J.R.McHale

Europe’s other problem: where are all the tech startups? European leaders want you to ‘test your own wings,’ but there are systemic headwinds getting in the way – at The Verge:

As noted in The Verge article, regulatory fragmentation is a big part of the problem in Europe – the need to comply with a patchwork of diverse regulations across the continent. This is also increasingly becoming a problem here in the United States with, for example, both federal and state-by-state privacy, data and similar regulations, which impose significant legal, compliance and related costs on startups.

Want To End The Litigation Epidemic? Create Lawsuit-Free Zones – LawProf Eric Goldman at Forbes.com:

”[F]inding ways to dial down litigation might be the best ‘jobs stimulus’ effort our legislators could undertake. The way to create lawsuit-free zones is through ‘immunities’ and ‘safe harbors.’ Immunities categorically eliminate legal liability in the specified contexts. Safe harbors allow defendants to avoid liability if they take the specified steps. Both help motivate socially beneficial and job-creating activity.”

Last month, the European Commission proposed a broad reform of the EU’s data protection rules, including the proposed creation of a new “right to be forgotten” that would allow people to demand that organizations that hold their data delete that data, provided there is no legitimate grounds to retain the information. At the European Commission website: the proposal and a host of related materials.

Europe proposes a ‘right to be forgotten’ at ArsTechnica‘s Law & Disorder.

Additional reaction: Data protection changes place disproportionate burdens on business, expert says by law firm Pinsent Masons.

The Right to be Forgotten by Jeffrey Rosen writing as part of the Stanford Law Review Online symposium issue: The Privacy Paradox.

Is The ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ The ‘Biggest Threat To Free Speech On The Internet’? at NPR