Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
A great moment for the free flow of information
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Cross-posted from the
Google Public Policy Blog
International organisations are stepping up in defence of protecting and advancing the free flow of information online.
A high-level United Nations representative has issued a clarion call promoting freedom of expression. In a
report
released earlier this month in Geneva, the UN’s Special Rapporteur
Frank La Rue
argued that restricting the flow of information via Internet blackouts violates human rights.
For the developing world, the UN’s Special Rapporteur sees access to the Internet as a crucial tool for fighting back inequality and spurring economic growth. The Special Rapporteur argues that governments should strive "to make the Internet widely available, accessible and affordable to all." At the same time, he urges resistance to attempts by powerful governments to block Internet access.
In the developed world, the UN report opposes “three strikes” Internet laws, which are designed by governments to discourage Internet file-sharers. For instance, France and the United Kingdom are trying to employ new laws that would allow authorities to get users’ Internet unplugged permanently for illegal downloads.
We look forward to approval of the report by the United Nations General Assembly when it meets in September.
The report is already generating positive momentum in Europe and elsewhere. A group of UK Parliamentarians have put forward a
motion
demanding that the government review its website blocking plans.
The UN Special Rapporteur also has joined with representatives from the
Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe
, the
Organisation of American States
, and the
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
to issue a ringing
joint declaration
in defence of free expression on the Internet. The declaration sets out several important principles, including:
Freedom of expression applies to the Internet, as it does to all means of communication. Any restrictions are acceptable only in the rarest of occasions when prescribed by law and if in compliance with international standards.
Internet service providers that provide the platform for free expression cannot be held liable for illegal or harmful content generated by third parties.
Mandatory blocking of websites or IP addresses represents an extreme measure, analogous to the prohibition of a newspaper, radio, or television station.
The “single publication rule” should be respected. It holds that damages can be recovered only once for any single piece of content.
Mr. La Rue toured Europe recently to build support for his report. When he visited The Hague, the Dutch government offered strong support and announced plans to host a global Ministerial Conference on online Freedom of Expression in the Netherlands in the autumn. So watch this space for updates on the battle to keep the Internet open for a free and open exchange of ideas and opinions.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression Policy, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Helping African artists manage their rights globally
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The
contribution
made by African musicians and their music throughout history is unquestionable. The continent’s musical landscape is rich and contributes not just entertainment value but also a way of sharing tradition and culture. Unfortunately, even today, only a few African artists have been able to make money from the popularity of their music, and most of them struggle to make a living or to get the recognition they deserve. Inefficient rights management systems, difficulties in cross-border licensing and payment, and other challenges, mean that artists frequently don’t earn as much money as they should from their work.
In order to address some of these challenges, the
World Intellectual Property Organisation
(WIPO), has undertaken a number of initiatives intended to benefit musicians in Africa. Among the initiatives, is a collaboration between WIPO and Google focused on building software that will make it easier, faster, and simpler for musicians and composers in 11 West African countries to get paid for the use of their music worldwide - and help increase their music’s visibility internationally at the same time.
When a broadcaster plays a song on the radio, a movie studio includes that song on a film soundtrack, or a music service streams it to consumers, they need to know who owns the rights to that song and obtain a license. One of the places they might consult to figure out who owns the rights is a collecting society--an organization dedicated to managing rights for composers, musicians and performers. You might need to contact a music publisher, or a record company, or the artists directly. Information on rights can be hard to find, impeding revenue opportunities for artists.
The 11 countries in question -- Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo -- sought a solution for this problem, and asked WIPO to come up with a solution that would allow information on their music to be more widely shared. With Google as its pro bono technology partner, WIPO will improve its
existing rights-management software
to do just that.
The aim is to make it easier and more efficient for artists to get paid for their work. Performers, composers, record labels and music publishers will be able to register their music and have that information automatically shared and globally accessible. Current and potential licensees will be able to work out who owns the rights to a work more efficiently, and information about how these licensees are using these works will be immediately available to all these countries’ collection societies, replacing what is often now a manual process of updating various databases.
By working with rights holders and public institutions like WIPO, Google aims to contribute open technology solutions, making it easier for new online services to emerge and for consumers to discover and access creative works. In the case of music in developing countries, this need is especially important: African artists can now reach a global audience and get paid, but only if the rights management information is readily available. This collaboration will considerably help make this happen and we are proud to be helping WIPO in furthering the dissemination of African culture and helping African artists reach listeners around the world.
You can learn more about this project on
WIPO's website
.
Posted by Ory Okolloh, Policy and Government Relations Manager, Google Africa
Changes to the open Internet in Kazakhstan
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
Update
14 June, 7:40pm: After we published this post, the Kazakhstan authorities issued
new guidance
stating that the order no longer applies to previously registered domains. In practice this means we can re-launch google.kz. While we’re pleased that we can once again offer our users in Kazakhstan customised search results, we encourage the Government of Kazakhstan to rescind this requirement for all future .kz domains as well.
