You guys still didn’t get it. It’s not a choice between supporting or not supporting Ukraine.

It’s a choice between fighting Russia yourself or with money. And it’s not indefinite, if Ukraine loses you will have to fight.

Not because you want to. But because there’s only one kind of invitation you cannot say no to: “let’s go outside”.

France is smart: they are already discussing reinstating general military service. They are preparing. You should too. 1/2

#ukraine #war #nato #us #ww3 #eu

Today, we have opened five non-compliance investigations under the Digital Markets Act.

It concerns:
🔹Alphabet’s rules on steering in Google Play
🔹Alphabet’s self-preferencing in Google Search
🔹Apple’s rules on steering in the App Store
🔹Apple's choice screen for Safari
🔹Meta’s ‘pay or consent model’

More info: https://europa.eu/!4NF6bV

#DMA #EU

Tomorrow is the final day for public administrations in the #EU to sign up for our #interoperability assessment pilot!

Seize the chance to shape the guidelines for mandatory interoperability assessments of digital public services. 👩‍💻

While we welcome all applications, we especially encourage those from the EU member states with a smaller territory.

👉 https://europa.eu/!vymcpP

Apple's response to its ~$2 billion fine is telling.

It's the same mentality Apple shows with the #DMA.

This must be the start of the #EU's crackdown on #BigTech. 💪

Here's why we're in revolt against #Apple's malicious compliance with the DMA
➡️ https://tuta.com/blog/apple-eu-dma-malicious-compliance

I’m not sure who’s to blame in the #EU for giving up to the lobbying efforts of #Apple and #Microsoft (I can’t think of anything short of either public official corruption or macroscopic incompetence behind the last minute partial reversal of the #DMA definition of “gatekeeper” for the two most valuable companies in the world), but these are some consequences of this decision:

1. If Apple isn’t labelled as a gatekeeper when it comes to #iMessage (an app used by 1.3B people), then they won’t have to comply and open up their walled garden to 3rd-party clients - while, for example, Messenger and WhatsApp will have to comply, despite having similar numbers of users.
2. If Microsoft isn’t labelled as a gatekeeper when it comes to #Edge (a piece of software installed as the default browser on an OS used by at least 1.5B people), then they’ll be free to keep rewriting https:// URLs as microsoft-edge:https:// just for the sake of intercepting everything and breaking compatibility, they’ll no longer have to provide browser selection pop-ups on fresh Windows installations, and they can keep opening all the web views and PWA on Windows devices in their own browser without providing alternatives - while, for example, Chrome and Safari will have to comply.

Shame on the EU for bending to them. They have just lost a huge chunk of credibility, and nobody should trust them the next time that they say that they want to uphold the same principles to everyone. Shame on these companies and on their lobbying efforts. Shame on everybody who still uses their products and gives them so much undeserved leverage.

The DMA and the “gatekeeper” definition was supposed to be the proof that these companies are now run by responsible adults. Being a “gatekeeper” is the acknowledgment that you are running platforms used by billions, and with great power comes great responsibility - towards society, towards regulators, towards the rules of the open market, towards your own competitors.

My employer might be included on the list soon as well, and I’m more than happy to comply. Large tech companies like ours have enjoyed lavish profits and outrageous market shares and ignored anti-competition laws for too long: now it’s time to prove that we’re all grown ups who want to play by the rules.

Instead, Apple and Microsoft have unleashed their overpaid legal counsels and lobbying crews, who have engaged in a pathetic dance to gaslight Brussels officials, and force them to say that one of the largest messaging platforms and one of the most used browsers in the world, run by the two companies with the highest evaluations in the world, for some reason are not expected to play by the rules written for everyone else.

Shame on them, and shame on the childish sociopaths who run them.

https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/14/apple_microsoft_dma_exemptions

Europe loosens the straps tying Apple and Microsoft to tough antitrust rules

Did someone say a safety word? iMessage, Bing, Edge, Ads avoid gatekeeper restrictions

^{Thomas Claburn (The Register)}

The Matrix.org Foundation is pleased to share that today, alongside @mozilla, we have joined @OpenForumEurope as supporters.

