Tuesday, June 5, 2012

EU sues Netherlands, Portugal, others on telecom rules

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU telecoms regulators on Thursday took five member states - including the Netherlands and Portugal - to Europe's highest court for not implementing new telecoms rules aimed at protecting users' privacy online.

The other countries are Belgium, Poland and Slovenia.

The European Commission said it would ask the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice to impose a daily penalty ranging from 13,000 euros for Slovenia to 112,190 euros for Poland, to be paid from the date of the ruling until the countries comply with the rules.

The EU executive, which finalized the rules in 2009, had originally given the 27 countries in the European Union until May 25 last year to adopt them in national laws. It later extended the deadline to May 2012.

The other 22 countries have already implemented the rules.

A key element of the new regulations is the "cookie" reform, requiring EU authorities to obtain users' consent to allow the storage of cookies, which are small files used by Web browsers to track usage patterns.

Internet providers, online advertisers and others in the sector protested against the measure, saying it would hinder the way the Internet and businesses work. But privacy advocates argued it could help to prevent the unauthorized collection of data on individuals.

The new legislation also makes it easier for users to switch fixed or mobile phone operators in one day, while keeping their phone number.

The Commission hopes to spur competition in the telecoms sector, especially in data delivery, with its new rules.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Rex Merrifield and Helen Massy-Beresford)


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