Story URL: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/business/legal/0,39020651,39148106,00.htm
Protesters target anti-piracy directive
Matthew Broersma
ZDNet UK
March 08, 2004, 11:40 GMT

Civil-liberties groups are engaging in a last-minute attempt to alter a controversial intellectual-property law that they claim would lead to a flood of frivolous lawsuits against consumers and small businesses.

"Intellectual property: enforcing the rights, measures and procedures", known as the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, passed through the European Parliament's judicial affairs committee (JURI) last month and is scheduled for a parliamentary debate on Monday. The parliament will vote on the directive on Tuesday, in the last chance for MEPs to introduce amendments before the directive is approved by ministers on Thursday. If approved, member states would have two years to incorporate the directive's provisions into national laws.

The directive is primarily aimed at cracking down on organised piracy and counterfeiting in the EU, which is a growing problem. Critics, however, say its scope has been broadened to cover not just piracy for commercial purposes, but also involuntary acts or those committed by individuals without commercial intent or impact.

The law would also allow large companies to use draconian legal measures to threaten and harass smaller competitors, for example, by raiding their premises, seizing evidence and freezing bank accounts in highly technical patent infringement cases, according to UK civil-rights group the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR).

A coalition of citizen- and consumer-rights groups, including FIPR, is calling for MEPs to support a collection of amendments that it claims will place appropriate limitations on the directive. More than 100 MEPs have already pledged to support the amendments, proposed by MEP Marco Cappato and the parliamentary groups Green/EFA, GUE and EDD, according to FIPR.

Amendment supporters are planning to meet in front of the parliament building in Strasbourg on Monday afternoon to discuss their concerns with MEPs. The group also called for citizens to urge their MEPs to support the amendments.

FIPR's Ian Brown, director of the coalition, said the directive must be limited in order to serve the interests of EU citizens and rights holders. "Otherwise it will lead to a flood of lawsuits against small businesses and consumers that will discredit European law in this area," he said in a statement.

A spokesman for the Business Software Alliance, which has been fighting to broaden the directive's scope and penalties, recently said stronger enforcement was needed to curb the activities of criminal gangs, citing research that it says shows 37 percent of the software in use in Western European businesses is illegal. Reducing the UK's software piracy rate from 25 percent to 15 percent would add £10bn to the country's gross domestic product, £2.5bn in tax revenues and 40,000 IT jobs, according to IDC figures quoted by the BSA.

The European recording industry association, the IFPI, has criticised the directive as not going far enough to crack down on piracy, since its measures are not as harsh as those in some member states.

http://reuters.com/printerFriendlyPopup.jhtml?type=internetNews&storyID=4520113
EU IP Legislation Stirs Controversy on Eve of Vote
Mon Mar 8, 2004 11:03 AM ET

By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - Internet song-swappers and peddlers of knock-off Prada handbags could have their property seized and bank accounts frozen under a proposed EU law set for a vote before the European Parliament on Tuesday.

The EU draft directive is one of the toughest measures yet to protect companies' intellectual property (IP) rights in Europe, creating new policing measures to crack down on the growing unauthorized trade of counterfeit products on street corners and online piracy of software, film and music.

Under the directive's current form, firms who feel their trademarks and IP have been violated by individuals or groups can ask a judge to seize their assets and freeze their funds to assist in prosecution.

The proposed law, known as the European Union Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, has drawn criticism from consumer watchdog groups though who argue the penalties are the same for large-scale commercial counterfeiters as for individual file-sharers.

Their concern is that the more litigious factions in say the music industry would have enhanced powers to pursue individual file-sharers in Europe.

"Under this law, your home is not quite your castle any more. You will have to defend it quite aggressively," said Andreas Dietl, EU Affairs director for cyber-rights group EDRi, or European Digital Rights.

PROTESTS ABOUND

EDRi and various civil liberties groups said they had organized a protest on Monday evening in Strasbourg, France to voice their opposition to the directive on the eve of Tuesday's vote before the plenary session of Parliament.

If approved, the law would go before the European Council of Ministers for a potential ratifying vote later in the week.

