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Europe rejects plan to criminalize file-sharing
[Quote:]
The European Parliament rejected attempts to criminalize the sharing of files by private individuals and threw out the idea of banning copyright abusers from the Internet, in a plenary vote Thursday.
The vote was close, with 314 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) voting in favor of an amendment to scrap what many consider draconian and disproportionate measures to protect copyright over the internet, and 297 voting against the amendment.“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 Malene Folke Chaucheprat, a European Parliament spokeswoman, shortly after the vote.
The report isn’t legally binding, but it could help thwart efforts by France, which has already adopted such measures, to push the issue at a European political level.
France’s so-called Oliviennes strategy to combat copyright abuse includes a “three strikes and you are out” approach: Offenders lose the right to an Internet account after being caught sharing copyright-protected music over the Internet for a third time.
France takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union in the second half of this year and many observers, including the U.K.-based Open Rights Group, expect it to push for E.U.-wide rules similar to its own.
I haven’t looked in detail at the French laws, but I wonder… if a corporation gets caught violating copyright three times, does the corporation get banned from the internet, or is it yet another case where corporations get a free ride ?
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