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Five EU Countries Taken To Court For Failing To Implement Cookie Law

Posted by samzenpus on from the time-out dept.

concertina226 writes "The European Commission announced on Thursday that it has asked the European Court of Justice to impose fines on Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia for not transposing binding telecoms rules into their national laws. The official deadline for doing so was 25 May last year. These telecoms rules are aimed at protecting users' privacy online. They also require companies to notify users about any data breach without undue delay and to allow customers to switch fixed or mobile phone operators without changing their phone number, within one working day. But the main sticking point in the telecoms package appears to be the requirement for Web companies to obtain 'explicit consent' from Internet users before storing cookies."

2 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Re:leave the EU by Kergan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Err...

    1. Session cookies are key in allowing Google to track and store more data than it should.

    2. In France at least, the EC expressed concerns about the French government storing too much, not too little. So, not sure where you get the idea of the EU promoting police states.

    3. Historically, the EU has always progressed in times of crisis. The US got federalism more or less right two centuries ago. We'll get it more or less right soon enough.

    4. Unless the Euro breaks up (which I think is unlikely), rebalancing will likely occur through fiscal union, pan-EU projects (à la Ariane or Airbus), and increased (some already exist) subsidies from more competitive regions to less competitive ones.

    5. Actually, Iceland recently made news because it was at the EU's door, almost begging to enter, and rather eager to adopt the Euro. The part they got right, which neither you nor we did, is to lock up their bankers in jail after clawing their wages back. (And I'm confident we'll get it right too, eventually.)

  2. Re:leave the EU by Rakshasa-sensei · · Score: 5, Interesting

    - My ex's family were from Greece. Business there was as business in any Southern European country: stronger sense of family and community, so local businesses which were perceived as ethical would thrive, whereas people in it for a quick buck would be viewed with suspicion and would have regulations more stringently applied. Health&Safety in Britain is much more intrusive than there.

    Wow, I didn't expect it but (not kidding) you've seriously opened my eyes.

    Ignoring for the moment the rather unfortunate comparison you did to China (do you even realize the argument you made there???), when considering the situation in southern europe I at least _assumed_ that the population in general was conscious of the reasons why they were uncompetitive and just acted out of self-interest.

    That the family and community business thing you described above is seen as a good thing makes clear that they got no fucking clue. I can hardly think of a way to structure a business environment that would lead to more corruption than that. When your neighbor or cousine's business is threatened by a more competitive smartass from out-of-town, the 'family and community' oriented society would see it as normal to put in any and all obstacles possible.

    Fuck that, I guess Greece really is destined to leave the Euro. (And having left a sour taste in the mouth of leaders up north from all those protests and threats to the Euro stability in order to 'renegotiate', etc, reconstruction 'aid' won't be very forthcoming)