OpenForum Europe has proven an effective convener and advocate for open source and open standards in Europe, and we’re glad to help further that work: https://openforumeurope.org/mozilla-and-the-matrix-org-foundation-join-ofe-as-supporters/

#Matrix #OpenSource #OpenStandards #EU

Heute ist der alljährlicher #DataPrivacyDay / #DataPrivacyDay2024 und deswegen schrieb schon vor ein paar Tagen @threemaapp online einen offenen Brief, wie auch @Tutanota, @element und @protonmail, an die #EU-Behörde gegen den #ChatControl also einen #NoChatControl Anforderung – denn dies ist nicht nur #unwirksam, sondern auch unglaublich #gefahrlich:

👁️‍🗨️ https://threema.ch/de/blog/posts/offener-brief-csa-verordnung

Datenschutz gewinnt noch mehr an Bedeutung

Am 28. Januar findet alljährlich der Data Privacy Day statt. Wir nehmen diesen Aktionstag (bzw. die Woche, in die er fällt) jeweils zum Anlass, um einmal mehr auf die Wichtigkeit von Datenschutz hinzuweisen, und jedes Jahr ist zu betonen, dass Datens…

^threema.ch

We've teamed up with other #privacy focused companies to fight against the #surveillance pushed by the #EU Chat Control Bill. 💪

You are not a criminal & shouldn't be treated like one.👮‍♂️

Contact your representatives and make your #voice heard! 📣
👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImM88kFB6No

I'm still concerned but the Python Software Foundation's post about the #EU's Cyber Resilience Act (#CRA) makes me optimistic that it could work for #FreeSoftware. I do agree with the core idea that #commercial #software companies should be held more accountable than they currently are. The key is getting it just right so that anyone can write whatever free software they feel like writing, and share it on the internet, without having to get a lawyer first.

https://pyfound.blogspot.com/2024/01/CRA-update.html

EU’s Cyber Resilience Act Passes with Wins for Open Source

Back in April, we wrote to the community about our concerns for the future of the open source ecosystem generally and CPython and PyPI spec...

^{Python Software Foundation Blog}

European Commission on accessibility overlays: https://commission.europa.eu/resources-partners/europa-web-guide/design-content-and-development/accessibility/testing-early-and-regularly/accessibility-overlays_en

#EU #a11y #overlays

Accessibility overlays

Web accessibility overlays are tools or technologies that aim to improve the accessibility of a website. However, claims that a website can be made fully compliant in an automated fashion are not realistic.

^{European Commission}

European Commission makes statement on accessibility overlays.

"Claims that a website can be made fully compliant without manual intervention are not realistic"

"overlay tools may make a website less accessible for some users"

https://commission.europa.eu/resources-partners/europa-web-guide/design-content-and-development/accessibility/testing-early-and-regularly/accessibility-overlays_en

#eu #a11y #accessibility #overlays #fail

Accessibility overlays

Web accessibility overlays are tools or technologies that aim to improve the accessibility of a website. However, claims that a website can be made fully compliant in an automated fashion are not realistic.

^{European Commission}

The #UPowerWAD project is an #EU project to empower disabled users to exercise their rights regarding the Web #accessibility directive and report issues regarding public sector websites: https://www.funka.com/en/projekt/upower-wad/

#a11y

Die #EU will und wird künftig ihre BürgerInnen überwachen über Webbrowser!

"Browser müssen künftig Zertifikate von EU-Staaten akzeptieren, das öffnet Tür und Tor für Überwachung des Netzverkehrs."

Wurden bislang nur von Firmen wie Apple, Google oder Meta Daten von Nutzern gesammelt und weitergegeben geht es hier um die aktive Überwachung der BürgerInnen im Netz.

Die EU wird zum Polizeistaat. Stichwort: Festung Europa ...

https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000194644/blankoscheck-zur-ueberwachung-eu-einigt-sich-auf-scharf-kritisierte-eidas-novelle

"Blankoscheck zur Überwachung": EU einigt sich auf scharf kritisierte eIDAS-Novelle

Hunderte Expertinnen und Experten hatten im Vorfeld gewarnt. Browser müssen künftig Zertifikate von EU-Staaten akzeptieren, das öffnet Tür und Tor für Überwachung des Netzverkehrs

^{DER STANDARD}

❗ 🗣️ The interpreting services of the #CJEU, the @EU_Commission and the @Europarl_EN regularly need freelance interpreters.

❗ Join our @LanguageShow webinars today and tomorrow to find out what it takes to become an accredited freelance #interpreter at the #EU institutions 👉 https://languageshowlive.co.uk/

Say NO to broken browsers! ⛔

The EU is preparing a very dangerous law that would undermine the security of every browser.

