Further progress needed on e-legislation
Implementation of the European electronic signatures directive, which was due to have been implemented in all EU Member States by the deadline of 19 July, has been slow, according to the latest figures. Germany was the only Member State to implement the directive before the deadline according to the European forum for electronic business (EEMA). The directive was designed to help establish a standardised environment for accepting all types of electronic authentication, such as e-mail signatures, particularly in legal proceedings. In another move to improve the e-environment of Europe, an MEP (member of the European parliament) has added an amendment to the drafted proposals to ban unsolicited Internet messages, or 'spam'. The amendment by Marco Cappato would ensure that automated text messaging on mobile phones would also be banned.