Hej DFRI-listan,
Jag tänkte värma upp med att komma tillbaka från semestern med en
"INI-rapport" i mitt utskott JURI i EP.
*Unleashing the potential of cloud computing in Europe2013/2063(INI)**
*http://parltrack.euwiki.org/dossier/2013/2063%28INI%29
Ändringsförslag mottages tacksamt innan deadline 30 augusti.
mvh
//Erik
DRAFT OPINION of the Committee on Legal Affairs for the Committee on
Industry, Research and Energy on Unleashing the Potential of Cloud
Computing in Europe (2013/2063(INI))
Rapporteur(*): Lidia Joanna Geringer de Oedenberg
(*) Associated committees -- Rule 50 of the Rules of Procedure
SUGGESTIONS
The Committee on Legal Affairs calls on the Committee on Industry,
Research and Energy, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the
following suggestions in its motion for a resolution:
/1. Urges the Commission to take action to further harmonise laws across
the Member States in order to avoid jurisdictional confusion and
fragmentation and to improve the transparency of the digital single
market;//
//
//2. Calls on the Commission to review other EU legislation to address
gaps related to cloud computing; calls, in particular, for the revision
of the intellectual property rights regime, the Unfair Commercial
Practices Directive, the Unfair Contract Terms Directive and
the////E-Commerce Directive, which are the most relevant pieces of EU
legislation that apply to cloud computing;//
//
//3. Calls on the Commission to establish a clear legal framework in the
field of copyright content in the cloud, especially with regard to
licensing regulations;//
//
//4. Stresses that, owing to uncertainties regarding applicable law and
jurisdiction, contracts are the main tools for establishing relations
between cloud providers and their customers, and that there is therefore
a clear need for common European guidelines in that field;//
//
//5. Calls on the Commission to work together with the Member States to
develop European best practice models for contracts, or 'model
contracts', that will ensure complete transparency by providing all
terms and conditions in a very clear format;//
//
//6. Calls on the Commission to develop, together with stakeholders,
voluntary certification schemes for provider security systems which
would help to harmonise practices across cloud providers and which would
make clients more aware of what they should expect from cloud service
providers;//
//
//7. Stresses that, owing to jurisdiction problems, European consumers
are in practice unlikely to be able to seek redress from cloud services
providers in other jurisdictions; calls therefore, on the Commission to
provide adequate means for redress in the consumer services area, since
there is a strong imbalance of power between consumers and providers of
cloud computing;//
//
//8. Calls on the Commission to ensure a speedy implementation of
Alternative Dispute Resolution and Online Dispute Resolution and to make
sure that consumers are equipped with adequate means of collective
redress against security and privacy breaches as well as against illegal
contract provisions for cloud services.//
/
SHORT JUSTIFICATION
Your rapporteur welcomes the Commission's Communication, but considers
it appropriate, in order to ensure that upcoming legislation will be
operative, to call on the Commission to make certain provisions more
stringent and to look at the problem together with all other legislation
that may assist in eliminating barriers and unlocking its full potential.
Cloud computing has a huge potential and should provide benefits for
business, citizens and the public sector1 but, as a new model of
networked computing, poses some legal and contractual risks. Among other
concerns, such as security or supplier lock-in, there is major concern
among both service providers and users regarding the lack of
standardisation which would be required for a single market across
Europe, the diversity of relevant legislation across Europe, currently
unclear contract provisions and the lack of clear rules on intellectual
property rights (IPR).
Recent research shows that 48 % of managers in both the private and the
public sectors are aware that the implementation of cloud computing can
speed up and facilitate their work. More than half of them have not,
however, introduced any procedures to minimise business risks such as
identity theft.
The biggest threat in the cloud are so called 'insiders', those working
in the establishments providing cloud services, who have access to
customer data, followed by other tenants of the service provider in the
cloud, notably in case of a breakdown of isolation mechanisms.
The EU digital single market remains fragmented due to differing legal
regimes among the Member States, and when it comes to IPR only a limited
level of harmonisation has taken place in the wake of the Copyright
Directive. Action must therefore be targeted to address the issue of
cloud services that depend on a uniform IPR regime to cross borders. The
proposals on collective rights management and the private copy levy must
take into account the development of new technologies, in particular
cloud computing services, and clarify the rules for securing IPR in a
digital environment.
According to the recent Commission public consultation on cloud
computing, the legal regime was unclear to respondents in 90 % of cases.
There is general confusion among stakeholders regarding rights and
responsibilities in cross-border cloud computing situations, in
particular with regard to matters relating to liability and
jurisdiction. Coupled with the fragmentation of the internal market,
this calls for further harmonisation of laws across the Member States,
in particular by eliminating gaps and weaknesses in applicable EU
legislation, notably the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the
Unfair Contract Terms Directive in terms of consumer protection, and the
E-Commerce Directive when it comes to exemptions from private copy levies.
Consumers and SMEs who want to make use of public clouds are often faced
with 'take-it-or-leave-it' contracts, most often tick-box agreements.
The Commission should therefore, together with the Member States,
consider introducing clearer rules or model contracts. There is a need
for guidelines and standardised model contract schemes setting out the
key terms and conditions that are important to users, while increasing
transparency.
Cloud users should furthermore be able to evaluate any cloud service
offer on the basis of standardised procedures regarding the security and
warranties provided by the service,
so-called Service Level Agreements (SLA). A voluntary certification
scheme enabling users to evaluate and compare, in a simple manner, the
level of conformity to standards, interoperability and the security
systems of cloud services should therefore be implemented at European
level, taking into account the differences encountered in these respects
at the three different levels of service: Infrastructure as a Service
(IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).
The first case concerns security equipment, supply lines, data, etc. In
the second case, responsibility for security largely lies with the
client, who should adequately protect their data. In the third,
responsibility lies with the supplier.
The provision of adequate means of redress for users when it comes to
cloud computing service providers is necessary, in particular in the
consumer service area. Owing to jurisdictional problems, European
consumers are currently in practice unlikely to be able to seek redress
from the service provider. The Commission should therefore speed up the
implementation of Alternative and Online Dispute Resolution and forms of
collective redress in order to facilitate the solving of conflicts in
this area faced by users, without putting too much additional pressure
on national courts.