THE AMENDED EU LAW ON ePRIVACY AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS AFTER ITS 2011 IMPLEMENTATION; NEW RULES ON DATA PROTECTION, SPAM, DATA BREACHES AND PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

摘要

In 1997, the EU opted to amend its general data protection regime with a specific bill on electronic communications that was to be periodically amended. Indeed, the resulting ePrivacy Directive is currently in its third version, covering newly emerged issues of spyware, cookies, net neutrality, and even Internet piracy. However, since the release of its third version, in 2009, the EU data protection framework has entered a process of overall reform; this process is expected to be concluded by 2014. In parallel, the same is true with regard to the other basic data protection instrument in Europe, the Council Convention 108, that itself is undergoing an amendment process. Once concluded, these amendments are expected to gravely affect the provisions of the ePrivacy Directive.