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Proposed EU Copyright Changes Piss Off Just About Everyone
from the something-for-everyone-to-hate dept
tijir writes in to point to the latest round of proposed changes to European copyright law, and as was expected, there's something in there for just about everyone to hate. While it doesn't include software patents (the EU learned that lesson last year), it bizarrely shifts all the blame for copyright infringement from end users to service providers. It takes the "inducement" concepts of the U.S. Supreme Court's Grokster decision, which has created all sorts of problems, and puts it into the law for Europe. Not surprisingly, that makes the various copyright lobbies happy. They like being able to go after the big providers, rather than individuals -- even if the big service providers haven't actually done anything wrong. However, the draft law apparently also then clears the way for individual users to download what they want for non-commercial use. Private, non-commercial use of infringed products is allowed -- which pisses off those very same copyright lobbies. Effectively, what this really does is take all the liability off of end users, and dumps a fair portion of it on the providers of the tools and services they use. That doesn't seem fair or reasonable, but apparently someone thought it made for a good regulatory proposal.
Reader Comments
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So that's good! You can download all the copy written stuff you want and only your ISP gets in trouble.... Yaaay!
Sheesh
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Presumably personal downloading is still a civil offence in individual countries? I think this only makes it so that it's not a crime - but commercial infringement is a crime according to this directive. At least that's what the arstechnica article said.
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NeverEnding Circle of Blame
So all the blame will shift to the ISP. Then in the future, the ruling will change. All the blame gets shifted to the end users. and it keeps going, and going, and going, and going.....
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More EU Law!
Who pays these bum's wages? Lets sack them!
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Here's a question, considering its a draft legislation, did they write this up just to piss everyone off so they'll come to the table?
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Re: Javrod
Javrod - I hope so, I really fucking hope so
Although somehow I doubt it - remember these are the same cretins who have banned bananas which aren't bendy enough, and who periodically go on crusades to wipe out foods named after regions which are no longer made in the towns themselves (I still can't wait for Hamburger!)
Nothing would surprise me from this bunch of clowns
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Well if we cant buy the CD's cheaper then we'll just download them for free. simple really
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