FTAs

When one follows Korean news it quickly becomes obvious that free trade agreements are on the top of the news agenda. And now it seems as if will be an issue in the upcoming elections as well as the opposition party DUP has demanded that certain parts of the FTA that was signed with the US in 2007 should be renegotiated. The US position is that the agreement as it is benefiting both parties. Korea Times has an editorial that questions the strategy of DUP, and the public seems not to have been overly impressed with the move.

Meanwhile, the procedures to start negotiations of an FTA with China is about to commence. Which may make Korea into an FTA hub of sorts, allready having FTAs with both EU and US, and planning for an FTA also with Japan in the future.

Privacy

There's concern in Korea that Google's policy update will risk the safety of personal data. The Korea Communications Commission has abegun looking into the case, focusing on whether the company has received approval from users for the planned data sharing and a minimum amount of personal information has been collected.

Freedom of Speech

"Nein" to Apple this time!

The Düsseldorf court says no to Apple  by refusing to ban the commercialisation of the new Samsung tablet in Germany.

Yesterday the Düsseldorf regional court stated, as expected, that the Samsung Galaxy 10.1. N looked different enough from the iPad to be commercialised in Germany, thus rejecting Apple's request to forbid its competitor's new product for design patent infringement.

The Düsseldorf court is considered as rather open to right holders concerns, but here maybe Apple went to far this time in its design dispute with Samsung?

"Oui" to French consumers!

A French consumers' association UFC Que-Choisir give some fresh air to its telecom market.

The French consumers' association 'UFC Que-Choisir' gives a three week- ultimatum to French mobile operators to improve the transparency of their contracts to consumers, before considering legal action.

Since Free entered the French market a couple of weeks ago, there is a multiplicity of contract offers from the operators, substantial decrease of selling prices and improved conditions, like subscriptions without (often two-year) term obligations . However UFC Que-Choisir still detected abusive commercial practices and contract terms that should be removed according to French consumer law, like the one that consist in offering 'unlimited' limited access subscriptions!!

La Poste Mobile, the virtual mobile operator using the SFR infrastructure, offers unlimited voice communications...actually limited to 200h communication per month. Even if it's a lot, it's... Limited. We have even better from Numericable that offers an 'unlimited' 14h conversation/month subscription...

The excellent internal news agency within the European Parliament, EuroparlTV, just published this fotage where they interview Amelia Andersdotter and Marielle Gallo on their, somewhat conflicting, views of the much debated Anti Counterfeit Trade Agreement, ACTA.

Last week I noticed the Dutch Hoge Raad (highest court in the Netherlands) defined "sms'jes" and "belminuten" (text messages and calling minutes) as stealable goods- I thought, that is weird. An SMS is a data package which is being transmitted from one user of a network to another user and thus if it is defined as a good, or as property of the rental subscriber, in its unsent, potential form doesn't that mean a turning into property of something that should not be turned into property? If anything, one would assume the SMS, whether sent or not, was part of a service package rented to the consumer by the operator and that, subsequently, a misappropriator of the SMS service would have been guilty of something like fraud, not theft.

Apparently there is another verdict, also from the Hoge Raad in the Netherlands, which defines in-world online game property as goods using a Sweat-of-the-brow-argument. Namely: a person spends a lot of time on creating their in-game stuff (like amulets or swords) and therefore forcing them to give up those in-game objects is paramount to theft. I've seen this mentioned in scholarly journals before, but other than as a theoretical exercise this is the first mention of an actual court case, I believe.

Dutch operators are going to invest in extra base stations to cope with the "Elfstedentocht". This is a skating competition organised in the north of the Netherlands as soon as the ice on the canals between 11 pre-determined cities is thick enough to endure the weight of the skating competitors. As this winter has been cold enough, this is expected to happen soon. Last time the competition was organised was in 1997. Apparently the three largest providers are going to let each other roam on each other's base stations so as to keep costs of investments down. Let's hope they make it a lasting practise and that they also consider inviting virtual operators to share the joy!

I am full member of the ITRE (industry, research, energy, formerly also transport but transport is currently in its own committee TRAN) and therefore have voting duty every time there are votes. The objects of my legislative prowess yesterday were the amendments for the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) report (see parliament dossier website). I wrote about this last week but then only in passing.

