Responding to the Internet Economy

This chapter explores the complex transition towards the ‘information society’ that Europe faced in the mid-1990s as it approached the complete liberalisation of telecommunications in 1998. The chapter articulates the foundational principles laid out by the 1995 Data Protection Directive and its impact on privacy regulation in the EU. It examines the debates surrounding information security and encryption, detailing the EU’s shift towards a comprehensive information security policy. The tension between rightsholders and the digital industry when the Commission proposed the first Copyright Directive was characteristic of the novelty of digital challenges. The e-Commerce Directive set the ‘country of origin’ principle, addressed liability issues, and laid the groundwork for the digital marketplace and its ongoing evolution. The digitalisation of media has transformed how content is produced, consumed, and delivered across various devices and networks. In response, the Commission issued a policy paper on the convergence of broadcasting, telecommunications, and IT, and revised the Television without Frontiers Directive. The fifth Framework Programme (FP5) signalled a strategic shift towards a more unified approach by creating the Information Society Technology (IST) programme. Notable innovations within FP5 included introducing information and network security as a standalone topic, exploring new ways of doing things, such as telework, and establishing long-term experimental research (FET).