FYI. Conference: Regulating the Information Society, Brussels 19-20 June

Mer 20 Giu 2001 10:09:13 CEST

Hello,
qualcuno è andato, può fare un breve report?

grazie mario

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Hello everyone,

some of you might have heard of this, but just in case
you haven't, this event is - I guess - very interesting
for most of you. Unfortunately, the dates are tomorrow and
the day after, so there's little time to think, but I do
urge everyone who has the chance to attend, and to spread
this within their respective chapters.

Regards,
Michiel Leenaars
ISOC Netherlands

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"Regulating the Information Society"
19-20 June 2001 in Brussels

eu: an opportunity for EU businesses
Legal aspects of e-commerce
The revolution of mobile commerce
Copyright in the Information Society
Dataprotection in the digital age
Taxation of e-commerce
6th RTD framework programme: focus on Information Society Technologies
programme

Session I: DOT eu: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EU
        BUSINESSES
The creation of the .eu top level domain (TLD) is included as one of the
        targets to accelerate electronic commerce in the eEurope
initiative. The
        Commission's first proposal in the field (July 2000) aims at creating
        a legal framework for the operation of the Registry for .eu. The
Conference
        will explore how .eu will be managed in practice, how it will provide
        Europe's companies the possibility of identifying themselves as
European
        or pan-European companies on the Internet and how it will boost
internet
        use and e-commerce in Europe.
Session II: LEGAL ASPECTS OF E-COMMERCE
The adopted e-commerce Directive aims at harmonising on an EU scale the
        legislation ruling Information Society services. The framework targets
        all activities conducted online: Business to Business, Business to
Consumer.
        The Conference will give you an update of the key issues involved and
        on how the Directive is being implemented in the different EU
Member States.
Session III: THE REVOLUTION OF MOBILE COMMERCE
Mobile commerce offers a totally new perspective in terms of developing
        business and content through wireless communication. The European
Commission
        issued in March 2001 a communication on the state of play and the way
        forward on 3G and UMTS technologies. The Conference will focus on the
        business opportunities offered by Mobile Commerce and will discuss EU
        Policy in this regard.
Session IV: COPYRIGHT IN THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
The New Copyright Directive "aims at ensuring a level-playing field in
        the Single market for products and services containing intellectual
property"
        Commissioner Monti said. It is destined to implement the WIPO
Copyright
        Treaty of 1996 and adapt copyright law to the new Information Age. The
        Conference will give an overview of the new EU Copyright regime
(protection
        of rights, private copy exception, public interest exceptions,
circumvention,
        security issues, levies, future of internet licensing). It will
also focus
        on the practical consequences of this Directive and the expected
difficulties
        that the Member States might face during its implementation.
        The session will include a special focus on the status and
        role of Collecting Societies
        in the digital age.
Session V: DATA PROTECTION IN THE DIGITAL ERA
Thanks to the new technologies, data processing has been dramatically
        boosted. More and more data are processed through the Internet. But
the
        misuse of collected data could entail an invasion of privacy. In 1997,
        the EU adopted a legislation that sets high levels of data protection
        for its citizens in the telecommunication sector. Its aim is to create
        rules that are technology neutral. But as the new technologies
        are changing quickly, the European Commission is now adapting
        the directive to the recent digital developments. The review
        of the directive on "the processing of personal data and the
        protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector" is
        part of the telecom package and is now awaiting vote in the
        European Parliament plenary. The Conference will give you an update on
        the current reform of data protection in the EU, on the Safe Harbor
agreement
        that was signed between the EU and the United States, and will discuss
        the issues at stake.
Session VI : TAXATION OF e-COMMERCE
E-commerce is expected to become a considerable source of profit in the
        near future. The scope of services supplied by electronic means ranges
        from entertainment to software, including supply of information, music
        broadcasting, computer games etc. But tax issues, if not correctly
addressed,
        might hamper the development of the Information Society. The European
        Commission just made a proposal on a Value Added Tax - VAT - on
digital
        products. The conference will aim at presenting the
        Commission's approach, discussing the issues at stake: avoid
        distortions of competition between EU and non EU-members,
        ensure the principle of open standards, etc. It will also
        address the consequences of the proposal on EU e-business.
Special highlight: 6TH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME ON RESEARCH
        AND DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES (2003-2006)- Focus on the Information
Society
        Technologies (IST) programme
For a few years now, the Commission has set the "Information Society
Technologies"
        as a thematic priority of its Research and Development Policy. The
objective
        of the upcoming IST Framework Programme is to strengthen the key
information
        technologies in order to boost the European industry and develop a
knowledge-based
        society. The European Commission is currently putting together a
proposal
        for a 6th Framework programme (covering the period of 2003-2006). The
        Conference will introduce the new proposal and offer opportunities to
        discuss its content.

SPEAKERS
Speakers will include key EU officials responsible for these dossiers
as well as key industry representatives concerned with these issues.
The Opening Keynote Address will be given by
Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission, Enterprise & Information
Society
The other speakers (and moderators) are:
Ulf Brühann, European Commission, Internal Market DG
Marco Cappato, Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur for
dataprotection
Gérard Comyn, Head of Unit F6, European Commission, Information Society DG,
Preparation of the Work programme
Louise Cracknell, Tax advisor, Siemens AG and member of the European
Information and Communications Technology Industry Association, EICTA
Lucy C. Cronin, Executive Director, European Digital Media Association, EDiMA
Elizabeth Crossick, Director, Public Affairs, Freshfields-Bruckhaus-Deringer
Townsend Feehan, Secretary-General, European Association of Consumer
Electronics Manufacturers, EACEM
Alexander Felsenberg, President, German Multimedia Association, DMMV
Tim Finoulhet, European Commission, DG Information Society
Colette Flesch, Member of the European Parliament, rapporteur on .eu
Simon Hampton, Director, European Public Affairs, AOL Europe
Malcom Harbour, Member of the European Parliament
Alex Houtart, Contract Manager, FortisBusiness.com
Peter James, Member of the Board, Verband Unabhängiger Tonträgerunternehmen
- German Association of Independent Record Companies, Music Publishers and
Music Producers, VUT
Piia-Noora Kauppi, Member of the European Parliament
Arthur Kerrigan, European Commission, Customs and Taxation DG
Maria Laptev, Recording Media Industry Association of Europe, RIAE:
"Copyright and levies"
Ine Lejeune, Partner, Leader for e-business Tax and legal services practice
for Europe Middle-East Africa, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Christophe Leclercq, Publisher, EurActiv.com
Jim Murray, Director, the European Consumers Organisation, BEUC
Marcus Ross, Speaker of the Board, Strato AG
Ted Shapiro, Vice President and General Counsel - Europe, Motion Picture
Association
Harry Santamaki, Director, Media Industry Alliances, Nokia Mobile Phones
Alessandra Silvestro, Vice President, Legal Affairs, AOL Time Warner Europe
Alastair Tempest, Director General, Federation of European Direct
Marketing, FEDMA
Jean-Paul Triaille, Counsel, Head of ICT and IT Department, Lontings and
Partners
Patrick Vittet-Philippe, European Commission, Enterprise DG
Armgard von Reden, Chief data privacy officer for IBM Europe, Middle-East,
Africa
Philippe Wacker, Secretary-General, European Multimedia Forum
Christopher Wilkinson, European Commission, DG Information Society