European ACTA investigator issues scathing attack on document and quits in protest. Open Data : Nelly Kroes annonce un portail des données de la Comission. A l'occasion de l'Open Forum Europe Summit 2011, qui s'est tenu le 22 septembre à Bruxelles, Nelly Kroes s'est une nouvelle fois lancé dans un plaidoyer en faveur de l'Open Data.
"Nous allons prendre des mesures: nous allons ouvrir le secteur public européen" a-t-elle affirmé dans son keynote d'ouverture, en regrettant que le potentiel de réutilisation des données publiques soit encore sous exploité. La commissaire chargée du Digital Agenda a annoncé qu'elle proposerait fin novembre à la Commission d'adopter de nouvelles mesures pour améliorer la Directive de 2003 après la période de consultation sur sa révision qui a "obtenu un large écho".
Un portail des données de la Commission au printemps "Nous allons examiner la façon dont les données sont mises à disposition, les formats et les licences qui permettent leur réutilisation. La commission européenne souhaite donner le bon exemple avec l'ouverture d'un portail de ses propres données au printemps prochain. ECC-Net car rental stories: money back to unfair trading victim. See some case studies of how consumers have been helped by the network of European Consumer Centres with their problems with car rental.
Unfair trading: money back for extras (UK consumer / Irish car rental company ) A UK consumer booked a rental car from the trader’s website and got a confirmation through e-mail. The booking confirmation stated that the cost was the “total for your specific price” and “price is guaranteed”. The consumer interpreted this to mean that he would not be charged any more costs. However when he collected his car, the consumer was charged a location surcharge of €72.70 EUR and road tax of €21.60. The consumer complained to the trader asking for the money back. Since he got no assistance from the company, he contacted ECC UK.
ECC Ireland pointed out to the trader that that trader must have been aware of these charges at the time of booking and they should have been included in the total price which was advertised as “guaranteed”. Internet Freedom and Data Privacy. On 22 February, the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) released an unsolicited opinion on EU negotiations of an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
The EDPS expresses some strong opinions on the use of the “three strikes law” and other measures to control copyright violations by Internet users that might be in the ACTA. The EDPS is not subtle – he declares that “[s]uch practices are highly invasive in the individuals’ private sphere. They entail the generalised monitoring of Internet users’ activities, including perfectly lawful ones.” The opinion describes how a “three strikes” or similar approach might be set up, as well as the applicable EU data protection and privacy legal framework (in paragraphs 23 to 26).
It then issues harsh conclusions (paragraphs 81 to what should be 88 but is mis-numbered as 80). 85. In the last paragraph of the conclusion the EDPS insists on being consulted on the measures to be implemented.