Massive changes in the global domain name system are causing connectivity problems, stakeholders said. The burgeoning number of top-level domains (TLDs) with more than three characters behind the dot (such as .connectivity) and the growing number of internationalized domain names (IDNs) in non-ASCII characters means not all domain names and email addresses work in all applications, they said. Universal acceptance (UA) is now a key issue for ICANN, standards bodies and the domain industry in general. It's the "concept that all domain names should be treated equally," and that domains and email addresses should be accepted, stored, processed and displayed in "a consistent and effective manner," said the Universal Acceptance Steering Group (UASG).
Dugie Standeford
Dugie Standeford, European Correspondent, Communications Daily and Privacy Daily, is a former lawyer. She joined Warren Communications News in 2000 to report on internet policy and regulation. In 2003 she moved to the U.K. and since then has covered European telecommunications issues. She previously covered the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and intellectual property law matters. She has a degree in psychology from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
In a case that could affect global personal data transfers, Europe's high court will consider a challenge Tuesday by privacy lawyer Max Schrems to Facebook's use of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) to shift personal data to the U.S. Schrems filed the case, Data Protection Commissioner v. Facebook Ireland and Maximilian Schrems, in the Irish High Court. That court referred it to the European Court of Justice for a ruling on whether SCCs are valid under EU law (see 1710030011). ECJ's decision could reach as far as trans-Atlantic data transfer agreement Privacy Shield, lawyers told us.
5G rollout and a fully digital single market are top priorities for Europe's tech sector as the European Commission and Parliament begin a new five-year term, stakeholders said in interviews and statements. Other items on their wish-lists include fair competition rules and a push for faster deployment of fiber networks. The new EU term could also bring a bruising battle over internet intermediary liability.
Technologies for making domain name system transactions confidential are gaining traction but could pose problems for ICANN, said panelists Tuesday at its meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, and in interviews. Domain name system (DNS) over Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) (DoH) and DNS over transport-layer security (TLS) (DoT) are throwing up complex issues, they said. ICANN's primary interest is to ensure the continuance of the single, unified namespace, Chief Technology Officer David Conrad said in an interview Monday.
Europeans are relatively aware of the general data protection regulation (GDPR), their privacy rights and the existence of national data protection authorities (DPAs), the European Commission said Thursday. A survey of 27,000 people showed that, a year after the law became effective in May 2018, 73% have heard of at least one of the six rights it guarantees, particularly the rights to access their own data, object to receiving direct marketing and have their data deleted. Another key finding was that 62% of those surveyed said they worry about not having complete control cover the personal data they provide online. The EC launched an awareness-raising campaign to encourage people to read privacy statements and set privacy settings to ensure they only share data they're willing to share. GDPR is still "a baby that is growing fast and doing well" but that needs continued nurturing, EU Justice, Consumer and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourova said at a Brussels event marking the first-year anniversary. Among other things, she tweeted, "We must avoid fragmentation and temptation for adding additional conditions or expansive interpretation," and avoid "the so-called 'gold plating.'" It's time to "roll up the sleeves," European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli said via video For enforcement to be effective, the European Data Protection Board must be better resourced, DPAs must start to use the full range of their enforcement powers, and data controllers must better respect the spirit as well as the letter of the law. The GDPR won't significantly affect the current digital ecosystem unless companies have based their business model on excessive use of personal data for profiling and other activities, he said. Buttarelli plans to publish soon a "visionary manifesto" on what's needed to maintain GDPR enforcement, what national authorities can do to be more effective and how to set global principles for big data and artificial intelligence.
It may be an understandable response to the New Zealand attacks, but the "Christchurch Call" has worrying aspects and could be difficult to implement, said digital rights activists and think tanks. There's no clear vision of what social media and video sharing platforms should be doing or planning to do to counter such situations and no effort to address tech companies' business model, they said. The Christchurch Call is a commitment by governments and tech companies to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. Eighteen countries plus major social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and Microsoft back the agreement, adopted May 15. The U.S. declined to sign (see 1905150047).
An uptick in privacy complaints and the first investigations and fines mark the end of the first year of the EU general data protection regulation. GDPR became effective May 25, 2018. Data protection authorities (DPAs) told us they're seeing increased citizen awareness of the law as well as more inquiries from companies about compliance. While compliance appears to be on the rise, businesses continue to struggle with the rules, with some in America's tech sector calling for a complete review of the GDPR and urging the U.S. not to copy it.
Social media companies are boosting their artificial intelligence systems to identify harmful online content, but that alone won't solve the problem, they and others said. Twitter has suspended thousands of accounts under its violent extremist groups policy, most of which were flagged by its proprietary tools, it told us. Facebook is "scrutinizing how to employ AI more effectively," Public Policy Director Neil Potts told the House Judiciary Committee April 9. Google has "invested heavily" in automated flagging technology, said Global Human Rights and Free Expression Counsel Alexandria Walden at the hearing. But AI can't replace "nuanced human review," said DigitalEurope Director-General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl, a member of the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on AI.
A treaty updating broadcasting protections could be finalized next year if governments can finally resolve "fundamental issues" such as scope, object of protection and rights to be granted, said delegates at the April 1-5 World Intellectual Property Organization Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR). They approved a recommendation, set out in Chairman Daren Tang's draft summary, that WIPO's general assembly asks governments to keep working toward a diplomatic conference in 2020 or 2021. Broadcaster and civil society groups were less than enthusiastic about the outcome.
Compromise legislation updating EU copyright law cleared the European Parliament Tuesday and goes to the European Council (governments) for final adoption. The 348-274 vote culminated years of debate and fierce lobbying, especially over articles 11 and 13. The former would grant news publishers a new right covering digital use of their content; the latter would require online platforms to obtain licenses for copyright-protected works uploaded by their users and monitor for infringements (see 1902130059). The vote brought cheers from content owners, jeers from consumer groups, the tech sector and digital rights activists.