| |
London, United Kingdom, 03/11/2009 – The directive applies to all EU member states and the iBAHN is ensuring that the transition will have minimal impact on hoteliers and users alike.
The European Union Data Retention Directive provides that member states will have to take necessary measures to ensure that any intentional access to, or transfer of, data retained is punishable by penalties, including administrative or criminal penalties, which are effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Compliance with the EU Data Retention Directive is mandatory, unless special dispensation is given.
iBAHN has invested significant resource and capital to conform to the new directive ahead of the deadline. In doing so, iBAHN will ensure that it retains, for a period of between six months and two years, necessary data as specified in the directive depending on the territory in which it is operating. For example, UK regulations require data to be stored for 12 months and Germany requires data to be stored for six months.
iBAHN is recognised worldwide by major customers for its ability to meet the needs of hotel brands and their guests on every continent in the world. As part of this service provision, iBAHN owns a significant number of public IP addresses that are assigned to end users, which makes it responsible for this data under the terms of the directive.
All steps taken to comply with the directive will be implemented at the Internet Point of Presence (POP),
therefore no changes are required to either the hotel’s High Speed Internet Access setup, or to the user’s display. iBAHN would also like to make it clear that the directive is not concerned with the content of the communication, therefore this data will not be retained. Any information retained will be stored at the POP and will be made available to national authorities, in specific cases and in accordance with national law, should a request be made.
Graeme Powell, iBAHN’s Managing Director EMEA, added: “Compliance to the EU Data Retention directive is essential to the ongoing supply of services in the region. As a responsible and diligent provider of digital entertainment and Internet services we have made every effort to make sure that this transition has been swift and has not caused any disruption to our customers.”
About iBAHN
iBAHN (ibahn.com) is the only global provider of digital entertainment and Internet solutions for the hospitality and meeting industries. Monthly, more than 1.7 million travellers and meeting attendees rely on iBAHN to increase productivity with secure high-speed Internet access options in more than 2,500 hotels, conference centres and meeting spaces in 28 countries worldwide. iBAHN’s digital entertainment offering, ETVi, offers hotel guests leading digital video and entertainment services. Operating one of the largest MPLS networks in the industry, the company provides technology solutions to more than 50,000 events annually, ranging from small group meetings to major industry conferences, while serving more than a third of Fortune 100 corporations.
|
tim[.]liberatemedia.com 