At the votes, I had the draft amendments and the voting lists at my disposal and found myself in a curious mind-wrestler. Last week, I had agreed with the Greens/EFA shadow rapporteur for the opinion that surely it cannot be good to ”identify and promote risk-prevention technologies” (suggested article 3(1a)) and that the better formulation would be ”identify and promote risk-prevention behaviours”. Of course, promoting a change doesn’t always go easily and the text we voted on yesterday says that one of the competences of ENISA should be ”identifying and promoting risk-prevention behaviours and technologies”. A compromise!

 The escalating patent dispute between Apple and Samsung in the tablet-computer and Smartphone market that started in the US in April 2011 is reaching Europe, with law suits in France, the UK, Italy and Germany, the latter country's law courts being currently the main battlefield. There are two main fronts.

Apple offensive on the design 'front'

Apple protected its tablet-computer design in 2004 before the iPad entered the market.

In the summer 2011, under Apple's request, the Düsseldorf regional court banned the commercialisation of Samsung's tablet Galaxy 10.1 and 8.9 by preliminary injunction on the ground the models copied the protected design of Apple's iPad without Apple's authorisation. The first injunction ordered the ban within the European Union area, except of the Netherlands where a similar procedure authorised the 10.1. However questions arose as whether a German court has the right to enjoin a Korean company from selling products outside of Germany, and a couple of weeks later the preliminary ban was modified to be limited only to Germany. The preliminary ban was confirmed by the court on 31st January, and as expected, was not extended to Europe.

In order to skip the ban, Samsung launched in Germany a modified version of its Galaxy 10.1, the Galaxy 10.1.N, whose design is different enough for the Düsseldorf court to possibly consider to allowing its commercialisation. The modification consisted in introducing a new metal border to the front of the display and changing the position of the speakers. The court will give its final decision on 9th February.

I was asked to write an article for the Romanian paper Adevărul. This is the original text in English:

ACTA has really passed through all possible stages of institutional awareness. Between 2007 and 2010, the only people who had access and influence over the contents were representatives of the copyright industry. Then, a number of draft leaks made it impossible for the negotiators to blanket deny agents from other industries (like telecoms) and civil society. Now, that the agreement is public, entire governments are protesting the text.

ACTA represents several choices. According to a study conducted on behalf of the European Parliament last year, an approval of the agreement would mean that the member states and the parliament approve of the Commission taking the liberty of going beyond their negotiation mandates. For ACTA pushes the boundaries of present EU customs cooperation and the Commission isn't formally allowed to re-negotiate EU law through international trade. So, the choice is whether or not to condone the Commission circumventing normal legislative procedures.

Second, some of the world's fastest growing economies, India and China, have not been party to the negotiations and they are upset. They are upset with the contents, the scope and that they were denied influence. So it's a choice of whether we will mark ourselves down as a a Union that happily goes behind the back of our most important trading partners or not.

Policy Advisor, focus on International Trade agreements and IPR

Amelia Andersdotter is an elected Member of the European Parliament for the 7th Parliamentary term. She represents the Swedish Pirate Party and is a member of the Greens/EFA group within the Parliament.

Ms Andersdotter is currently looking to boost her team at the office in Brussels with an expert on international trade agreements and intellectual property rights. The person will function as Policy Advisor for Ms Andersdotter, primarily in relation to her work within the Committee for International Trade (INTA). As a Policy Advisor you will be called upon to perform a multitude of tasks including:

• support for Ms Andersdotter in the legislative work of INTA,
• offering political advice and drafting parliamentary positions,
• keeping up to date on the political and academic debate within the field,
• the management, organization and follow-up of meetings,
• research, information, and communication tasks.

The post of Policy Advisor requires great flexibility and adaptability: irregular working hours, varying workloads, and the capacity for teamwork in an international environment. Irregular travels to Strasbourg can be expected.

We believe that you:

• have a degree in Law, Business Law or Economics with a specialization in international trade and/or intellectual property rights,
• have some years work experience as a policy adviser in a political/ government/ NGO role,
• have a general understanding of the European Union and the European Parliament,
• are a fluent English speaker, knowledge of a second official language of the EU is highly desirable.

Terms and conditions

The position will be a one year contract with possibility of extension. Salary is based on experience and in accordance with Parliamentary rules.