The European Union took a significant step Thursday toward passing legislation that could transform the way major technology companies operate, requiring them to police content on their platforms more aggressively and introducing new restrictions on advertising, among other provisions.
The European Parliament on Wednesday (28 April) formally adopted without a vote controversial legislation which forces online platforms to remove terrorist content within an hour of it being flagged.
The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for an EU law that grants workers a new human right: to be free to digitally disconnect from work without facing any negative repercussions from employers.
A new set of rules for .eu came into being on 18 April which will be applicable from 13 October 2022, except for the article 20 that introduces eligibility to EU citizens residing in third countries, which should start applying as of six months after entering into force, that is, in October 2019. In the coming weeks EURid will inform all its stakeholders about the exact date when the new eligibility criteria apply.
The new rules have come about following a political agreement between the European Parliament and the Council on 5 December 2018 and are designed to support better quality and more innovative services on .eu.
From 13 October 2022 there will be a legal flexibility for the .eu domain to adapt to rapid market changes and allow modernisation of its governance structure. A new body, bringing together stakeholders from different backgrounds, will advise the Commission on the management of the top-level domain.
Article 20, which comes into being on 19 October 2019, will extend the right to register a .eu domain name to citizens of the European Union and the European Economic Area (EU/EEA) residing outside the EU. This was previously limited to citizens living in countries within the EU and EEA. It will also offer some comfort to some citizens of the EU/EEA who have registered .eu domain names and reside in the UK if Brexit, assuming it happens, is drawn out long enough.
The new Regulation aims to adapt the current rules to the fast-changing domain name industry in order to strengthen the link with the growing Digital Single Market which focusses on European values like multilingualism, privacy protection, and security.
In addition, EURid announced at the end of March the Service Concession Contract between themselves and the European Commission has been extended until 12 October 2022 to be in line with the new .eu Regulation enforcement.
The new Regulation on the implementation and functioning of the .eu TLD name is available here.