Critics compare the directive to a tougher version of the controversial United States law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which music companies have used to sue individual song-swappers in America.

"This makes the DMCA look like a kiddie ride at Disneyland," said one Internet media executive.

The directive has been guided through the European Parliament by MEP Janelly Fourtou, wife of Vivendi Universal chief executive Jean-Rene Fourtou.

Vivendi 's music label Universal Music is one of the biggest proponents of tough new global anti-piracy laws to help in their battle to minimize rampant online file-sharing, a practice they blame for the contributing to industry's declining sales.

Janelly Fortou's office has defended the directive saying it should not be seen as legislation meant to solely target file-sharers.

It has been in the works for years and is designed to give IP-holders ranging from pharmaceutical firms to fashion labels a more effective legal tool to stifle the massive black market for brand-name knock-off products.

Defenders of the directive also point to the fact that it is largely modeled on existing laws in the United Kingdom, considered to be Europe's most protective regime for IP-holders.

John MacKenzie, an attorney for London-based law firm Masons specializing in IP law, said the proposed law would not lead "to dawn raids" on the homes of individual infringers as some consumer rights groups claim.

"There is a bit more balance in the directive than the consumer groups would have you believe," MacKenzie said. "The IP community has been rather sanguine because they believe that the courts will strike some balance."

Let's hope and pray the protesters voices are heard. This is VERY draconian and obviously pro-corporate & anti-public/consumer/small business.

Lend your support to EDRi and the EFF folks, before it's too late!

Shmoo, of Electric Gypsy
Support Local and Independent Music!

" MEP Janelly Fourtou, wife of Vivendi Universal chief executive Jean-Rene Fourtou."

Oh crap!

Oh, it runs deeper than even that I suspect raoulduke1. The RIAA, big media companies, Hollywood, etc. really all are one and the same. You just noticed one little piece of evidence of the beast's existance.

Ok um this has nothing to do with anything but....where is the best place to pick up a CHEAP record-player. Somethin that plays 45s, 33s, etc.

"There is a bit more balance in the directive than the consumer groups would have you believe," MacKenzie said.

A "bit more" balance?

There would have to be a hell of a lot more balance. A "bit more" could mean that they have to knock three times before they bust your door down.

A "bit more" could mean that they have to fill out a piece of paper before freezing your bank account.

A "bit more" isn't going to get it.

No brainer here.
Evil is evil...and this is EVIL.

All that needs to happen for evil to triumph is for good men and women to do nothing...so, to our brothers and sisters protesting this....good on ya,...

Hang in there!

hey nyer, there is a record player they make that uses a lazer instead of a needle that you might want to look into.
(If you decide to buy one, please please get me one too!) Look in the boycott-riaa archives a few months back. There was a link. (I had it bookmarked but had to reformat since then and lost the link.)

And if it comes down to violence, kickem one time for me!

DISCLAIMER: I don't advocate violence, but sometimes, in the course of human events, WAR does occur.

If we can have a "war" on terrorism (rather than a police action ...as if it were the same as a war against another nation) then we can have "war" against the evil of corporate tyranny.

Fuck too much with the PEOPLE of a free society and things can (and rightfully/perhaps SHOULD) get bloody. REMEMBER THIS all you corporations!

Shmoo

http://www.elpj.com
Pretty neat

thanks spike... I will never be able to afford it, but was sad when I lost the link.
Had it bookmarked the same as I used to keep the old Sears Catalogue with circles drawn around my favorite wanted toys when I was a kid.

Protest if you will.. but in the US, take voter registration forms with you.. THAT is the most important vote we gotta do.. to THROW the Congressional garbage OUT!!

BOYCOTT. EDUCATE. REGISTER. VOTE.
ARE YOU REGISTERED AND READY?

The only way things have ever changed is by having large groups of people sitting around doing nothing over a long period of time =)

(then a passionate small group makes a difference)

and wakes the sitting around folks

ooooh, got a pic up for this thread now...

So apt.