The genius of the Internet has always been its open infrastructure, which allows anyone with a connection to communicate with anyone else on the network. It’s not limited by national boundaries, and it facilitates free expression, commerce and innovation in ways that we could never have imagined even 20 or 30 years ago.
Some governments, however, are attempting to create borders on the web without full consideration of the consequences their actions may have on their own citizens and the economy. Last month, the Kazakhstan Network Information Centre notified us of an
order
issued by the Ministry of Communications and Information in Kazakhstan that requires all .kz domain names, such as
google.kz
, to operate on physical servers within the borders of that country. This requirement means that Google would have to route all searches on
google.kz
to servers located inside Kazakhstan. (Currently, when users search on any of our domains, our systems automatically handle those requests the fastest way possible, regardless of national boundaries.)
We find ourselves in a difficult situation: creating borders on the web raises important questions for us not only about network efficiency but also about user privacy and free expression. If we were to operate google.kz only via servers located inside Kazakhstan, we would be helping to create a fractured Internet. So we have decided to redirect users that visit
google.kz
to
google.com
in Kazakh. Unfortunately, this means that Kazakhstani users will experience a reduction in search quality as results will no longer be customised for Kazakhstan.
Measures that force Internet companies to choose between taking actions that harm the open web, or reducing the quality of their services, hurt users. We encourage governments and other stakeholders to work together to preserve an open Internet, which empowers local users, boosts local economies and encourages innovation around the globe.
Posted by Bill Coughran, SVP, Research & Systems Infrastructure
Practical steps towards a greener, energy-efficient cloud
Friday, June 3, 2011
UPDATE | 14 June | 17:50: videos of all the presentations at the Data Centre Summit are now available on our
website
Data centres are very important to us—they’re critical to the cloud services we deliver. Over the last 12 years, we’ve put a lot of effort into
minimising
the amount of energy, water and other resources we use—because it makes financial sense, and because it’s good for the environment too. That work means that today, we use
half the energy
of a typical industry data centre.
Last week, we brought together more than 150 industry professionals in Zürich, Switzerland for our
second conference on data centre efficiency
. Since our
first conference
two years ago in the U.S., the industry’s come a long way, with large operators now very focused on energy efficiency.
With “free cooling” we can dramatically reduce energy consumption by using the local environment to cool servers, instead of energy-intensive chillers. In our data centres we use both air cooling and evaporative cooling—and we revealed the details of the seawater cooling system we’ve custom-engineered for our new data centre in Hamina, Finland.
Google is lucky enough to have the resources and experts to continually improve efficiency. But around
70% of the world’s data centres
are operated by companies that probably don’t.
That’s why we shared
five simple and low-cost steps
that any company, large or small, can use. These include using plastic meat locker curtains to separate hot and cold air, or welding your own air-conditioning chimney out of cheap sheet metal. These techniques are proven to increase energy efficiency, reduce electricity consumption and improve environmental footprint.
We also announced that we’re now participating in the European Commission’s
Code of Conduct for Data Centres
, a framework for designing and operating data centres efficiently. It ties in closely with the way we build and run our facilities, and has a robust checklist of efficiency best practices that are well worth trying out.
The main take-away was that there is no magic in data centre efficiency. With the right information and a bit of creativity, anyone can make their computing infrastructure efficient. If you operate a data centre or server room, please
visit our website
and make use of the techniques we’ve outlined. Videos of all the presentations from the Summit will be available on the
site
next week.
Posted by Urs Hoelzle, Senior Vice President, Technical Infrastructure
Inside the Big Tent
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
At our European Zeitgeist event, held annually near London, we traditionally erect a large marquee for a partner dinner and entertainment. This year we wondered if there was anything else we could do with the space once Zeitgeist was over. In that instant, the Big Tent was born.
Canvas aside, the term "big tent" has, of course, a political connotation.
Wikipedia
defines it as "seeking to attract people with diverse viewpoints...does not require adherence to some ideology as a criterion for membership." That just about sums up the idea behind last week’s Big Tent conference, which focused on debating some of the hot issues relating to the internet and society.
We invited the advocacy groups
Privacy International
and
Index on Censorship
—both of whom have criticised Google in the past—to partner with us in staging the debates, and sought diverse viewpoints among the speakers and the delegates.
Topics on the agenda included: what was the role of technology in the revolutions in the Middle East? What are the limits of free speech online? Do we need tougher privacy laws or are we in danger of stifling innovation? Can technology and access to information be used to help prevent conflict?
