EU Rules that IP addresses are private info
 

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080121/D8UAG0RG0.html

Okay, ignoring the Google shuffle around, what are the implications here?

Example, would geo targeting by IP become illegal in europe? Would operating a whois showing european IP address be illegal? Would stats programs on your servers that track visits by IP (such a awstats does) be considered illegal collection of private information?

Yowsa. the EU is turning into a shithole on this sort of thing.