European Parliament Rejects Laws Kicking File Sharers Off The Internet

from the three-strikes-law-strikes-out dept

Thu, Sep 25th 2008 8:01pm — Mike Masnick

Earlier this year, the EU Parliament spoke out against laws proposed by entertainment industry lobbyists, that would force ISPs to kick accused file sharers off the internet using a "three strikes" law. Now the Parliament has made its position even clearer, taking a vote and, once again, rejecting the idea of using three strikes laws to fight unauthorized file sharing, noting that it interfered with civil rights and privacy rights of individuals. The sponsor of the motion made it clear: "You do not play with individual freedoms like that." He also suggested that France, who had already put in place a three strikes law, should reconsider. It's so rare these days to see politicians not falling for the lobbyists' claims, that it's nice to see.

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Filed Under: eu, europe, isps, parliament, three strikes

5 Comments

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mike allen, 26 Sep 2008 @ 12:15am

mmm
France now UK next yeah
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Al senior, 26 Sep 2008 @ 1:47am

+1 for the europeans
Sometimes i love the Eu parliament other times i hate them. nice to see them sticking up for what the people want.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Sep 2008 @ 4:54am

I also hate the EU parliament at times. It seems as though half of it is working well, working for the benefit of the people, and the other half seems to be accumilating power and bowing to Corporation pressure. Its nice to see something good come out sometimes.

The Constitution (Lisbon Treaty) is one good example of how the EU parliament fails.
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Sep 2008 @ 10:00am

Not to strike a discordant note, but there are ongoing trade discussions on this and other related issues. Techdirt has repeatedly noted that the discussions are proceeding under strict confidentiality arrangements. Thus, it is not beyond reason that the EU Parliment may be trying to influence the hand of those from the east side of the Atlantic who are taking part in the negotiations.
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charles, 30 Sep 2008 @ 7:17am

European Union
Are accusations counted or only convictions?
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