Europe deals blow to piracy plan

Plans proposed by the music industry to have persistent pirates cut off from their internet services have been dealt a blow in the European parliament.

MEPs today backed an amendment to a wide-ranging report on creative industries, which said that banning people from the web interfered with civil liberties and human rights.

"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 a spokeswoman for the European Parliament.

The music industry slammed the amendment, saying it was "badly drafted".

Frances Moore, the executive vice president of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), said: "One badly-drafted, rushed-through amendment was adopted which is in contradiction to the rest of the text.

"If the aim of the report is to protect creative content, including in the online environment, we should be looking at all options available in the fight against copyright theft. Instead, this amendment suggested discarding certain options before there is even a proper debate," Moore continued.

The row centres around the "three-strike" proposal which is currently being implemented in France and is favoured by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

The BPI has been having discussions with several UK ISPs, including Virgin Media about a policy that would see first-time pirates warned, second-time offenders suspended from their accounts, and a third offence leading to a permanent ban from the web.

However, The Carphone Warehouse, which owns the AOL and TalkTalk brands in the UK and is rumoured to be interested in bidding for Tiscali, has rejected the BPI's proposals outright.

In retaliation for the rebuttal, the BPI has said it will take The Carphone Warehouse to court if it does not take positive action against piracy.

The government has said that it will introduce legislation to cover this issue if ISPs and the music industry cannot implement a voluntary agreement by April 2009.

www.ifpi.org
www.bpi.co.uk
www.europarl.org.uk
www.virginmedia.com
www.talktalk.co.uk