Cybertelecom Federal Internet Law & Policy An Educational Project

International: Europe

Bosnia

Year Regulator Established: 2001 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: Notification. | ISP Price Regulation: n/a. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Bulgaria

Year Regulator Established: 1998 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: None. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Czech Republic

Year Regulator Established: 2000 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: Notification. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Estonia

Year Regulator Established: 1998 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: Notification. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Europe

• European Union Information society and telecommunications
• European Commission:  Internet Policies Homepage
• See Cybercrime Treaty.
• See Quicklinks by Richard Swetenham "a weekly electronic newsletter on legal and regulatory issues related to the Information Society as well as developments in market and technology, together with a one-stop-shop resource on the status of EU initiatives. "
   
• OECD invites public comment on the Future of the Internet Economy, OECD 7/27/2007
• OECD urges government and industry to overhaul consumer protection for Internet and other shoppers, OECD 7/18/2007
• EC Workshop on NGN Policy and Regulatory Issues, ITU 5/17/2005
• Online Government now a reality almost everywhere in the EU, says Commission survey, Europa 3/9/2005
• EU research in Information Society Technologies: 3 success stories, Europa 2/22/2005
• Brian Kahin , Information process patents in the U.S. and Europe: Policy avoidance and policy divergence, TPRC 9/13/03
• Junghyun Kim, Johannes M. Bauer, Steven S. Wildman , Broadband uptake in OECD countries: Policy lessons from comparative statistical analysis, TPRC 9/13/03
• Building the Knowledge Society: Social and Human Capital Interactions – Commission Staff Working Document - SEC (2003)652
• Building social and human capital in the knowledge society: learning, work, social cohesion and gender - Council Resolution 2003/C 175/02
• ICT and Social Capital in the Knowledge society – Report on a Joint DG JRC/DG Employment Workshop, IPTS, Seville – 3-4 November 2003
• "The Digital Divide: Opportunities and Threats at the Verge of EU Enlargement" Janus Workshop – Brussels, 23 Jan 2003
• "e-Inclusion - The Information Society's potential for social inclusion in Europe" - Commission Staff Working Document SEC(2001)1428
• e-Europe 2005 Action Plan: An information society for all -COM (2002) 263 Final
• e-Europe+ 2003 Action Plan–June 2001 A Co-operative effort by the Candidate Countries
  to implement the Information Society in Europe
• e-Inclusion - The Information Society's potential for social inclusion in Europe Commission Staff Working Document SEC(2001)1428
• e-Inclusion - exploiting the opportunities of the information society for social inclusion - Council
  Resolution (2001/C 292/02)
• Europe’s Regions and the Information Society

• EU Tube - Sharing the sights and sounds of Europe on YouTube, Europa 7/5/2007
• Europe Leads in Mobile Internet Access, emarketer 10/26/2006
• EU acts over Greek games law, BBC 10/15/2004
• Commission grants 52 million euro to boost use of GRID – tomorrow’s Internet, EU 9/7/2004
• EU: Keep your hands off the Net, CNET 3/4/2004
• Commission warns eight Member States on telecom networks, EurActiv 10/9/03
• Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet, CoE 8/14/03
• FCC Releases Staff Report on Broadband Internet Access in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) Countries., FCC 10/9/03
• Declaration on freedom of communication on the Internet, CoE 6/2/03
• CoE - Why Europe still doesn't get the Internet, CNET 6/19/03
• Europe's ISPs Overrun with Website Take-Down Orders, Reuters 12/13/02
• Europeans flock online, Guardian 9/6/02
• European Lawmakers Discuss Net Issues, Infoworld 7/17/02
• Commission adopts blueprint to help put information and communication technologies at service of worlds' poor, RAPID 1/24/02
• Competition policy: new Notice on agreements of minor importance (de minimis Notice),, EC 1/9/02


• EU Commission puts broadband at top of e-strategy,  2/13/02
• Study: European broadband stifled, Reuters 2/4/02
• EU touts flat fee for Net access, CNET 11/28/01
• France announces ambitious 5-year Internet plan, Nando 07/10/01
• The Bureaucrat Nudging Europe onto the Net, BW 01/31/01
• AOL Europe says cheaper phone rates would mean Internet jobs in Germany NandoTimes 2/11

Finland

Internet plan under attack (Finland), IHT 12/18/02

France

• ITA France - Information on Access to the Internet & Internet Protocol (IP) Telephony Sept 1999
• France bans 'e-mail' from vocabulary, CNN 7/21/03
• France to scrutinize extremist Web sites following assassination attempt, France-Presse 7/19/02

