power
House of Lords gives thumbs up to 3 strikes, site takedown
The UK’s House of Lords has passed a version of the Digital Economy Bill that eliminated one controversial anti-piracy measure but added a new one in its place. The bill, which includes a three-strikes provision that will suspend the service of repeat copyright infringers, will now be considered by the Commons. There are promises that a provision that would require ISPs to block access to sites used for infringement will be revised during the process, but the rush to complete work on the law ahead of the UK’s coming elections has left a number of advocacy groups feeling that major changes to copyright enforcement are being rushed through Parliament without proper consideration.
Continue reading »UK MPs to Allow Blocked Sites to Appeal
Liberal Democrats prepare to amend their proposed amendment to the Digital Economy Bill, but disclosure that the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) wrote the original draft has led to calls for Parliament to fully debate the Bill. Earlier this month I mentioned how Liberal Democrat Lord Clement-Jones had proposed an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill that would cause a huge shift in the way ISPs are asked to deal with copyright infringement on their networks. Amendment 120a would give courts the power to “prevent access to specified online locations for the prevention of online copyright infringement” with the threat of “injunctions” against those ISPs that have “actual knowledge of another person using their service to infringe copyright,” but has failed to “prevent copyright infringement content being accessed at or via that online location or taken reasonable steps to remove copyright infringing content from that online location (or both).” What it doesn’t spell out is exactly how ISPs are supposed to verify claims of copyright infringement nor does it offer a means of appeal.
Continue reading »UK Bill Would Force ISPs to Block P2P Websites
Proposed amendment to the Digital Economy Bill threatens ISPs to “to prevent access to online locations specified in the order of the Court for the prevention of online copyright infringement,” but doesn’t require a verification process, resulting in a “serious chilling effect as ISP’s play (it) safe.” Conservative Lord Howard and Liberal Democrat Lord Clement Jones have proposed an amendment to the Digital Economy Bill that would cause a huge shift in the way ISPs are asked to deal with copyright infringement on their networks.
Continue reading »French Youth Make Piracy a “National Sport”
Now boasts having one of the highest rates of software piracy in the European Union as the country’s youth challenge one another “to crack the most elaborate software programs” and rebel against the most repressive copyright legislation in the world. France appears be suffering from a delicious bit of irony these days with news that piracy in some areas of the country is almost double the rate of other members of the European Union. For after having formally passed the controversial “Creation and Internet” law last September the country has been on the fast track to give authorities the power to disconnect illegal file-sharers from the Internet, and would seem an unlikely place for piracy levels to be highest.
Continue reading »New Zealand Proposes Internet Suspension, $15,000 Fine for File-Sharers
Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment would provide new enforcement measures against the unauthorized sharing of copyright material on the Internet, including suspension of Internet access for up to 6 months and compensation to copyright holders of up to $15,000 ($10,422 USD). Last week Commerce Minister Simon Power introduced a bill in New Zealand that would amend the Copyright Act of 1994 in order to provide new enforcement measures against the unauthorized sharing of copyright material on the Internet. The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill repeals the controversial Section 92A and replaces it with a “three-strikes” regime deter illegal file-sharing.
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