 9, 2018 German opposition calls for abolition of online hate speech law February 7, 2018 German ‘hate-speech’ law tries to regulate Facebook and others - will it work? January 3, 2018 more »	Germany: Constitutional complaint against intelligence agency BND February 7, 2018 WhatsApp security flaws could allow snoops to slide into group chats January 10, 2018 German DPA prohibits mass data sharing between WhatsApp and Facebook April 27, 2017 more »
Czech Republic	Czech Republic is closer to blocking of gambling websites April 20, 2016 Czechs reluctant to implement IDN June 1, 2015 Digital agenda should be dealt by one agency, advises the National Convent to the Czech Government May 28, 2015 more »	No items.	Proposal to revoke data retention filed with the Czech Court January 10, 2018 Czech police want more information on citizens’ digital communication May 28, 2015 Czech Big Brother Awards shine light on privacy invasions March 11, 2015 more »
Estonia	Estonia First Country to Offer E-Residency Digital Citizenship November 15, 2014	New Estonian Presidency “compromise” creates copyright chaos November 3, 2017 Estonia loves digital – why is it supporting the #censorshipmachine? September 7, 2017 Estonia same-sex law breaks taboo in former Soviet states October 9, 2014	Spain is up for UN Human Rights Council country review January 21, 2015 Estonia First Country to Offer E-Residency Digital Citizenship November 15, 2014
Hungary	18 year old man arrested for reporting abug in the new Budapest e-Ticket system July 24, 2017	No items.	No items.
Greece	No items.	New administrative notice-and-takedown procedure in Greece August 4, 2017	No items.
Sweden	Swedish Supreme Court confirms that domain names constitute property that can be seized by the state January 13, 2018 The Pirate Bay domains targeted in legal action February 12, 2015	Crazy Swedish bill makes sharing TV as bad a "crime" as manslaughter February 21, 2018 Swedish Supreme Court confirms that domain names constitute property that can be seized by the state January 13, 2018 Founder of fan-made subtitle site convicted for copyright Infringement September 15, 2017 more »	Sweden accidentally leaks personal details of nearly all citizens July 26, 2017 The right to be forgotten may apply all over the world May 9, 2017 Camera spy-drones banned by Sweden’s highest court October 25, 2016
UK	UK plans age verification for porn websites from 2018 July 17, 2017 Digital Economy Act 2017 — UK Parliament May 9, 2017 BSG Publishes New Open Internet Code of Practice May 9, 2017 more »	Open Rights Group response to public consultation on copyright infringement sanctions August 6, 2015 Over 500 websites blocked by order of UK courts July 30, 2015 UK online piracy sentences under review July 18, 2015 more »	Facebook fined for data breaches in Cambridge Analytica scandal July 11, 2018 Labour bought data on 1m mothers and their children July 11, 2018 EU judges may be asked to rule on legality of UK surveillance powers June 5, 2017 more »
Denmark	New Danish law can lead to substantial internet censorship January 25, 2017 Danish anti-terror proposal expands surveillance March 11, 2015	Denmark: Another round of website blocking March 27, 2015 Danish court orders a UK company to block Danish IP addresses December 3, 2014	Denmark: Targeted ANPR data retention turned into mass surveillance September 6, 2017 Dutch Senate votes in favour of dragnet surveillance powers July 26, 2017 Oversight Board report: Illegal surveillance of Danish citizens July 26, 2017 more »
France	France tables new 'fake news' law February 5, 2018 France plans internet ombudsman to safeguard free speech December 19, 2016 Open data: mandatory for local authorities’ data July 29, 2016 more »	The new French law targeting "automated image referencing services": does EU law allow it? October 23, 2016 Data mining: the law should not hinder French research April 25, 2016 Reconciling digital and intellectual property issues October 16, 2015 more »	French DPA issues formal notice to Microsoft to comply with data protection rules July 25, 2016 CNIL orders Facebook to stop tracking non-users February 9, 2016 France approves surveillance bill despite UN concerns July 31, 2015 more »
Slovenia	Slovenian Internet Governance Forum 2017: public education and awareness are key for the future Internet October 23, 2017	No items.	No items.
Romania	Romanian National Authority for Regulation in Communications is investigating zero-rating offers August 9, 2017 FOIA requests for blocking porn websites in Romania July 28, 2017 Human Rights Court: Romania breached journalist's right to freedom of expression June 28, 2017 more »	România to define its national position on the EU copyright proposal January 22, 2018 Copyright Directive discussed in Romania July 26, 2017 Largest football club in Romania loses its brand in court December 4, 2014 more »	Human Rights Court sets limits on right to monitor employees September 20, 2017 New draft law on national e-identity cards in Romania March 21, 2017 Romania: Mass surveillance project disguised as eGovernment August 24, 2016 more »

Policy Observatory

Overview