Strengthening Europe's Digital Economy

Public Technology: Ten business leaders of Europe's major telecom, internet, TV and music companies met with the European Commission (EC) and several Presidential representatives last Saturday to lend support to the EC's "i2010" initiative", which calls for a revised legal framework for audiovisual content, for efficient interoperable Digital Rights Management (DRM) and for greater investment in Information and Communication Technologies...Apparently, the talks also centered on creating policies to ensure that the digital media industry's dynamic wave of economic development results in growth and ultimately more jobs for Europeans...

The article reports that the initiative aims to encourage legitimate use of digital content in the EU through rights protection, licensing arrangements and a consistent EU legal framework and also plans to create greater freedoms of service delivery as well as provide better public services...Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media stated, "The challenge is clear for policy makers. If we want the growth that this sector can deliver we have to create a single European information economy, with a consistent, light-touch legal framework that is free from artificial barriers to competition and the provision of services."