Position Paper Archives - Page 2 of 2

EuroISPA shares its views on the Digital Services Act

01/04/2021/in 2021, News, Position Paper

Brussels, 31 March 2021 – EuroISPA publishes its views on the Digital Services Act, reflecting the views of the European Internet industry.

EuroISPA is the voice of the European Internet industry, representing over 2,000 Internet Service Providers across Europe, all along the Internet value chain. As we have been engaging in discussions on intermediary liability and content moderation for over 20 years, EuroISPA is proud to share with the EU institutions and interested stakeholders its position on the Digital Services Act (DSA).

Overall, EuroISPA supports the DSA and its objectives to protect consumers and their fundamental rights online, to foster transparency and accountability of online platforms, and to favour innovation, growth, and competitiveness within the Single Market. In particular, we welcome the European Commission’s decision to adopt an evolutionary approach maintaining the key principles of the E-Commerce Directive, such as the limited exemption from secondary liability, while creating a due diligence framework for intermediary services.

At the same time, EuroISPA believes that several changes would be needed in order to achieve a regulation that truly fosters innovation and growth in the Digital Single Market. Therefore, EuroISPA put forward recommendations on every chapter of the DSA, spanning from the definition of online platforms, to intermediary liability provisions, from the due diligence rules, to the overall governance structure.

You can download our position below:

2103-EuroISPA-DSA-position Download

E-Evidence: EuroISPA adopts Position Paper

03/07/2018/in 2018, Position Paper

Brussels, 3 July 2018- EuroISPA is the voice of the European Internet industry, representing over 2500 Internet Services Providers from across Europe and all along the Internet value chain.EuroISPA’s members have long worked with judicial authorities in their countries of operation, and thus have valuable insights on the functioning of existing cooperation. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of EuroISPA’s members are SMEs, and as such, face novel challenges from any new legal regime. EuroISPA has long been engaged on the e-evidence file, having been very active in the proposal’s preparatory stages.

EuroISPA has been a longstanding interlocuter in policy discussions on how to improve cooperation procedures, using its representative role at, for example, Europol’s EC3 communications providers advisory group, the European Commission DG JUST/DG HOME taskforce on e-evidence, and the former European Commission expert group on data retention, to advance such discussions.

EuroISPA and its members feel compelled to stress the negative consequences that will arise from any framework that privatises law enforcement and does not provide clear safeguards for ISPs. Furthermore, EuroISPA emphasises the need for SME exemptions to offset the considerable administrative, legal and financial burden incurred by the cooperation set out by the e-evidence proposal.

The position paper in full can be read here: 1806_EuroISPA_e-evidence_position_paper

EuroISPA statement on proposed Directive on Combatting Terrorism

22/02/2016/in 2016, Position Paper

Brussels – 22 February 2016 : EuroISPA members take the misuse of their services to disseminate radical and terror content very seriously, and strongly support a clear legislative framework through which swift and effective actions can be taken. Indeed, all EuroISPA members – from access providers to platforms – engage in specific cooperation with law enforcement authorities that reflects their technical position in the Internet ecosystem, to keep cyberspace safe while respecting fundamental rights.

To ensure the Directive on Combatting Terrorism provides the tools for ISPs and public authorities to best cooperate in the efforts to effectively tackle illegal terror content online, we would like to highlight:

Need for an explicit reference to the E-Commerce Directive: Directive 2000/31/EC enshrines the principles that allow for smooth cooperation between ISPs and public authorities. Indeed, the Directive’s procedural rules define the legal basis by which ISPs and public authorities can jointly tackle illegal content online while safeguarding fundamental rights – the Notice and Takedown mechanism. To ensure the Directive on Combatting Terrorism provides the adequate instruments to facilitate strong and secure public-private cooperation, a reference to Directive 2000/31/EC is essential.
Need for standardised procedures of cooperation across Europe: To ensure ISPs can swiftly remove actual illegal terror content, there is a need for standardised notification procedures across Europe. Often notices are incomplete or misleading, slowing down the removal time for illegal content. Moreover, such notices ought to originate from national judicial authorities, given the inevitable divergence in legal standards of alleged terror content across Member States.

The above principles serve as the basis by which terrorism in the online sphere can be meaningfully tackled, while ensuring that the very freedoms at stake in the efforts to combat terrorism are not undermined.

This statement was circulated to leading members of the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties (LIBE) committee. The LIBE committee is currently scrutinising the proposed Directive.

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EuroISPA