The goal of the eco Association is to shape the Internet – today and beyond tomorrow. In our Annual Report 2019, which has been published in both English and German, you will find numerous instances of how we have laid the foundations for the future.  

Hate and incitement to hatred have no place on the Internet. eco fully endorses this view and is an active advocate for an Internet with responsibility. But eco still sees a substantial need for improvement in the drafts for the revision of the German NetzDG, presented by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV).

The goals that the German federal government is pursuing with its National Action Plan on Energy Efficiency Strategy 2050 are certainly ambitious. As a member of the government’s Working Group on Digitalisation, eco too is participating in the dialogue process to bring life to these goals.

The ICANN69 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will not take place in Hamburg from 17-22 October 2020 as originally planned, 2,500 participants from over 120 countries had been expected. The meeting to coordinate core Internet functions, such as the unique assignment of names and addresses, has been moved online.

This Tuesday morning, the German government, the Robert Koch Institute and participating companies presented the German federal government's new COVID-19 tracking app, the Corona WarnApp. eco – Association of the Internet Industry, which has actively accompanied the discussion on the development of the new app from the very beginning, advocates the use of the data protection-compliant app and hopes for broad acceptance within the German population. However, eco rejects a legal obligation to install the app.

The EU Commission presented new measures to combat disinformation in connection with the coronavirus on 10 June 2020. With the new guidelines, operators of social networks are now to report monthly on how they deal with false information about the COVID-19 pandemic.

eco: a legally and planning secure regulatory environment is the basic prerequisite for the predominantly private-sector expansion of gigabit networks as the most important pillar for achieving the German and European gigabit targets. The association views an expansion obligation with concern.

Due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus), ICANN68 will no longer be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Instead, the Policy Forum in June will be held virtually.