EURActiv Info Society

Foreign television stations who have accused Iran of cutting off their broadcasts to stop coverage of violent political clashes have appealed to telecoms unions to step in and shield satellites from "international piracy".

Dominant players in Europe's IT industry will face an EU drive for open standards, starting with services in the public sector, Neelie Kroes, the EU's commissioner for the Digital Agenda, told a conference yesterday (10 June). 

A new EU-US anti-terror agreement still infringes the European Union's laws on data protection and civil liberties, say MEPs who, following talks with the European Commission today (10 June), plan to vote against the accord. 

National governments and the European Commission should do more to protect media pluralism and press freedom in Europe, argued a cross-party group of MEPs yesterday (8 June), calling for financial support to help the European media sector survive the crisis. 

Telecoms giants suffered defeat yesterday (8 June) after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the European Commission was right to set price caps on mobile roaming charges. 

The European Commission is studying new measures to bring down the price of cross-border calls, including the possibility of introducing ceilings on data roaming, EurActiv has learned.

Neelie Kroes, the Dutch commissioner in charge of the EU's Digital Agenda, said she has no specific plans to support the so-called 'Internet of Things', which aims to connect everyday objects such as books, fridges or cars to the information superhighway via tiny microchips.

After seizing the control of the Italian satellite pay-TV market, Australian tycoon Rupert Murdoch is eyeing a new digital terrestrial platform in Italy. But Silvio Berlusconi's government opposes the move, which is seen as contrary to the interests of most operators, including Berlusconi's TV giant Mediaset. The European Commission is expected to give its decisive response to the case "in a few weeks".