Internet Policy – Whois And GDPR: Sky Not Falling Just Yet? 23/06/2018 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The struggle over how to comply with Europe’s new General Data Protection Regulation dominates the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in Panama. With the basic question how much data ICANN can ask its contractual partners to collect and store about its domain name customers, ICANN this week opened another hot topic to be discussed when publishing a paper on unified access to registration data. Meanwhile, trademark owners weighed in.
Data Localization (Nearly) Banned In EU 21/06/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The European Parliament, Council and European Commission on 19 June cut a deal on a new regulation on the free flow of non-personal data. The regulation, which is expected to pass the final votes in Parliament and Council without further issue, is a European answer to concerns over potential data localization obligations, which came into some demand following the Snowden revelations about intelligence services hoovering data from netizens.
Experts To Regulators: AI Is A Panacea – With Hidden Dangers To Humanity 12/06/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The heads of national telecommunications and technology regulatory authorities are gathering next month at the International Telecommunication Union to address new technologies. Not surprisingly, artificial intelligence and data hold centre stage in the programme. The meeting comes after a recent event at the United Nations where divergent voices recognised the potential beneficial uses of new technology, but warned against the undeclared intentions behind it. Separately, a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows the influence of data in machine learning algorithms with chilling consequences.
G20 Called On To Put People At Centre Of Digital Economy 29/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment Some three dozen global civil society groups have called on the G20 countries to set a digital agenda that puts the interests of people and their rights front and centre, in particular on privacy.
AI Takes Multidimensional Role In Emergency Response And Outbreaks 20/05/2018 by Damilola Adepeju for Intellectual Property Watch 1 Comment In an age where emphasis on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the good of humanity is increasing, last week’s AI for Good Global Summit at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) brought leading experts together to demonstrate the multidimensionality of AI in emergency response and outbreaks, as well as in risk reduction.
Data Collection For AI Solves Problems, Helps Researchers, Panellists Tell UN-Led Event 17/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment At a time when data collection has become a prickly subject and public defiance against large data-collecting companies such as Facebook, Google or Amazon has risen, a UN-led international summit on artificial intelligence this week sought to present the potential of the new technology in solving global problems. Data is the basic fuel of artificial intelligence, and panellists at the event showed how data collection has led to problem solving. For instance, the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative hopes to give biomedical researchers the ability to tap into the global conversation and browse some 200 years of research.
Artificial Intelligence For Good: 3 Days To Discuss AI Solutions 15/05/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The second edition of an annual global summit on “artificial intelligence for good” spearheaded by the UN International Telecommunication Union opened today. A focus of the summit is how artificial intelligence can help advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The opening statements by UN heads, including the World Health Organization, showed growing interest in new technology to help in all kinds of areas such as health and agriculture.
New Guidelines For Tech Companies To Be Transparent, Accountable On Censoring User Content 07/05/2018 by Intellectual Property Watch 2 Comments Facebook, Google and other social media companies today were urged by groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation to “publicly report how many user posts they take down, provide users with detailed explanations about takedowns, and implement appeals policies to boost accountability.” The groups released a set of guidelines to address censorship.
WSIS 2018 Focused On SDGs, Never-Ending Digital Divide, Role Of SMEs 20/03/2018 by Catherine Saez, Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment The UN-led World Summit on the Information Society Forum (WSIS) 2018 opened its doors this week, with over 2,500 participants. This year, the focus is on sustainable development. International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary General Houlin Zhao underlined the importance of reducing the digital divide in a press briefing this morning.
US NTIA Boss On Whois Debate: ‘Keep Data Open For IP Rightsholders, Others’ 12/03/2018 by Monika Ermert for Intellectual Property Watch Leave a Comment US Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information David Redl today weighed in on the debate over changes to the storage and public display of personal information of domain name registrants at the meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Redl urged negotiators to keep the so-called Whois database, described by some as a public phone book for the owners of domain names, as open as possible while implementing the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.