The result was a stimulating day of debate featuring the likes of
Big Brother
television producer
Peter Bazalgette
,
Mumsnet
founder Justine Roberts and the U.K. Culture Secretary
Jeremy Hunt
alongside Googlers including Eric Schmidt, Google Ideas’
Jared Cohen
and the Egyptian activist
Wael Ghonim
, and a highly engaged and knowledgeable audience of NGOs, policy advisers, tech businesses and journalists.
You can watch
highlights on YouTube
and see event feedback on
Twitter
. We hope to bring the Big Tent to other regions over the coming year.
Posted by Peter Barron, Director of External Relations, EMEA
European Foreign Ministers Call for Internet Freedom
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
It’s always nice hear ringing words in defense of freedom of expression, particularly when it comes from those who help shape Europe’s foreign policy. Foreign ministers from two countries - Sweden and the Netherlands - who have been leading on this issue took time out from busy European Union meetings to come together in Brussels and express their support for an open Internet where information flows freely.
Dutch Foreign Minister
Uri Rosenthal
, pictured at right, called on Europe to take a firm stand in favor of Internet Freedom. His speech represented a clarion call for action, ranging from increased funding to “support to cyber-dissidents operating in repressive circumstances” to convening a joint summit on the issue with Canada in the fall. These priorities are central to the Netherlands’s new human rights policy.
Minister Rosenthal also called on European companies “to commit to joint codes of conduct that guarantee Internet freedom, like the
Global Network Initiative
(GNI).” Three years ago, we helped found the GNI and we recently brought the initiative’s director Susan Morgan to Brussels.
Some 100 Brussels movers and shakers crowded into the International Press Centre to hear the minister speak at a conference organized by the
European Centre for Political Economy
.
Sweden’s Carl Bildt, picture at left, gave an animated keynote speech. When told that the G8 in Paris would discuss plans for a “civilized” Internet, the Swedish Foreign Minister quipped. “If we have a "civilized" Internet, we also will be forced to have a civilized telephone system, a civilized television, and we could even continue with civilized politics.” Minister Bildt’s full speech is can be found
here
.
The Minister attacked repressive governments, pointing to recent net crackdowns practiced by governments in Egypt, Syria and Libya. “A dying dictatorship is defined by its ability to destroy the Internet,” he said. In contrast, a free Internet brings gigantic benefits. "When you set people free you set the conditions for society and the economy to develop." Bildt’s conclusion was simple: "The most important instrument of change in our time is the Internet."
In coming months, we plan to keep pressing our free expression agenda in Brussels - and throughout Europe. We will be vigilant to point out threats to the free Internet, both inside and outside of Europe. We also will be speaking about Google free expression efforts such as our
transparency tools
. Watch this space.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Internet freedom: how should Europe battle online censorship?
Thursday, May 19, 2011
European foreign ministers endure a grueling schedule. Next Monday afternoon, Swedish Foreign Minister
Carl Bildt
and Dutch Foreign Minister
Uri Rosenthal
are taking time out from a crucial European Foreign Ministers’s summit in Brussels to issue a call for Europe to wake up to the dangers facing Internet freedom.
The event comes at a crucial time. Protests sweeping the Arab world demonstrate the power of the Net to give voice to the once silent. With two billion people online, the Internet has accelerated access to information.
On the other hand, governments around the world are attempting to suffocate this freedom.
Reporters Without Borders
counts more than 150 bloggers and Internet publishers imprisoned around the world, and 60 governments censor the web in one form or fashion. Google and YouTube services have been blocked in more than 25 countries.
Although no one should compare democratically elected governmens in Europe and elsewhere to repressive regimes, we have also seen an alarming trend among western governments. People acting out of the best of intentions -- protecting children, a goal that we of course share, are undermining the fundamentals of an open Internet. Courts around Europe are considering
forcing neutral platforms such as Facebook and Google to preview content before it is posted -
and to remove it just because the subject doesn’t like it.
Fortunately, Sweden and the Netherlands have taken a lead to make Internet free expression a priority, even as most of Europe has remained silent.
On Monday, come and hear leading voices for free expression discuss how Europe could step up its fight for Internet freedom and the free flow of information. One of Brussels' leading think tanks,
ECIPE
, is hosting the event. Google is sponsoring. Everyone is welcome to attend.
When
: May 23, 16:00-17:45
Where
: International Press Centre, Residence palace (Maelbeek room), Rue de la Loi 155, Brussels
RSVP to:
info@ecipe.org
Programme:
16:00
- Welcome
16:15
- Opening of Conference by Uri Rosenthal, Dutch Minister for Foreign Affairs
16:30
- Panel discussion: Internet freedom of expression: what should be the EU agenda?
17:10
- Keynote Speech by Carl Bildt, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs
17:45
- End
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, EMEA, Google
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