The European Union assembly is preparing to vote on legislation designed make conducting business over the Internet easier. Legislation is targeted at a variety of vexing issues: protecting consumers form electronic junk mail (spam); deciding who should regulate cross-border transactions; and who should be held liable for illegal Web content. There isn't a consensus on how the issues should be addressed, though. In the case of dealing with spam, Internet service providers want tighter restrictions in an effort to boost consumer confidence. The original version of the legislation requires all unsolicited commercial E-mail to be plainly identified and even allows governments to block spam. Then there is the European Parliament's legal affairs committee's proposal to add an amendment calling for an 'opt out' register for consumers to indicate they don't want to receive spam. The European Internet Service Provider Association wants an 'opt in' system where consumers won't receive spam unless they have requested it.
Another issue being discussed is who will regulate the Internet companies. The bill says firms conducting business over the Net should be regulated by the EU country where they are based, rather than having to deal with all 15 national regimes. There are a number of confusing exceptions to the legislation, especially in the area of consumer protection. "How is the consumer expected to know what contracts come under which rule," said an EU statement.
Amendments to the legislation, which focus on libel and copyright infringement, are being challenged by Euroispa and the European Public Telecommunications Network Operators' Association. These two groups are opposed to requirements that network operators would have to accommodate industry standards for protecting, monitoring and identifying online content.
There isn't agreement on anything except the need to establish rules which will make doing business on the Internet a low risk, efficient place to conduct business.
--- Garth Mason
