Press review

A recently published and adopted report from the EU Parliament throws a long-awaited crumb of comfort to the beleaguered European ISP community, braced for legal assault over issues of electronic content copyright.

So what? you may ask.

Well, according to an expert an the specialised area that is European politics, this amendment could be significant and might spike the guns of the pro-copyright “flog ‘em and hang ‘em’ brigade (now led by French President, Nicholas Sarkozy).

Under the French proposals, for instance, ISPs would be forced to adopt an active policing policy on behalf of the content industries. This would include network filtering, cutting off P2P traffic flows that contained ‘pirated’ material, in addition to taking down material flagged up by copyright owners. It would also mandate ISPs to disconnect customers who offended one times too many (’three strikes and you’re out’).

The Bono Report amendment goes the other way and sets out the parliament’s attitude to the Internet and its little ways: it confirms what a great thing the Internet is in its role of connecting people, promoting innovation etc.

http://web20.telecomtv.com/pages/?newsid=43004&id=e9381817-0593-417a-863...

PARIS: Prodded by the music industry and government, some Internet service providers are reluctantly exploring the adoption of an old-fashioned shunning ritual as the ultimate 21st century punishment: banishing errant online users.

(...)

Lawmakers in the European Parliament, in a symbolic vote Thursday, expressed their opposition to the three-strikes approach, which has been championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and explored by governments of other countries, from Britain to Japan to Australia. Many consumer groups are also fighting such proposals, and at least one British service provider is promising a rebellion.

"It's a breach of our civil liberties," said Christofer Fjellner, a Swedish legislator in the European Parliament who sponsored the measure, an amendment to a report on cultural industries in Europe. "When government limits access to the Internet it's like limiting freedom of speech. It's like banning people from printing books."

(...)

"We believe it's a threat, particularly to public liberties," said Christophe Espem, co-founder of a French group, Squaring the Net, formed to challenge proposed Internet restrictions. He noted that the new administrative authority that would rule on offenses would be outside the legal system.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/13/business/ISP14.php?page=1

Broadband users who are caught sharing files should not lose their internet connection according to European politicians who threw out the suggestion, reports the BBC.

It had been proposed that consumers caught pirating material such as songs or films would not be able to continue using the internet - with the service providers policing usage.

However, as French broadband users prepare to face tougher action against piracy, the European Parliament voted in an amendment to the bill on the issue, which claimed that banning users was against civil liberties.

A spokesperson is reported as saying: "The vote shows that MEPs want to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers, and that big measures like cutting off internet access shouldn't be used."

Earlier in the year, the BBC reported that UK internet providers said that they were unable to fulfill a government request to closely monitor broadband usage, with the Internet Service Providers Association explaining that they are not responsible for network traffic.

http://www.broadband-finder.co.uk/news/broadband/europe-filesharers-will...

The European Parliament is not backing plans to ban illegal file-sharers from the internet.

The plans suggested ISPs should monitor customers and implement a 'three strikes' rule that would see offenders issued with written warnings and even possible suspension if they continue to download pirate software.

However MEPs backed an amendment to the report, which claimed banning web users conflicted with "civil liberties and human rights".

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=12719

The BBC reported that MEPs had narrowly voted to amend the plans, saying that internet bans conflicted with “civil liberties and human rights”.

The amendment recommends that those downloading illegal files not be criminalised unless they profit from it.

“The vote shows that MEPs want to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers, and that big measures like cutting off internet access shouldn't be used,” a spokeswoman for the European Parliament told the BBC.

A number of European governments including Britain and France had proposed tough legislation to fight online piracy that costs the music and movie industry billions of pounds.

http://www.broadbandchoices.co.uk/eu-against-three-strikes-piracy-policy...

People should not be criminalised for the file-sharing of copyrighted material if they are not profiting from doing so, the European Parliament has recommended.

At the end of last week the parliament voted through two reports on the cultural industries. Both contained amendments that were directly related to the ongoing argument between the content industry and internet service provider. In this conflict, the ISPs are claiming they should not have to disconnect those users who are persistent file-sharers, but the content industry is calling for a "three strikes and you're out" rule in order to protect intellectual property.

