Future EU policy for Information Society outlined

08 October 2009, 10:35am

The EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, participated last week at a breakfast event organised by the European Digital Media Association (EdiMA) and had a speech that highlighted the main EU key policy areas for information society for the next commission.

Ms. Reading insisted that the President Barroso has announced his policy commitment to define, under the next Commission, an ambitious European Digital Agenda that is scheduled for adoption in March 2010, aimed at tackling the main obstacles to a genuine digital single market with targeted legislative measures.

She also pointed out the main five points where pro-active measures are needed from the Commission:

1.The issue of mass scale digitisation of books and orphan works. Ms. Reading expressed her frustrations in relation with the development of Europeana, Europe's digital library and pushed for "a modern set of European rules that encourage the digitisation of books, including one or several European Right Registries"

"If we don't act quickly, soon U.S. citizens will not only benefit from the largest digital content offer, they will also be able to access through a simple click almost 10 million books, including orphan works which are largely part of our European cultural heritage. As European citizens, students, teachers and researchers will not being able to do the same, there is an actual risk of establishing a new digital divide across the Atlantic" stressed the Commissioner.

2. A harmonised single European market with clearer rules enabling users to be free to buy and enjoy anywhere, anytime and on any platform the content they paid for. On this topic the Commissioner suggested a reflection
paper over a set of possible policy and legislative options aimed at facilitating multi-territorial or EU-wide licensing for digital content. She rejected the "Copyright task force" aimed at policy coordination - as
suggested by EDIMA - and argued for a common objective of the key directorates in the Commission "a modern, pro-competitive and
consumer-friendly single-market framework for digitising, accessing and licensing digital content online across the 27 EU Member States."

3. The European-wide adoption of the global web accessibility standard, the new Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

4. Industry and consumers should work together for a European system of trustmarks.

5. Network neutrality. Ms Reding praised the European Parliament for "strengthening" the provisions concerning net neutrality in the Telecom package and suggested a broad debate in 2010 about this topic. The Commissioner also confirmed that she was a strong advocate for Internet neutrality:

"I have myself indicated that I would be prepared to act on this basis in case of continued blocking of Voice over IP services by certain mobile operators. The new Telecom package is in many instances a quite robust
answer to such new threats to net neutrality. However, I also know that technology and regulation will evolve further in the years to come. And I plan to be Europe's first line of defence whenever it comes to real threats
to net neutrality."

This seems contradictory with the current text of the Telecom package, heavily criticized by civil society especially for not providing enough safeguards for network neutrality. Moreover, the discussions between
the EP Conciliation Committee and the European Council seem to go in the opposite direction: not to open up again the negotiations on the network neutrality subjects.

Viviane Reding Member of the European Commission responsible for Information
Society and Media The Digital Single Market: a key to unlock the potential of the knowledge based economy EDiMA's White Paper on Policy Strategy for the Development of New Media Services 2009-2014 - Launch Breakfast Event Brussels (1.10.2009)

Geo: International