Forget Me, Forget Me Not: Reconciling Two Different Paradigms of the Right to Be Forgotten

In May of 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down its decision in the case of Google Spain SL v. Agencia Española de Protección de Datos. This landmark decision ignited a firestorm of debate over the right to be forgotten : the right of users to withdraw information about themselves available on the internet. With concerns about the restriction of the freedom of expression on the internet, many commentators have criticized the decision as unworkable and dangerous. Others have recognized continuity in the development of privacy and data protection jurisprudence within the European courts. Meanwhile in Brussels, the European Union (EU) has been crafting a new data protection regulation, which will apply to its twenty-eight Member States. This new regulation will more than likely extend the concept of some form of the right to be forgotten, or more precisely, a right to erasure of material on the internet. This paper will explore the basis and impact of the Google Spain decision. Beginning with an exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of the right to be forgotten in Europe, the paper will attempt to reconcile the conceptualization of this privacy right with the privacy framework existing in the United States. It will then turn to proposals for legislation from both sides of the pond to assess what they will and will not potentially achieve. The paper will consider the European Union rules in light of the current framework and the proposed reforms, comparing European and American provisions, specifically California Law and proposals pending before the United States Congress. Are these measures the silver bullet that privacy advocates hope for, or will they open a Pandora\u27s box of excessive Internet censorship that will cause the destruction of history? Are the two theoretical frameworks compatible, signalling a convergence ofpolicies towards a more privacy orientedlegal structure? To this end, the practical application of the proposed rules, their effectiveness, and their efficacy will be examined

Extreme Pornography Regulation in the UK: Recent Developments

Recently, the UK enacted prohibitions on the possession of extreme pornography with the passage of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act of 2008. The law targets the possessor of material that is both violent and pornographic. This controversial measure has brought to the fore the questions of how, and why, this jurisdiction regulates offensive material. This paper will trace the recent developments in the UK, including the prosecutions that have resulted from the law, as well as potential conflicts that may arise. A further focus is on the motivations behind the law as well as the implications and efficacy of the regulations, additionally examining the freedom of expression implications of such measures

The right to be forgotten in the light of the consent of the data subject

Recently, the Court of Justice of the European Union issued decision C-131/12, which was considered a major breakthrough in Internet data protection. The general public welcomed this decision as an actualization of the controversial “right to be forgotten”, which was introduced in the initial draft for a new regulation on data protection and repeatedly amended, due to objections by various Member States and major companies involved in massive processing of personal data. This paper attempts to delve into the content of that decision and examine if it indeed involves the right to be forgotten, if such a right exists at all, and to what extent it can be stated and enforced

ONLINE ARCHIVES: Finding a Common Ground in the Quicksand of Online Defamation Developments

Nowhere is the world smaller than on the Internet. With one mouse click, people from across the globe can re-acquaint themselves with old friends, research the unknown, read newspapers from faraway places and times. As the world cyber-shrinks, the ways in which governments and courts attempt to control the information on the web has become diverse and contradictory. Issues of national interest and international jurisdiction have stretched across all aspects of the web. We must find a more cooperative, coherent and consistent international policy, one which fosters the free flow of information, while protecting personality rights. The controversy is not limited to the present, but affects the way the Internet records and preserves history. As newspapers bring massive archives online, they are faced with defamation laws which may hinder the free flow of information or inadequately protect personality rights. What is protected speech in one country may be defamation judged from another country in a future time. This paper explores the traditional liability regimes concerning paper archives and how these laws are applied to online archives available on the web. The paper explores how national courts are attempting to mold traditional theories of liability to fit the new Internet-based reality of publishing and archive maintenance. The paper explores the recent case in Germany, which extends national jurisdiction into the New York Times archives in New York City, as well as cases specifically dealing with online defamation standards. We also review the enforcement of defamation judgments from foreign jurisdictions in the US, where many of the media outlets involved in the litigation are headquartered. The paper then outlines recent developments to “combat” libel tourism in the US, in particular, statutes which would extend jurisdiction to foreign nationals who have not availed themselves of American jurisdiction. These laws seek to extend the First Amendment far beyond American borders. These developments are in many ways, spiraling out of control, escalating away from a common path for resolution of the competing interests of society and personality. While a common solution might be warranted, such will be difficult given the competing priorities in the varied jurisdictions. The paper also reviews the potential solutions for standards that will satisfy these priorities

Globalization and science education

Processes of globalization have played a major role in economic and cultural change worldwide. More recently, there is a growing literature on rethinking science education research and development from the perspective of globalization. This paper provides a critical overview of the state and future development of science education research from the perspective of globalization. Two facets are given major attention. First, the further development of science education as an international research domain is critically analyzed. It seems that there is a predominance of researchers stemming from countries in which English is the native language or at least a major working language. Second, the significance of rethinking the currently predominating variants of science instruction from the perspectives of economic and cultural globalization is given major attention. On the one hand, it is argued that processes concerning globalization of science education as a research domain need to take into account the richness of the different cultures of science education around the world. At the same time, it is essential to develop ways of science instruction that make students aware of the various advantages, challenges and problems of international economic and cultural globalization