The argument encompasses not only the prospect of users being "banned" from internet use but also the deep packet inspection techniques that would have to be employed in order to catch them.

http://management.silicon.com/government/0,39024677,39187851,00.htm

The parliament was voting on the Bono Report on the Cultural Industries, which examined the development of culture and intellectual property in the Union. Swedish MEP Christofer Fjellner and the former Prime Minister of France, Michel Rocard put in a last minute amendment saying that a three strike rule would:

"[conflict] with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of Internet access".

The amended bill squeaked through, 314 in favour to 297 against, against a background of heavy lobbying from both sides.

"The European Parliament's file-sharer friendly statement is well timed," said Karl Sigfrid, a Swedish national MP, in his blog.

"France will soon get the opportunity to chair the EU, and one priority will be to force European ISPs to cut the internet connection of anyone illegally downloading a song or a movie. If insisting on his plans, Sarkozy now faces an uphill battle."

http://www.itweek.co.uk/vnunet/news/2214169/eu-votes-protect-file-sharin...

PARIS — Prodded by the music industry and government, some Internet service providers are reluctantly exploring the adoption of a shunning ritual as 21st century punishment: banishing errant online users.

But even as service providers test “three strikes” warning systems that can result in the disconnection of Internet users who are thought to have illegally downloaded copyrighted music or movies, resistance is building.

Lawmakers in the European Parliament, in a symbolic vote Thursday, expressed their opposition to the approach, which has been championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and explored by governments of other countries. Consumer groups are also fighting such proposals.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/business/worldbusiness/14isp.html?_r=1...

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has said the amendment was badly drafted and a contradiction to the contents of the full report.

"We look forward to a full discussion in the European Parliament in the coming months on how best to address copyright theft online"
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)

As the law stands, media rights owners can take individuals to court over copyright infringement, but this path is generally slow and may for the average file sharer cost more to pursue than the sales lost from the sharing. The discussion in the UK is generally around a set of laws not unlike what France is to implement, whereby those found sharing copyright material without permission will receive warnings via their Internet service provider and face eventual disconnection.

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/3502-meps-say-anti-piracy-plans-confl...

People should not be criminalised for the file-sharing of copyrighted material if they are not profiting from doing so, the European Parliament has recommended.

On Thursday, the parliament voted through two reports on the cultural industries. Both contained amendments that were directly related to the ongoing argument between the content industry and Internet service provider (ISPs). In this conflict, the ISPs are claiming that they should not have to disconnect those users who are persistent filesharers, but the content industry is calling for a "three strikes and you're out" rule in order to protect intellectual property.

http://news.cnet.co.uk/digitalmusic/0,39029666,49296493,00.htm

European MPs have voted down a proposal to impose internet banning orders on individuals who illegally download content.

The move conflicts with a UK government plans for a three strike system against illegal downloaders.

"The vote shows that MEPs want to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers, and that big measures like cutting off internet access shouldn't be used," said a spokeswoman for the European Parliament after the vote.

http://www.managementconsultancy.co.uk/computing/news/2214145/meps-peopl...

The European Parliament threw out attempts to criminalise file sharing in a plenary vote yesterday.

Although not legally binding, the 'no' vote is expected to hamper plans on the part of some governments in Europe to introduce a 'three-strikes' rule that would force internet service providers (ISPs) to ban users found sharing copyrighted files of music, TV shows or films via peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. [...]

Malene Folke Chaucheprat, a European Parliament spokeswoman said: "The vote shows that MEPs want to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers and that big measures like cutting off internet access shouldn't be used."

http://www.itpro.co.uk/news/186843/eu-rejects-filesharing-laws.html

European politicians have voted down calls to throw suspected file-sharers off the net.

The idea to cut off persistent pirates formed part of a wide-ranging report on creative industries written for the European parliament.

But in a narrow vote MEPs backed an amendment to the report which said net bans conflicted with "civil liberties and human rights".

