Policy & Law

eco Association Cautions Lawmakers Against a Rushed-Through Anti-Hate Law

In light of the attack on the U.S. Capitol, the German federal government plans to have the “repaired” version of the law on combating right-wing extremism and hate crime on the Internet confirmed by the Bundestag in an expedited procedure before the end of January. The eco Association views the events in Washington with the utmost gravity, but takes a critical stance on the expedited procedure for a law that has been deemed questionable under constitutional law.  

date 2021/01/11

press

Policy & Law

Network Enforcement Act: eco Association Cautions Against Further Bureaucratic Constraints on Social Networks

eco warns against unilaterally defining further requirements for social network operators at the national level until the interplay between the DSA and the German Network Enforcement Act has been conclusively regulated.

date 2021/01/06

press

Policy & Law

Digital Policy Annual Outlook 2021: Sustainable Digitalisation Can Only Succeed With Sustainable Digital Policy

The year 2021 offers an opportunity for a strategic reorientation of German and European digital policy. Oliver Süme, Chair of the eco Association, calls for a more sustainable digital policy that sees digitalisation as part of the solution to many global challenges and uses existing innovation potential more consistently than before.

date 2021/01/06

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Datacenter

eco Alliance: “Digitalisation is THE basic condition for a CO2-neutral Europe”

Conclusions for sustainable digitalisation were adopted at last week’s meeting of the EU Environment Council. Among other things, these stipulate that data centres should become climate-neutral by 2030.

date 2020/12/18

press

Policy & Law

eco Association: New IT Act of the German Federal Government Undermines Trustworthiness of Digital Communication

With the drafts for an IT Security Act 2.0, the new Telecommunications Act, and the BND Act, all of which were hastily approved by the German Federal Cabinet yesterday, the German federal government is fundamentally undermining general IT security and damaging the trustworthiness of digital communication in Germany.

date 2020/12/17

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Policy & Law

eco Association: European proposals for regulating digital services and markets retain important basic principles, but require further concretisation

The plans of the EU Commission presented yesterday for the regulation of digital services and digital markets are, in the view of eco – Association of the Internet Industry, ambitious proposals that appropriately reflect the complexity of the topic and of the Digital Market.

date 2020/12/16

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Policy & Law

eco on the German Telecommunications Act: “Federal Government Jeopardising 5G Roll-out”

The German Telecommunications Act is to be fundamentally reformed within this legislative term and an updated version of a joint draft act has just been published. eco denounces the overall chaotic legislative process which is occurring at the expense of content-related diligence and appropriate consultation with associations. In particular, eco criticises the fact that the amended act will create a new class of protection that will essentially place service providers under an increased level of risk.

date 2020/12/15

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Policy & Law

eco on German IT Security Act 2.0: Premature National Regulation Poses High Risk for Companies and Private Users

The Association of the Internet Industry appeals to policy-makers to reset the timing for the deliberations on the German IT Security Act 2.0 and to await further developments at European level.

date 2020/12/11

press

Policy & Law

eco Critical of German Draft Copyright Law: A Brake on Innovation Instead of Fair Balance of Interests

On 16 December, the German Federal Cabinet intends to vote on the draft law to implement the EU Copyright Directive. The eco Association continues to take a very critical stance on the draft law: from the association’s point of view, the planned regulations endanger Europe’s digital innovative power without leading to more fairness in the use of intellectual property on the Internet.

date 2020/12/09

press

Policy & Law

German BND Act: eco Warns About Major Expansion of Espionage Practices

The German Chancellery has presented a draft of what is termed as the BND Act. According to the draft, the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is to be given permission to hack providers abroad in order to obtain inventory, traffic and content data. eco – Association of the Internet Industry sharply criticises this initiative and has delivered a statement on the draft act.

date 2020/12/08

press

Policy & Law

eco on the German AI Strategy Update: “Important Signal for Innovation”

With the update of the German federal government’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy from 2018, which was adopted by the Federal Cabinet today, the responsible ministries have set themselves goals not just for the coming years, but also in all probability for far beyond the current legislative term.

date 2020/12/02

press

Datacenter

New Study: Best Practices Show Future Potential for Green IT 2030

Are European data centres ready for the climate targets of the EU Green Deal, to strengthen climate and environmental protection through digitalisation? A new study with best practices in the field of energy-efficient data centres formulates technological development potentials as well as policy recommendations.

date 2020/11/24

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Policy & Law

eco Elected to New EuroISPA Board

eco – Association of the Internet Industry is part of the newly elected board of EuroISPA, the largest umbrella organisation of European Internet service providers. Thomas Bihlmayer, Policy Adviser at eco, will assume the role of treasurer for the association.

date 2020/11/23

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Policy & Law

German Telecommunications Act: eco Criticises Tight Deadline and Lack of Coordination in Planned Reform of Act

With the presentation of a joint draft, two German Ministries are seeking to fundamentally reform the Telecommunications Act (TKG) and to thereby transpose the European Code for Electronic Communications within this legislative term. eco is deeply critical of the fact that only a 14-day period has been granted for positions on the discussion draft - especially given that this draft features substantial gaps.

date 2020/11/18

press

Security

The Fight Against Terrorism Should Not Happen at the Expense of the Security of All

Plans of the EU States to expand digital surveillance in the wake of the recent terrorist attack in Vienna trigger concerns for eco – Association of the Internet Industry.

date 2020/11/12

press