Reliability means being tolerant of faults, and a robust foundation is an indispensable prerequisite for sustainable success: eco CEO, Harald A. Summa, takes a look back at the year 2021.

Since August 17, 2021, the Fair Consumer Contracts Act has been adopted, bringing with it a strengthening of consumer rights and correspondingly extended obligations for businesses.

As another Covid year draws to a close, let’s take the opportunity to review the digital policy highlights of this year! To begin with the brightest news of the year: In these Covid times, digital infrastructures, digital technologies and digital applications have kept things up and running, thereby contributing to combatting the pandemic by switching physical contacts to the virtual.

After four years in service, the eco Names & Numbers Steering Committee has now undergone the second change in its composition. Following on from the ICANN72 Virtual Annual General Meeting, the group now warmly welcomes five new incoming members: Elizabeth Bacon, Senior Director, Policy and Privacy, Public Interest...

eco is sharply critical of the fact that companies may be legally obliged to make their telecommunications equipment available for the imperceptible installation of government spying software and the redirection of data.

The German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and eco – Association of the Internet Industry cooperate within the framework of the corporate programme “Success Factor Family” to promote the work-life balance.

IoT security must no longer be a blind spot, contends Jan Wendenburg in an interview. Through networking with other eco members, the CEO of IoT Inspector aims to jointly pursue the identification of IoT vulnerabilities and compliance violations across the entire lifecycle of IoT devices.

A new study examines the effects of state restrictions on the gambling market in Germany, which is in a state of upheaval. Online gambling offers, in particular, are enjoying increasing popularity. Current surveys have come to the conclusion that three-quarters of the German population have already participated in commercial gambling offers (online and offline).

Certified Security Operations Center GmbH is a new member of the eco Association. Networking and cooperation are important in combating cyber crime, says Fred Schmidt, Principal Account Manager.

Regarding the Log4J vulnerability, Prof. Norbert Pohlmann, Board Member for IT Security at eco, sees the threat from cyber attacks as having hit a frightening new level. The German federal government must now do everything they can to quickly shut down the existing IT vulnerabilities.  

“Every IT operation needs to move towards service delivery, whether through in-house operations or third-party provision of IT resources,” says Andreas Weiss, Director at EuroCloud Deutschland. Together with other experts, Weiss has contributed his know-how to a German study by gridscale and Intel on cloudification for high-end SMEs.

Commenting on the Digital Services Act adopted today by the EU Member States, eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme says that the aim should be to maintain a clear line and not to overload the instrument with special regulations.

The change in the world of work is associated with challenges in terms of agility and security, says Dr Ebbinghaus, Managing Director of Enreach GmbH in an interview.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing rapidly, and everyday objects are more and more connected to the Internet and to other devices. It is increasingly difficult for consumers to judge which devices and services have which security features.

Fueled by the Covid-19 pandemic, experts expect record online retail sales for the 2021 holiday season. Unfortunately, this is also the high season for cyber criminals who lure bargain hunters themselves with fake shops.

The eco Association supports the DNS resolver Quad9 in its legal dispute against Sony. In this interview Klaus Landefeld, member of the eco board, explains why. Quad9 vs. Sony – what has this case been about since it first went before the Hamburg Regional Court in May 2021? Landefeld: Basically, it’s once again...

Even though the German traffic light coalition has decided not to set up an independent Ministry for Digitalisation, the future ministry structure opens up options and room for manoeuvre for a strong and future-oriented digitalisation policy.

Milestone for Gaia-X: The implementation phase for the Federation Services has now started. A nine-page white paper has been published to further explain the features and benefits of Federation Services as the foundation of Gaia-X. This is now available to all interested parties for download from the GXFS website.

DENIC eG, eco Association and the City of Hamburg as joint hosts ICANN coordinates the administration of names and addresses on the Internet Renewed application after meeting cancelled due to pandemic in 2020 Important decisions on core functions of the Internet could be taken in Germany in 2023: eco – Association...

The upcoming German federal government plans to produce a surveillance overview bill by the end of 2023 at the latest. This will create an important basis for more transparency on state surveillance powers – a move strongly welcomed by the eco Association.

The Eclipse Foundation is an independent, non-profit foundation based in Brussels that provides individuals and organisations with a mature, scalable and business-friendly environment for collaboration and innovation in open-source software.

For the first time in Germany, we have a coalition agreement which features a close link between the topics of digitalisation and sustainability, with this agreement presented by the SPD, Bündnis 90/The Greens and the FDP on Wednesday, 24 November 2021.

The topic of digitalisation can be found in almost all sections of the coalition agreement, thus duly reflecting the importance of the cross-cutting topic of digitalisation. It is clear that the future German federal government intends on making a digital breakthrough.

Commenting on the coalition agreement presented by the traffic light coalition, eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme says: “I deeply regret that the traffic light coalition apparently does not want to use the historic momentum for a reorientation of digital policy in Germany.”

The coalition negotiations between the SPD, Bündnis 90/The Greens and FDP are nearing completion. The first known details about the plans for the future direction of digital policy dampen hopes for a strategic realignment that could give new impetus to the digital transformation and Germany as a digital location.

Democratising national data marketplaces that make everyone winners, not just individuals – one of the focal points at the Gaia-X Summit 2021 was the difference Gaia-X is making with its foundation of European values and standards. Andreas Weiss (eco) presented the results of his work under the congress motto “Here to deliver”.

In the final phase of the coalition negotiations for the deal between the SPD, Bündnis 90/The Greens and the FDP, eco would like to take this opportunity to point out a number of keystones with which the coalition partners can now set the course for Internet and digital policy in Germany.

eco welcomes the Bundestag's so-called 3G rule for companies in the German workplace, which  allows only those who have been fully vaccinated, tested or who have recovered from an infection to enter the workplace. The health and safety of employees always comes first, emphasizes Managing Director Alexander Rabe in his statement.

German data retention regulations are not compatible with EU law. This is the Opinion presented by the Advocate General in the proceedings BRD/SpaceNet AG, C-793/19.  eco Chair of the Board Oliver Süme has the following to say: “For eco and SpaceNet, the Advocate General’s Opinion is an unequivocal confirmation of our stand against data retention."

eco – Association of the Internet Industry & ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers invite you to a joint ICANN72 Readout to summarise and discuss selected topics from the Virtual 23rd Annual General Meeting.