It puts MEPS at odds with governments planning tough action against pirates.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7342135.stm

THE EU PARLIAMENT narrowly threw out a vote that would have banned file sharing by private individuals and decided against banning copyright abusers from the Internet.

314 Members of the European Parliament voted for an amendment that killed off a bill that would have protected copyright over the Internet. 297 voted against the amendment.

A European Parliament spokeswoman told Information World that MEPs wanted to strike a balance between the rights of rights holders and those of consumers.

The move has been at the instigation of France, which already has similar laws in place. It wanted to have a three strikes law which means that offenders lose the right to an Internet account after being caught sharing copyright-protected music over the Internet for a third time.

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/11/eu-parliament-rej...

"The European Parliament adopted a resolution this morning which commits the member states - therefore France - «to avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of Internet access.» This vote proves that the system of graduated response that Nicolas Sarkozy wants France to adopt quickly and to extend to Europe during the French Presidency of the EU, is seen as contrary to human rights by a majority of MEPs..."

http://www.fsdaily.com/Legal/European_Parliament_rejects_graduated_respo...

EFF (which has been following the Bono report closely since the first attempts were made to "hijack" it last October) collaborated with activists across Europe to co-ordinate support for the amendment, and wrote to all MEPs yesterday to point out the real dangers of graduated response, and urge a vote for both parts. French Net activists, including the new Squaring the Net initiative, contacted their MEPs en masse to oppose the French Government's recommendation. And Guy Bono, the author of the report, had this to say in the plenary:

"On this subject, I am firmly opposed to the position of some Member States, whose repressive measures are dictated by industries that have been unable to change their business model to face necessities imposed by the information society. The cut of Internet access is a disproportionate measure regarding the objectives. It is a sanction with powerful effects, which could have profound repercussions in a society where access to the Internet is an imperative right for social inclusion."

Both parts of the amendment passed. (You can watch the vote in French, English and German - it's about two minutes in.).

The entertainment industry originally intended the Bono Report on the Cultural Industries to be a stalking horse for their new approach, encouraging MEPs to insert language that would show support for copyright extension, banning Net users, and censoring the Net in the interests of rightsholders.

Instead it has turned into a watershed: a clear rejection of the strategy of forcing the telecommunications industry to act as a private police force for entertainment lobby — and a positive endorsement of the Net's free flow of information, and a positive agenda for copyright reform. It seems like the music industry will remain the only group to believe that spying, filtering and punishing your own customers is a good idea: either for business, or for society as a whole.

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/04/european-parliament-sarkozy-no-thre...

By a 314-297 vote, the European Parliament has signaled its opposition to recent initiatives to kick users off the Internet for repeated copyright infringement. The vote came on an amendment (Word document) to the wide-reaching Bono Report on the Cultural Industries, which is intended in part to develop a policy strategy for the European creative industry. And whenever the creative industry is involved, there's a question of copyright.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080410-european-parliament-says-n...

This morning the European Parliament voted in plenary session on the report by Mr Guy Bono (French
Socialist MEP) on cultural industries in Europe.

Although the report recognises the need to ensure that cultural industries and artists receive a fair remuneration for their work, particularly in the digital environment, it clarifies that “criminalising consumers who are not seeking to make a profit is not the right solution to combat digital piracy” and expresses the wish to “avoid the adoption of measures running counter to human rights, civic rights and the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and deterrent effect, such as interruption of access to the internet”.

The European Parliament has thus spoken out against the idea of the “Graduated Response”
advocated notably in France by the Oliviennes Report, which aims at cutting off the internet access of people suspected of illegal downloading. This measure is disproportionate, inefficient and, which is more serious, violates some fundamental rights such as the right of presumption of innocence and of data protection. This option is contrary to all the procedural safeguards foreseen at European level in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, and notably the right of every person who is accused of a crime to a fair trial.

According to Monique Goyens, Director General of BEUC, “The Graduated Response goes against some of consumers’ fundamental rights and we applaud the European Parliament and its MEPs for rejecting today the idea of its diffusion in Europe”.

http://www.beuc.eu/Content/Default.asp?PageID=836&LanguageCode=en