macnn/electronista

04/10/2008, 1:45pm, EDT

Thursday, April 10th

Europe votes against banning filesharers

The European Parliament has voted to abolish a plan to permanently ban illegal filesharers, writes IDG News. Under the rules of the plan, those caught sharing copyrighted music, video and other material would have been prevented from even connecting to the Internet for unspecified amounts of time, possibly permanently. "The vote shows that MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) 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," according to EP spokeswoman Malene Folke Chaucheprat.

The Parliament was deeply divided on the resolution however, with only 313 MEPs voting against the prospect of bans, and another 297 supporting them. Many Europeans are said to view Internet bans as too extreme; conversely, the supporting faction has taken the side of organizations such as the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), which is pressing for ISP-level control in regions such as the United Kingdom.


Filed under: industry, audio
Other story tags: video, Europe, MP3, IFPI

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climacs
a ban?
0
04/10, 2:33pm, EDT
geez. Good thing the EU Parliament rejected it. An outright ban? I betcha the RIAA is paying attention to this.
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Feathers
scary...
0
04/10, 2:58pm, EDT
What is scary is that the plan wasn't defeated by a more significant majority. Damn if there aren't those who will try to exert control under just about any pretext. It's not only the Chinese who want to restrict, constrain and control the internet. Plus, protecting the commercial interests of scumbag corporations should be the last reason on earth to curtail our freedoms... or is that what they call "economic terrorism"?
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dynsight
good reason
0
04/10, 4:20pm, EDT
okay boys and girls,

please provide me a good reason why you should be allowed to use file sharing for copyrighted material?

Anyone?

One I can think of is that you travel and need access to movies and music. However there are many safer (non-sharing ways of doing this).

So again, why should you be sharing copyrighted material?

Is that crickets I hear chirping?
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climacs
dynsight is right
0
04/10, 4:30pm, EDT
it's illegal, therefore there is no punishment which is too draconian, even death.
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flask
re: good reason
0
04/10, 10:36pm, EDT
Umm, am I reading this wrong, or was this bill proposing to somehow prevent convicted file-sharers from EVER using the internet again? And you don't think that's an excessive response to minor cases of copyright infringement? Because surely the file-sharers couldn't possibly use the internet for anything BUT illegal activity, just as convicted shoplifters can't walk into a store without ganking something.
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010111
crickets?
0
04/11, 5:23am, EDT
more like the sound of a thousand eyes rolling.
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Roger@MacNN
re: good reason
0
04/11, 12:53pm, EDT
It may be illegal, dyn, but banning someone from the Internet is tantamount to blocking phone access or letter-writing.
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