Speak up now! 🗣️

@Jeremiah has more on how you can help to protect the web! 💪

https://www.jeremiahlee.com/posts/2023-eu-eidas-feedback/

#EU
#privacy
#security
#webdev
#eIDAS

🚨 Another EU mass surveillance attempt. Will kill privacy on web. Must not pass. 🚨

“[A]ll web browsers distributed in Europe will be required to trust the certificate authorities and cryptographic keys selected by EU governments.

These changes radically expand the capability of EU governments to surveil their citizens by ensuring cryptographic keys under government control can be used to intercept encrypted web traffic across the EU.”

https://last-chance-for-eidas.org

#eu #privacy #surveillance #eidas

The EU bans Meta's use of personal data for behavioural advertising.

The European Data Protection Board said Wednesday it had adopted a binding decision that will ban Facebook and Instagram owner Meta from using the personal data of users for targeted advertisements.

Earlier this year Norway imposed a ban on sending Facebook and Instagram users targeted advertisements based on their personal data.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20231101-eu-bans-meta-s-use-of-personal-data-for-behavioural-advertising

#EU #Privacy #EDPB #Meta #Facebook #Instagram #Advertising

EU bans Meta's use of personal data for behavioural advertising

^{France 24 (FRANCE 24)}

📢 The EU Parliament will not be moving forward with chat control! The indiscriminate mass surveillance measures have been removed and secure end-to-end encryption will not be compromised! 🥳

💪Let's keep pushing for strong privacy rights!👇
https://tutanota.com/blog/chat-control
#chatcontrol #eu #privacy #datenschutz #encryption #politics #goodnews

If you're an #EU citizen, I strongly encourage you to take a look and consider signing this European Citizen's Initiative (ECI) that calls for the establishment of a #tax on great #wealth to fund a just ecological and social transition: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2023/000006_en

Boosts very welcome.

#environment #policy #taxation #TaxTheRich

It's #InternationalCoffeeDay!

As many of you are big fans, we want coffee placed on the #EU market to be environmentally friendly.

This year, a new EU law came into force, requiring companies to confirm that #coffee and other products were sourced from land free of #deforestation.

Companies will also have to verify that these products comply with relevant legislation of the country of production, including human #rights.

#EUGreenDeal

„Es gab keinen Hinweis darauf, dass sie Amerikanerin war. Wir dachten alle, sie sei Irin“, berichtet ein Hoher Beamter der französischen Libération und versichert, niemand habe eine Ahnung gehabt, worüber da eigentlich abgestimmt wurde. „Wir haben erst auf Twitter herausgefunden, dass wir etwas Inakzeptables akzeptiert hatten“.

https://blog.fefe.de/?ts=9a485f1a

#EU #Kommission #Chefökonomin #Generaldirektion #Wettbewerb #ScottMorton #USA #Tech

Today, two open letters from academics on the scientific arguments against the current #CSS (client side scanning) initiatives have been released:

* The first (in English, internationally coordinated) one is online at https://tinyurl.com/CSAScientistsLetter and still open for additional signatures.

* The second (in German, by #Austrian academics) one is online at https://www.ins.jku.at/chatcontrol/ and explicitly includes law experts in addition to the arguments from a security, privacy, and AI perspective.

This debate is expected to gain new steam with #Spain taking over the EU council presidency, given recently leaked statements like "Ideally, in our view, it would be desirable to legislatively prevent EU-based service providers from implementing end-to-end encryption" (https://www.wired.co.uk/article/europe-break-encryption-leaked-document-csa-law).

Please boost on any channels you deem adequate. The discussion is still open, and we have little time to bring it to a more rational level.

#csam #law #eu #privacy #dataprotection #privacy #humanrights #messenger #chat #chatcontrol #signal #whatsapp #telegram #threema #e2ee

Leaked Government Document Shows Spain Wants to Ban End-to-End Encryption

In response to an EU proposal to scan private messages for illegal material, the country's officials said it is “imperative that we have access to the data.”

