Written on April 19, 2008 – 11:33 am
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
The Next Web Blog covers start-up news from all over the world (not just the Valley), exciting new technologies and inspiring entrepreneurs. If you're new here, you may want to read our '
About' page and subscribe to our
RSS feed.
If you came here from Digg it would be great if you could actually Digg us too! Do you have a start-up that we should write about?
Contact us! Thanks for visiting and hope you come back again!
As we reported last week, France is on the verge of adopting a law against “incitement to anorexia” that is mainly focused on the web. It wouldn’t be the last Internet-related law this week, since the European Union announced some tight laws against “incitement to terrorism” on the Internet. By doing this, the EU wants to fight militant groups who amongst other things recruit and mobilize young people.
A statement by the ministers said that the existing Framework Decision of 13 June 2002 will be expanded by introducing three new offenses: “public provocation to commit a terrorist offense, recruitment and training for terrorism.”
Reuters reports that countries like Spain and Italy already punish public provocation to terrorism, but others, like Scandinavian countries will have to change their laws. Spain’s secretary of state for justice, Julio Perez Hernandez, told the press agency that “The battle to anticipate terrorist acts is crucial for Spain. One should not wait for smoke to know there is terrorism.”
Although the statement says that it’s “well-balanced in terms of its effects on freedom of speech and general respect for human rights”, civil action groups will probably ring the alarm bells. Though I’m not sure whether the public will actually care. Europeans have seen so many anti-terrorism laws that limit their freedom already, that they might have become numb for amendments like these.
Written on April 14, 2008 – 5:06 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
After the EU fined software giant Microsoft 899 million euro last February, things have been relatively peaceful. But a question by EU Parliament representative and Green Party member Heide Rühle is about to stir things up again. Ars Technica reports that Rühle asked the Parliament whether the EU’s legal findings against the company should prevent Microsoft from taking part in future public procurement discussions:
Rühle’s complaint rests on the fact that Microsoft was convicted in 2004 of “abusing its dominant position in the software market, causing a huge damage both on competitors and consumers.” Redmond appealed that decision, but the Court of First Instance (CFI) rejected the company’s appeal in September, 2007. Microsoft chose not to appeal that ruling, which, according to Rühle, gives the court’s decision res judicata status. The term refers to a situation in which the validity of the court’s findings, and the evidence of Microsoft’s abuse, is considered settled and is no longer contested.
So no more Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations in the EU offices? Will every European diplomat now browse with Firefox? Probably not, as the EU wouldn’t want to get into this ‘trouble’. They’ll find a way to make sure Rühle’s questions will remain rhetorical. The software company should probably just take it as a “effective warning”, says Joel Hruska from Ars Technica.
When EU’s antitrust chief Neelie Kroes fined the - now legendary - 899 million euro, reactions from the other side of the ocean were pretty negative, sometimes even emotional. TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington called Microsoft the “EU’s ATM machine” and The New York Times wrote that the fine “might pose problems for companies like Apple, Intel and Qualcomm, whose market dominance in online music downloads, computer chips and mobile phone technology is also being scrutinized by the European Commission.” In their eyes, this question by Rühle might even seem like a provocation. I hope the reassuring words on Ars Technica might ease their minds.
Written on April 8, 2008 – 5:56 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
In a discussion on TechCrunch about where Europe’s own Silicon Valley would emerge, some interesting suggestions were made (warning: many links to specific comments follow). From Moscow to Lisbon and from Estonia to London.
The latter was the most mentioned location, followed by Finland and Switzerland. Finland has an USP that is their biggest pro and con at the same time: Nokia. On the one hand, it’s THE European tech company, on the other: it sucks up all the talent.
Switzerland would be a fair option, since it’s an innovative country and home of some important venture capitalists like Index Ventures. Yet a new development makes the question even more complicated: Nokia has just announced that it would establish a research center in Lausanne. It will be a joint lab with two Swiss federal institutes of technology. It will open its doors in June.
According to All About Symbian, the research agenda will focus on persuasive communications:
- Exploring new interaction experiences and technologies utilizing all the human senses;
- Services and applications based on the user’s context, such as location, and personal preferences, e.g.,
information provided by sensors within a mobile device or in the surrounding world;
- Internet services and technologies - enriching the Internet experience on mobile devices.
Nokia’s Chief Technology Officer Bob Iannucci said to Reuters that Nokia ’sees the fusing of the digital and physical worlds as a key objective in mobility.’
So, will this cause some sort of local brain drain? Kai Lemmetty from Floobs told me during The Next Conference that this is the case in Finland. Nokia just picks out the talent and makes them an offer they can’t refuse. As you can imagine, this is deadly for local start-up action. And a good start-up atmosphere is one of the most important conditions for a Silicon Valley-like area. So all you European start-up experts, please lend me your thought on this matter.
Written on April 2, 2008 – 3:10 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief
Yesterday, the upper house of the Dutch parliament voted against an online gambling trial of the country’s gambling monopolist Holland Casino - which is state-owned. 37 of the 75 members voted against the bill of minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin. It was a close call, since 35 members agreed with the minister. Ballin wanted to give Holland Casino permission to offer online gambling for three years, to see how it would develop. The plan was to reassess the gambling activities every year.
Dutch gamblers now often go to illegal gambling sites to fulfill their gambling needs. The minister wanted to lure this group of approximatively 40,000 people away from the dark side of the web to a state-controlled site. Makes sense in my opinion. I think it’s quite remarkable that in a country that is famous for its progressive and liberal laws, online gambling still stays unregulated.
Holland is not alone in its online gambling fear. Countries like Germany, France and Greece also remain reluctant to allow any kind of online gambling initiative. Reuters reports that their main concerns are addiction and a decrease in income from state betting monopolies. The European Union isn’t really fond of this attitude since it prevents competition. Therefore, the EU recently gave the Netherlands and Greece a final warning before court action over restrictions in their gaming markets.
Email
Twitter
Facebook
Netlog
Linkedin
The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show of, the future of the Web. (
