Europe’s ‘single secure cyberspace’ plan under attack

By Jennifer Baker

European Union plans to “create a single secure cyberspace” have come under fire from civil liberties groups, with many saying that they only serve to highlight how far the bloc still has to go in understanding the modern online world.

In February, at a secret meeting of the Council of the European Union’s Law Enforcement Work Party (LEWP), politicians discussed plans to create a “virtual Schengen border” (the Schengen area is the common passport area within the E.U.) with ISPs required to block “illicit content” from outside the area. The Council of the European Union is the E.U.’s central legislative and decision-making body.

There has been no clarification as to what this “illicit content” might be, merely that there would be an E.U. blacklist. The plan has been compared to China’s heavy-handed methods in controlling access to the Web. (more on computerworld.com)