The battle over proposals to introduce tougher “anti-piracy” rules is heating up after impassioned debates over the last week in both the UK and the European parliaments.
The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved a resolution criticizing the European Commission’s handling of secretive negotiations on a new international treaty on copyright that critics say could lead to the back-door imposition of the “graduated response” (the so-called “three strikes” rule), which could force Internet service providers to cut off customers. […]
Leaked documents
Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder of Internet users’ advocacy group La Quadrature du Net, told Informa Telecoms & Media that, despite the reference to “three strikes” policies and searches at EU borders, the resolution itself was less about the content of ACTA and more about the lack of transparency in the process and about the Parliament’s rights under the Lisbon Treaty.
He warned that the danger of ACTA was not that it would impose three-strikes policies on European legislation but that it would “induce” ISPs to do so “by making all intermediaries liable for content”.