After a delay of almost a year, the European Copyright Directive will now be implemented in Britain and, "As well as giving new protections to DRM and anti-copying technologies, it creates an offence that could, at least in theory, be committed by using a P2P service like KaZaA," says OUT-LAW.com.

"It may not be the intention of the Government, nor of its Copyright Directorate, the Patent Office department responsible for drawing up the implementing regulations; but that does not change the fact that this will be written into our laws."

Moreover, European nations are repeating the US' mistakes over the draconian Digital Millenium Copyright Act in their implementation of the equivalent EU law, says a UK think tank.

In a ZDNet UK story, Matthew Broersma warns: "Far-reaching European copyright legislation making its way into UK law is likely to tighten the grip of large companies on consumers, according to a British IT policy think tank, because of the way it is being implemented across the European Union.

"In an analysis of the EU Copyright Directive (EUCD) of 2001, the UK's Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR) found that most countries were failing to protect researchers, business competition and consumers in their implementations of the directive, while giving full force to measures that criminalise the circumvention of copyright controls. Once the Brussels government has approved a directive, member states are required to implement its provisions in local law."

The result, FIPR says, is legislation that closely mirrors the US' DMCA.

Back at OUT-LAW, "For the companies behind the P2P services, the new regime gives no cause for panic," says editor Struan Robertson. "The law on the provision of P2P services was ambiguous before and it remains ambiguous. But those using the services in this country are facing a new threat."

Under existing British legislation, "it infringes copyright to convert a song from a CD into MP3 format, or even just to copy a CD to cassette to play in your car," says Robertson. "There is a widespread misconception that this is legal in the UK. It's not. It is legal in many other countries – the US, France and Germany, for example. But Britain has long resisted giving individuals a 'private use' exception in its copyright laws."

The U.S. has exported a lot of great stuff to the rest of the world. But draconian laws against MP3 filesharing is not one we should be proud to see exported.

QUESTION: Does anyone know how long copyright life is in the U.K.?

Also, does the European Union have a standard set of guidelines for copyright terms?

I can see it now. worldwide boycott brings recording industry to it's knees. If how the europeans act at soccor games is any indication they may take to the streets once it hits them like it's hitting us. BTW I would think that artists worldwide are shaking by now at what the industry is supposedly doing on their behalf. Time to take sides people.

Just as CodeWarrior predicted, more countries falling to the globalist copyright demons, and more use of threats of locking up filesharers.

Signed artists are to chicken to take a side. They owe thier souls to the lables.

This post is factually incorrect. The right to copy a song for private use is enshrined in British law. The only problem is copying your entire collection over the net with your suddenly 'new found' friends in Australia. The key difference between Britain and America is that in Britain copyright infringement can only ever be prosecuted under civil law not criminal law, so a British citizen can never be hauled before a court of law like in the USA, they would have to be sued through civil courts which takes a very long time with lawyers slugging it out at a distance. 'Bulk mailing' subpoenas thankfully will not be possible in Britain.

Question #1: If copyright law in, say, Nigeria is bent and twisted to the Bolshevik "New World Order" dictates of the multinational entertainment-media complex and its radical Imperial Copyright Junta, then will "death by stoning" be the penalty for P2P users? Question #2: If Zimbabwe is likewise "bent in line," then would its dictator Robert Mugabe draw trumped-up charges of "P2P copyright infringement" against white farmers whose land is being stolen and trashed by his regime? Question #3: What about other countries, those with the most atrocious human-rights records where the death penalty applies in all cases?

This proves that those pushing this repressive, fascistic agenda COULD NOT CARE LESS about the long-term consequences of their actions or the extent to which this is being carried out both at the expense and to the detriment of the common good and of Western civilization in general. All this to drag us all down to the level of primitive Third World and / or repressive Communist countries to where jobs in the millions are being exported by the same multinational elites ramming this whole garbage down everybody's throats.

Now, was anybody ever asked if they wanted Big Government to dictate what gets put into our computers? Were they asked if they wanted certain technologies strangled in their crib? Were they asked to vote on any of this stuff? Of course not. All this was forced on us against our will by essentially unelected potentates out only for themselves. Thus we have the makings of a radical coup, albeit one where no shots were fired nor blood shed on the streets.

Now those barstewards are getting their greedy paws over here. Well, they're not gonna get what they want.

If we get lawsuits over here, then I'm gonna truly join you. I've been semi-active due to no action over here, but no longer.

So is there like no use of mp3 player there

And the USA has a clean human-rights record?

What?

Did you forget about Gitmo Bay, those held without charge or access to an attorney?

What about Zacarias Moussaoui? The judge is so getting sick of the feds withholding evidence and witnesses that she's almost left with no choice but to throw that case out of court.

The way it is going, you stand a better chance in Cuba or China to avoid human-rights infringement.

You can't fight a war based on an abstract concept, or an "-ism" like "terrorism". That's a multi-national LAW ENFORCEMENT problem.

Well, looks like money passed to politicans works as well here as it does around the world. The old American government attitude of throw money at it till it goes away is and can be adopted by internation conglomerations.

Welcome to our problems England. I say it is a sorry shame to export these troubles through out the world, but the terrorist organization known as the Music industry knows no bounds when it comes to greed.