A new Internet freedom provision means that European countries can still adopt "three-strikes" rules targeting P2P users, but they must presume innocence, guard privacy, and allow for judicial appeal.

For weeks, the major governing institutions of the European Union have been locked in a battle over three-strikes laws, Internet disconnections, and the appropriate role of judges in the process. Just after midnight last night, the deadlock was broken and all parties agreed to a new "Internet freedom provision" that reinforces the presumption of innocence, the right to privacy, and the right to judicial review under any Internet sanctions. [...]

Note what's different here from the original amendment 138; the right to judicial review is guaranteed on appeal, but the original sanction can be issued by a non-judicial authority like HADOPI.

La Quadrature du Net, the French group campaigning most strenuously against three-strikes laws it, likes the new provision but still has problems with it. "The protection granted by the amendment only relates to measures taken by States, not private parties," it says. "Hence, restrictions imposed by operators at the request of right-holders do not fall under the scope of this provision."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/eu-adopts-internet-freed...