^{Lily Hay Newman (WIRED UK)}

Great news for the Right To Repair:

"EU: Smartphones Must Have User-Replaceable Batteries by 2027 | PCMag"

#RightToRepair #EU #Europe #phone #batteries #tech

https://www.pcmag.com/news/eu-smartphones-must-have-user-replaceable-batteries-by-2027

EU: Smartphones Must Have User-Replaceable Batteries by 2027

The European Parliament just caused a major headache for smartphone and tablet manufacturers.

^{Matthew Humphries (PCMag)}

Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in the EU as energy transition hits ‘hyperdrive’

The EU is on track for a 'huge collapse' in fossil fuel power this year, says energy think tank Ember.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/06/08/wind-and-solar-overtake-fossil-fuels-in-the-eu-as-energy-transition-hits-hyperdrive

#News #EuropeanNews #Europe #EU #EuropeanUnion #FossilFuels #Renewables #GreenEnergy #ClimateChange

Wind and solar overtake fossil fuels in the EU as energy transition hits ‘hyperdrive’

^{Rosie Frost (Euronews.com)}

BREAKING NEWS!

❗️The US and its allies plan to provide Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets as part of long-term efforts to strengthen Kyiv's security, — a senior White House official commented to NBC News
#Ukraine️ #Russia #Russian #Putin #EU #NATO #Zelensky #war #news #Moscow #USA #UK #Germany #Poland #France #Turkey #Finland

This is big. No #embargoes. No #APCs.

"The #EU is ready to agree that immediate #OpenAccess to papers reporting publicly funded research should become the norm, w/o authors having to pay fees & that the bloc should support #nonprofit scholarly publishing models.

In a move that could send shockwaves through commercial scholarly #publishing, the positions are due to be adopted by the Council of the EU member state governments later this month."
https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-infrastructure-2023-5-eu-ready-to-back-immediate-open-access-without-author-fees/

#Europe #RightsRetention

EU ready to back immediate open access without author fees - Research Professional News

Provisionally agreed position also expresses support for non-profit publishing models

^{Rachel Magee (Research Professional News)}

Ukraine Daily

Tuesday, January 24

Russia’s war against Ukraine

Ukrainian emergency service workers extinguish a fire in a garage after Russian shelling in Chasiv Yar, 23 Jan. 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Poll: Record 86% of Ukrainians support joining NATO. Meanwhile, 87% of Ukrainians are currently in favor of their country's aspiration to join the European Union, according to a new poll by the Rating Group.

Foreign minister: Western tanks are coming to Ukraine soon. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Jan. 23 that Ukraine is in the final stages of convincing allies to provide Western main battle tanks, including German-made Leopard 2s.

NGO: Most convicts recruited by Wagner killed, wounded or deserted. Of the 50,000 convicts recruited by mercenary company Wagner Group from the Russian prison system, only 10,000 remain in the ranks of the military, according to Olga Romanova, head of Russia Behind Bars, an NGO that protects the rights of convicts.

General Staff: Ukraine downs two Russian aircrafts, helicopter over past day. The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on Jan. 24 that Ukraine's military shoot down two Russian Su-25 aircrafts, one Ka-52 helicopter, an Orlan-10 drone, and two guided air missiles Kh-59.

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Zelensky: Security council bans state officials from leaving Ukraine, except for business trips. Under martial law, Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 are banned from leaving the country during the war, except for cases when they obtain special permits from the government. Some Ukrainian state officials and businesspeople have routinely abused this system and bypassed the restrictions.

Anti-Corruption Court seizes assets of Russian billionaire. The High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine seized the Ukrainian assets of Russian billionaire Mikhail Shelkov. The assets include multiple apartments, vehicles, company shares, and money in Ukrainian bank accounts.

Zelensky's deputy chief of staff Tymoshenko resigns. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree dismissing Deputy Head of the President’s Office Kyrylo Kyrylo Tymoshenko on Jan. 23.

Ukrenergo: Emergency blackouts introduced in 5 Ukrainian regions on Jan. 23. The power deficit in Ukraine's energy system has increased as the consumption rises, the country's state grid operator Ukrenergo reported on Jan. 23. Emergency power outages have been introduced in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, and Volyn oblasts where consumption limits have been exceeded.

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Read our exclusives

‘They were real beasts’: A farming couple describes what occupation looked like in their village.

The darkness setting over the muddy street of the small hamlet in Kharkiv Oblast did little to hide the destruction Russian soldiers left behind.

Photo: Alexander Query/Kyiv Independent

Learn More

How kindergarten morning in Kyiv suburb turned into tragedy.