Someone please tell compmore that his "nazi" refs in his vids are NOT uncouth... they are, in the same way, proper and applicable.

btw, how can we get his vids to spread like wildfire over the p2p nets??? They NEED to be seen.

< bows > thanks Shmoo...I just did the pic and got it on the thread...

Compmore really has some great vids....talented man!

Independentmusician I just got a good idea from George. I'm going to do one of each and let whoever sees them decide. Code, thanks man.

just read on P2Pnet.net that the bill was passed. industry executives are thrilled

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3545839.stm GIVES A GOOD OVERALL ON THIS...
"EU backs tighter rules on piracy


A similar US law has led to lawsuits against pop-swappers
The European Parliament has passed an anti-piracy law, covering everything from handbags to music downloads.
Under the law, counterfeiters could face civil penalties, but proposals for criminal sanctions were dropped.

Before the vote, critics said the law was flawed as it applied the same penalties to both professional counterfeiters and consumers.

But a late amendment limited them to organised counterfeiters and not people downloading music at home.

Property price

The final vote on the EU Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive took place in the European Parliament on 9 March. The directive was passed by 330 votes to 151.

The law was drawn up to target professional pirates, criminals and counterfeiters who make copies of goods such as football shirts or CDs.

During the debates, the directive was widened to cover any infringement of intellectual property.

The directive allows companies to raid homes, seize property and ask courts to freeze bank accounts to protect trademarks or intellectual property they believe are being abused or stolen.



Music firms might come knocking if you are swapping pop
Civil liberty and lobby groups feared that the music industry will also use the law to mount raids on the homes of people who swap songs via file-sharing systems such as Kazaa.

The Enforcement directive was compared to the controversial US Digital Millennium Copyright Act by Andreas Dietl, director of EU Affairs for the European Digital Rights (EDRi) lobby group.

The Recording Industry Association of America has used the DMCA to bring lawsuits against file-swappers in the US and EDRi fears the same could now happen in European countries.

The European law was shepherded through the European Parliament by MEP Janelly Fourtou, wife of Jean-Rene Fourtou who is boss of media giant Vivendi Universal.

But late amendments added to the law limited who intellectual property owners could take action against and what penalties they could apply.

One amendment said action should not be taken against consumers who download music "in good faith" for their own use.

Proposals to jail counterfeiters were also dropped from the act.

Lobbyists fear that the law could threaten press freedom in countries, such as Spain, which include confidential information in definitions of intellectual property.

In November, the EU copyright directive came into force in the UK which put many things people are used to doing with music, such as copying tracks to an MP3 player, fell into a legal grey area.

EU ministers are expected to sign off on the new rules against counterfeiting by the end of the week.

Member states would then have 18 months to implement their own versions of the directive."

Well, I guess we won then, sorta.

Look how close it came folks. There are things like this going on all across the world. The PEOPLE in the EU stood up and halted some portions of it, at the last minute... but what will happen on the NEXT go round??? If we PEOPLE sit on our buts and let them, they will pass any laws they want. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP YOUR GOVERNMENT IN CHECK!

VOTE! PROTEST! SPREAD THE WORD! and, failing all that, FIGHT!

Shmoo

Err...lets just quote that part again.

"One amendment said action should not be taken against consumers who download music "in good faith" for their own use. "

What about people who SHARE copyrighted music 'in good faith'.?

Note I added 'copyrighted' since the quote just mentions downloading 'music' which is not illegal.

If you are lazy, you give your rights and freedoms away.

(Hey, if you don't care about your rights and freedoms, can I have em? I mean, since you won't defend them, and are not using them... I could sure would like a few more. I will put them to good use too!)

My congrats (and deeply felt thanks) to the PEOPLE over in the EU who smelled a rat and raised a stink. It woulda been MUCH WORSE if they had sat around and let this all go thru without any protest.

DeadMan2003, you are absolutely right, TOO MUCH did get passed. They left many things "up in the air" about the "in good faith" part of things.

But if the people had not protested and stayed at home... look at how much worse it would have been.

A lesson to learn.

Us Yankees aren't out of the woods yet:

http://news.com.com/2100-1028-5145040.html

This makes me freaking sick!