European Commission: internet ‘villain’ of the year?

ISPA, the Internet Services Provider Association has evealed the nominees in the Special Awards Division at the 2006 ISPAs – the 8th Annual UK Internet Industry Awards. Among the nominees for internet villain of the year are Russia, the UK presidency, and appearing twice, under different guises, the European Commission!

The European Commission has earned its place in the nominations “for its inability to get through one year without producing yet another piece of intellectual property legislation”.

This was only round one! The European Commission reappears in the list of nominees, this time represented by the Commissioner for Information Society, Viviane Reding. Branded a ‘villain’, for her revision of the TV without Frontiers Directive, The ISPA (who will find a greatdeal of support for this position) claims that the move will threaten ISPs by extending the scope of broadcasting regulation to content.

Indeed, it seems as thought the EU reappears a 3rd time, now under the auspices of the UK presidency. However, luckily for the European Commission, ISPA is making sure that the honour is most definitely borne by the member state itself. The UK presidency has taken its place among the nominees for “seeking EU wide data retention laws which will force ISPs and telcos to retain more data for longer without proper impact assessment”!

From the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty in the summer to the ongoing lack of agreement over the budget, this latest honour comes at the end of a difficult year for the European Union.

However, there is one IT development for which the EU should receive a special commendation. While the European Commission may be incapable of getting through a year without producing a piece of property legislation, by a stroke of the same brush, perhaps then the European Parliament should be given a special nomination for advancing the interests of IT, with its rejection of software patents in June.

This was a remarkable coup for the IT industry. Despite the other ‘villainous’ behaviour of the European Union, the rejection of the software patents puts at least one if its institutions in the ‘hero’ category.