The crash in Brovary, a city just east of Kyiv, killed 14 people, including one child and several parents of preschoolers, turning what was supposed to be an ordinary day for the kindergarten into a nightmare.

Photo: Ed Ram/Getty Images

Learn More

Ukraine war latest: Kyiv expects battle for Donbas to intensify in February-March amid Russia's desperate attempt to capture the region.

Russian forces will likely intensify their offensive in eastern Ukraine in the coming months, Deputy Military Intelligence Chief Vadym Skibitsky said on Jan. 23.

Photo: Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images

Learn More

The human cost of Russia’s war

Russian attacks across 7 Ukrainian oblasts kill 1, injure 8 over past 24 hours. Russian attacks were reported in Donetsk, Kherson, Kharkiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk oblasts in the east, south, and north of Ukraine.

Russian artillery kills 1 civilian**, wounds 2 others in Sumy Oblast.** Russian artillery shelled a residential building in Sumy Oblast on Jan. 23, killing a woman and wounding two other people, Sumy Oblast Governor Dmytro Zhyvytsky said on Telegram.

Russian Jan. 23 attack on Kherson Oblast kills 1. Russian forces struck Kherson Oblast’s village of Antonivka, killing one person, Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych reported on Jan. 23. The killed man was in the yard of the building when Russian projectiles fell there, according to Yanushevych.

Russian shelling of Chasiv Yar kills 1, wounds 2. Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported late on Jan. 23 that Russian shelling killed one person and injured two others in Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut in Donestk Oblast.

Russian attacks injure 4 civilians in Donetsk Oblast over past day. Russian attacks in Donetsk Oblast injured four civilians over the past day, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko reported on Jan. 23 on Telegram. Three people were injured in Bakhmut and one in Avdiivka, the governor said.

UN: At least 18,483 civilian casualties in Ukraine due to Russia’s war. According to the United Nations human rights agency, Russia’s war against Ukraine has killed at least 7,068 civilians and wounded at least 11,415 from Feb. 24 to Jan. 22. The agency reported that the actual figures are likely considerably higher since the information from places with ongoing hostilities is delayed, and many reports of civilian casualties still need to be confirmed.

General Staff: Russia has lost 121,480 troops in Ukraine since Feb. 24. Ukraine's General Staff reported on Jan. 23 that Russia had also lost 3,150 tanks, 6,276 armored fighting vehicles, 4,936 vehicles and fuel tanks, 2,146 artillery systems, 447 multiple launch rocket systems, 220 air defense systems, 287 airplanes, 277 helicopters, 1,894 drones, and 18 boats.

International response

Reuters: EU approves 542 million euro military aid package to Ukraine. The European Union on Jan. 23 approved another 500 million euro military aid package to Ukraine, along with an additional 45 million euros earmarked for non-lethal equipment for the EU's training mission in the country, Reuters reported, citing unnamed diplomatic sources.

Russia, Estonia expel each other’s ambassadors due to ‘destroyed relations.’ Russia has summoned Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre, ordering him to leave the country by Feb. 7, followed by Estonia making the same move under "the principle of parity," the AP reported, citing the countries' foreign ministries.

Estonia to give Ukraine all its 155-mm howitzers in largest aid package so far. "We want to create a precedent so that other countries will not have any excuses why they cannot provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons to win the war," said Estonian Ambassador to Ukraine Kaimo Kuusk.

Sweden to provide Ukraine with equipment to restore energy supply. The Swedish government allowed the state-owned grid operator Svenska Kraftnat to transfer the materials that can be used to restore Ukraine's power system.

VOA: Bradley fighting vehicles to arrive in Ukraine within few weeks. U.S. Bradley infantry fighting vehicles will arrive in Ukraine within the next few weeks, Voice of America reported, citing an anonymous Pentagon official.

PM: Poland to apply for Germany's approval to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine. “Even if we did not get this approval, we would still transfer our tanks together with others to Ukraine," Morawiecki said at a news conference, saying that Germany's consent is "of secondary importance."

German defense minister: Decision on Leopard tanks for Ukraine to be made 'soon.' German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told ARD that a decision on supplying Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine will be made "soon" but called for patience in this matter. "The 'Leopard' is a heavy, armored weapon that can also be used for offensive purposes. And you have to think very carefully about when you bring them," said Pistorius.

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