On 5th July 2007, the German Bundestag passed the Second Act Governing Copyright in the Information Society ("Second Basket" of copyright law reform). Four years after the first reform, a new balance has been struck between the interests of authors, exploiters, equipment producers and end-users, none of whom are, however, especially happy with the compromise solution....
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In the Frankfurter Rundschau, Brigitte Spitz praises the heads of government for not letting the bombing put an end to the G8 talks. "'We are all Londoners now', said Bertrand Delanoë, mayor of Paris, shortly after the attacks yesterday. This was an expression of solidarity
not only for the victims in London but also for the sense of vulnerability we all feel now. This is why it was right to
continue with the summit in Scotland. It may not be more than symbolic. But on this day it was important not to send out another image of insecurity into the world."
"Why do so many Muslims get a kick from the defeats and weaknesses of the Western, wealthy, predominantly Christian world?" asks Stefan Kornelius in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
"Because they have a profound feeling of inferiority, of disadvantage,
of worthlessness. And yet they feel no sense of outrage towards the
suicide bomb attacks against their Muslim brothers in Irak either. The
dead do not trigger emotions, they are not suitable as a symbol for new
dignity and hope ... The G8 globalisation club was served a reminder this Thursday that it has huge political duties
to fulfil. Until now the eight and their allies lacked a unified voice
on anti-terror policy. The experience at Gleneagles has hopefully
taught them a lesson."
The terrorists are not interested in a better world, writes Arno Widmann in the Berliner Zeitung.
"The London bombers - aside from those who might have died in the act,
are sitting down right now - on Thursday afternoon - to watch their
bleeding victims
on TV, to gloat over men and women crying into the microphone.
What they are doing is not about making the world a better place, or
Islamic theocracy, or the re-establishment of the Caliph. They are
doing it for a moment of power. The horror to which they are exposing us is not a means to an end. It is an end in itself."
In Die Welt, Roger Köppel does not believe the bombs are meant to "punish the English 'Crusader government',
to castigate it for participating in the Irak and Afghan wars. The
Islamists' actions are not motivated by world politics. They are
pursuing a century-long eschatology of destruction, one that
distinguishes between the orthodox on the one hand and subhuman beings
on the other: deniers of Allah's truths who are not fit to live, who
must be converted, subjected or killed."
In the tageszeitung, Christian Semler calls for people to hold tightly to their will for a pluralistic society:
"A city like London is a laboratory for the future. Not the City of Westminster, but the diverse, dynamic and creative 'Greater London', with its
formidable unresolved ethnic and other problems. This uncertain promise
of a peaceful coexistence of peoples and religions is what bundles the
hatred of terrorists. It would be wrong to see the terrorists' choice of 'soft targets'
as only a tactical ploy, a sort of evasion manoeuvre in the
'asymmetrical war.' The central aim of those who attack the 'soft'
target of a major city is the battle against the metropolitan Moloch, with its impure racial mixtures and its threat to cultural identity."
Josef Joffe comments in Die Zeit on the difficult balance between security and freedom,
writing that the democracies fighting terror today must circumcise
liberties to preserve freedom: "For very understandable reasons, we are
ready to swap freedom for security. So we wait patiently at security
checks at airports, we accept biometric ID, we rubber stamp 'security packages'
that give the state unprecedented powers to watch, listen and record
information about us. This is not the 'evil', but the good, provident
state, and we voluntarily give it our assent. Yet freedom is not
served, even if we freely don these fetters. A tough paradox: we pay with our freedom to protect our freedom."
In the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Michael Hanfeld and Stefan Niggemeier react with anger and indignation at the unprofessional commentary on German television.
"On N24, one analyst stumbled through his commentary on the uncertainty
of stock market developments, saying: 'It will certainly be one of the
most exciting days here, and I hope not one of the saddest.'
Increasingly on days like this you wish German TV channels would simply limit themselves to engaging a couple of very good interpreters and translating the coverage of CNN, BBC World or ITV." The FAZ does make one exception: Phoenix.
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Dragan Klaic arrived in Skopje on the day that Greece vetoed Macedonia's bid to join NATO at the summit in Bucharest. He found a nation reeling from this unexpected slap in the face.
No-one knows what the anti-Koran film 'Fitna' by the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders contains exactly. But fearing Muslim anger many are ready to make concessions regarding the fundamental freedom of expression. Gelijn Molier looks to nineteenth century philosopher John Stuart Mill for advice.
The deportation of Romanians from Italy in the wake of a murder committed by an ethnic Roma has caused a stir in Romania. Yet whereas Romanians object to this discrimination abroad, they fail to see that at home the Roma are treated with nothing but hatred and disdain, and neither the Church nor the state is doing anything about it. By Mircea Cartarescu
Since the 19th century Ukrainians have been dreaming of a return to the paradise lost of Europe. But Ukraine's rich and painful history remains a blank spot in the European collective consciousness, or a mighty underground river flowing out of Europe's cellar, littered with corpses. By Oksana Zabuzhko
The Amsterdam district of Slotervaart, where Theo van Gogh's murderer lived, continues to be plagued by outbreaks of violence from youths in the immigrant communities. Many of their parents have withdrawn from what they perceive as the hostile outside world, which they invariably blame when their children go astray. By Margalith Kleijwegt
The sexual revolution has run itself aground on the back of standardisation and banality. It's time to fight Hefnerism with radicalisation not restriction, declares Dylan van Rijsbergen 
No sooner were the fires put out reelected the government that bore the than Greek votersbrunt of responsibility for the tragedy. Did those who suffered so much learn no lesson from their distress? Crime writer Petros Markaris looks at why the Greeks have failed to find their way out of the political crisis rocking their country. 
The third anti-porn campaign of the women's feminist magazine Emma is absolutely necessary and, at the same time, hopelessly old-fashioned. You can't use the tools of the 70s to fight the pornographication of today's market - at least not if you want to win. By Iris Radisch 
Russian journalist and Putin critic Grigori Pasko talks with Tobias Goltz about the North Stream Pipeline, Russia's state-controlled media and how his like-minded colleagues are dropping off like flies. 
The elites of East Germany lack orientation, as only the West has left its imprint on the power structure. Roland Mischke talks with political scientist Gunnar Hinck about imbalances and incompetences among East German leaders.