[gcarson]

I thought this article was interesting. It was from the WSJ reprinted here in Morningstar.

hxxp://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/markets/newsfeeditem.aspx?id=148573656189983

[John Powell]

More of non-technical minds trying to regulate a tech world.

[MichaelColey]

Would this have any impact on anyone outside of the Netherlands?

[markwelch]

The usual argument about cookies is that since the consumer has the option of disabling cookies, then by choosing not to change their browser settings, the consumer has consented to receive them.

If this new Dutch law is intended to require affirmative consent for each cookie, doesn't this mean that it's illegal for users in the Netherlands to use any browser without changing the settings?

The real risk here is that publishers and ISPs could be forced to BLOCK all access from users in the Netherlands, to avoid being accused of breaking the law there.

[GeorgeAppiah]

From what I understand, this is coming from a new EU directive which requires all EU website owners to get a user’s consent before cookies are saved onto a device.


TechCrunch Europe has an article saying the UK’s Information Commissioner’s own website has seen a 90% nose-dive in traffic since they implemented this policy on their site! Here's the link: Want a 90% drop in your site visitors? Yes folks, you too can implement EU cookie law!

Of course this 90% drop, in reality, is in TRACKED visitors, not total visitors. But the two are not that far apart: if you cannot measure it, it's as good as not having it at all (especially if a large portion of your revenue is from advertising).

[gcarson]

Yeah, I thought all countries in the EU had to adopt similar laws, and the deadline was not so long ago. However, since none of the countries were ready to implement it, they put it off for another year. I have partners in the EU, and they had no clue there was a law that was almost implemented, and neither did any of their competitors that they speak with.

[Shoe-Shopping-Spree]

If the Dutch plan to go shopping online, they will find that many shopping carts will require cookies. Once people get used to cookies, and they see no-one is stealing their valuable personal information, the fear seems to go away. Logic will win in the end.

[LukeCBiz]

Similar to other posts, I had friends over seas who knew about this as well and said it kept being delayed more and more. He thinks nothing will come of it because they are changing rules so fast for affiliate marketing in terms of restrictions and so on for campaigns and traffic. Most of the stuff they are trying to do with the cookies will already be addressed.