Sir, Regarding ‘EU to push patent-free eGovernment’: When discussing eGovernment and interoperability, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often overlooked. The fact is that innovative SMEs such as mine play a role that is at least as important as any of the so-called ‘software giants’. Effective eGovernment requires innovative, tailored and flexible solutions. European SMEs [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Kroes wants to include developing countries in Internet governance‘: It is vitally important when the European Commission is reviewing submissions to its public consultation on ‘The open Internet and net neutrality in Europe’ that it carefully considers net neutrality in the European context. Net neutrality is closely linked with broadband policy: in Europe, [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Kroes: Interoperability at heart of Digital Agenda‘: While it is positive that the European Commission is committed to promoting interoperability and to investing in ICT infrastructure, these actions need to be complemented with measures to improve the skills infrastructure if the potential of the Information Society is to be fully unlocked. Enhanced interoperability [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Brussels drops antitrust probes into Apple’s iPhone‘: I wonder if Brussels will be doing the same thing for the new appliance from Apple, the iPad, which in the past month has been updating its terms and conditions of use to more restrictive and un-European rules. While the US with its states is regarded [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Kroes wants to include developing countires in Internet governance‘: The Internet Society welcomes EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes’ call for Internet governance to be extended to the developing world, given that emerging economies will soon have more web users than the EU and the US combined. The Internet Society agrees that the [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU regulators deal blow to Berlusconi’s media empire‘: I must say I do not share the prevalent satisfaction about the permission granted to Murdoch to enter the Italian audiovisual scene. The active anti-European ideological bias of the Murdoch press empire is responsible for desastrous disinformation on European affairs in several EU countries, notably [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU wins concessions on US bank data-sharing deal‘: I see once again that the EU is proposing to let private bank data on European citizens be handed over in bulk to the US. Once again I see the lie that this data is too big a task to filter in the EU. The [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Kroes: Interoperability at heart of Digital Agenda‘: The Internet Society (ISOC) welcomes the perceptive comments by EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes this week on the importance and success of a transparent, multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance. The Internet Society believes that these proven principles are one of the reasons why the day-to-day [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Kroes presses ahead with open IT standards‘: Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes is right to ask for disclosure rules by standards bodies in order to make it easier for others to use and adapt technologies based on such standards. OASIS – which you quote – already has the most comprehensive and up-front disclosure [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Kroes chooses ‘wait-and-see’ approach on future Internet‘: We found it particularly encouraging that EU Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes was reluctant to provide on-the-fly legal guidance for the Internet sector, quite rightly protesting that “it is not possible for one person or one institution to lay down a single way to approach these [...]