Germany

• "Providers shall not be responsible for any third-party content to which they only provide access."  Sec. 5(3), Information and Communication Services Act, Germany.
• Regulation of Broadcasting and Internet Services in Germany - A brief overview, Hans 4/28/03
• German state clings to neo-Nazi site ban, IDG 5/22/02

Greece

• Why Greece needs broadband and why it needs it now - a European perspective, Europa 6/5/2007
• Greece Still Having Trouble Figuring Out The Internet: Arrests Blog Aggregator For Aggregating Content It Doesn't Like, Techdirt 10/30/2006
• Court allows Greek gamers to play on, BBC 9/10/02
• Greeks fight computer game ban, BBC 9/6/02
• Greece declares game over, PCAdvisor 9/4/02

Hungary

• Year Regulator Established: 1990 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: Formal. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Ireland

• Irish Internet Association
• Unmetered internet hits Ireland, BBC 6/27/03

Italy

• Italy proposes new media law Zini 10/15/02
• Report of the Task Force on Broadband Communications - Italy, Italy 2/4/02

Latvia

• Year Regulator Established: 1992 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: n/a. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Netherlands

Derived From: FTC Staff Report 2007 p 117: The Netherlands has been cited as Europe's leader in broadband penetration.569 This achievement is often credited to facilities-based competition between cable and DSL in a generally deregulated environment.570 At the beginning of telecommunications liberalization in Europe during the 1990s, it was left largely to the national governments of individual European Union ("EU") member states to decide whether and how local loops should be unbundled.571 During 1996 and 1997, Dutch government restrictions on offering telecommunications infrastructure were generally discontinued.572 Previously, incumbent monopoly telecom provider KPN had almost unrestricted rights in these fields. Local unbundling was implemented in 1999, and, consistent with subsequent EU rules, firms with significant market power also have special obligations, such as mandated interconnection at cost-based rates.573 The Dutch government also has subsidized Internet infrastructure projects and has provided tax breaks for computer purchases.574 In addition, the Netherlands generally is considered the most densely populated country in Western Europe, with an average population density of 1,037 people per square mile and 65 percent of its population living in urban areas.575 As a result, over 70 percent of the Dutch population lives in an apartment building, attached row house, or semi-detached house.576

Norway

• Telegeography report Sept 2001
• Norway MP plays PDA game during war debate, CNN 1/31/03

Poland

• Year Regulator Established: 2000 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: Notification. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Romania

• Year Regulator Established: 2001 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: Formal. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Russia

• Russia's Federal Security Bureau asks for broader powers to control telecommunications and Internet, ITU 4/29/2005

Slovakia

Year Regulator Established: 1993| Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: Notification. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)

Spain

• Spanish broadband costs to fall next year, NUA 10/3/02

Turkey

• Year Regulator Established: 2000 | Approval Required for ISP to Start Operations: n/a. | ISP Price Regulation: No. | Source: Scott Wallsten, Regulation and Internet Use in Developing Countries, Table 1 (Draft Dec. 2002)
• Peter Wolcott & Seymour E Goodman, The Internet in Turkey and Pakistan: A Comparative Analysis 2000

United Kingdom
See Industry: BT

• Links
  • Ofcom Watch
• 2007 OFCOM Communications Review, Telecom Industry and Regulation 8/24/2007
• MPs issued with Blackberry threat, BBC 2/11/2005
• Broadband in the UK growing fast, BBC 11/5/2004
• Ofcom warns on tighter Internet regulation, ZDNet 3/1/2004
• Mayor of London , "Broadband: Connecting to London 's Future".
• Oftel Frequently asked questions (FAQs) by Internet service providers about the new regulatory framework - Version 1:0 - 24 March 2003
• Review of the wholesale unmetered narrowband Internet termination market, consultation - 17 March 2003, Oftel 3/21/03
• Broadband use soars in Britain, IHT 10/9/02
• More Britons go online , Guardian 2/20/02
• Net snooping laws 'too costly', BBC 2/15/02
• 'Atom bomb' solution for fast net access, bbc 2/15/02
• Internet watchdog chief quits UK, ZDNet 1/9/02

Vatican

• John Paul brought church into online age, MSNBC 4/5/2005
• Pope gives Internet his blessing, MSNBC 5/13/02
• Pope goes online to spread the word, Guardian 2/28/02
• Vatican advocates Internet use, Nando 2/28/02
• Vatican: Beware Net's "customized" faith, CNET 2/28/02
• Pope Says Internet 'Wonderful' but Needs Regulating, Reuters 1/22/02
• Pope speaks of Net's goods and ills, CNET 1/22/02