Digital Rights/Piracy

Criminal Penalties for Downloaders in the EU

MPs endorsing the idea

By Vlad Constandes, SEO News Editor

22nd of February 2008, 14:06 GMT

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If the European Parliament's initiative to criminalize copyright infringement is going to happen, it will most definitely make Internet users think twice about downloading something off the web. Member states of the EU have been asked to press ahead with the plan and ministers from each country were advised to approve it.

Before it takes effect, the proposed EU directive

must be approved by the Council of Ministers, but with the buzz the IFPI is creating right now, there shouldn't be anyone holding back. New rules on copyright protection and laws criminalizing intellectual property infringement will be created as a part of this plan.

Italian Socialist MEP Nicola Zingaretti is the one that fought most ardently for this to happen: "Organized crime is a global activity that does not recognize borders or customs... We want to make sure that, all over the EU, pirates and counterfeiters are punished. [�] It is about punishing mafia-style criminals, not about jailing kids who download music from the internet," he said last year.

For example, in the United Kingdom, some intellectual property offenses are criminal only if carried out on a commercial scale. Downloading something for personal use and with no monetization coming out of it seems to not be a problem worthy of attention. Mini pop star Prince has a different view on all this, as he threatened to sue many fans for just having images of him, but that's a completely different story.

Zingaretti addressed the Council with a written question to make it consider the issue, as quoted by The Register: "Given the need for urgent action by the EU in response to the increasingly systematic violation of copyright by some internet users, can the council provide a time frame for discussion of the directive of the European Parliament and of the council on criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights?"

TAGS:

eu | council | copyright | infringement

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