European Parliament Says No to Three-Strikes Law
Written by Ernesto on September 25, 2008The European Parliament has voted in favor of an amendment that will prevent member states from implementing three-stikes laws. Disconnecting alleged file-sharers based on evidence from anti-piracy lobby groups restricts the rights and freedoms of Internet users, according to the amendment.
The power of anti-piracy lobbyists has grown significantly across Europe this year. In the UK, six major ISPs are working together with the music industry to start mass warning file-sharers. France has gone even further, and proposed a law that will enable the entertainment industry to disconnect alleged pirates on their third warning.
Both the MPAA and RIAA have pushed other countries to adopt similar legislation as well, but it will be hard for them to succeed in Europe. In April, the European Parliament spoke out against these anti-piracy measures, by saying it would be “conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness”. Yesterday, this statement was backed up by an official vote.
The amendment, drafted by Guy Bono and other members of the European Parliament, was adopted by an overwhelming majority. 573 parliament members voted in favor while only 74 rejected. Satisfied with this outcome, Bono stated in a response to the vote: “You do not play with individual freedoms like that,” and said that the French government should review its three-strikes law.”
The vote was welcomed in other member states as well. Swedish EU parliamentarian Christofer Fjellner said in a comment: “What’s important about this decision is that now it’s clear that you can’t force [internet service] providers to ban people from the Internet without a legal process.”
It is scary to see how lobby groups are awarded powers that should only belong to law-enforcement agencies. Evidence should never be collectedly by parties who gather it in their own interests, and it is a relief to see that the European Parliament agrees on this.
Previously: ‘Heroes’ Causes BitTorrent Boom
Next: Pirate Bay Wins Court Case, Italian Block Lifted
63 Responses
vive la liberté
Who is the French guy in charge fucking? His wife probably…who is his wife??
There you have the answer.
He’s screwing the frogs…because his wife is screwing him.
i don’t undersand how MPAA and RIAA have so much power. Aren’t they just a group of people. how can they make or change laws like that
Fuck yeah europe! Hopefully America can one day pull its head out of it ass…but that is unlikely to happen. :(
@2
Money talks.
MPAA and RIAA has the money and they use it to make or change laws like that
The RIAA and MPAA bribe politicians in the US. Their whole political system is corrupt.
Every donation or funding from anyone has to be declared in Europe so they cant pay off the Euro politicians to pass laws 99.9% of people dont want.
so they are just some rich dudes wanting to change laws. that sucks
For those of us outside the EU, is this BINDING on member nations, or just a suggestion? Will tanks roll into France or Germany if they ignore this?
@6: not just rich dudes, it’s the poor recordlabel companies that form the lobby … yes they are actually so poor that they can bribe politicians to make laws so they cant get any poorer …
@7: Don’t worry the Belgian military will fix that … What no army! We so do! Our fighterjets have fired a few bullets a few days ago, so what if it were the first in decades … yeah only a few bullets, now they are out of bullets …
Jurassic Park!
Normally both governments can postpone a bit the application of those decisions.
But if anyone gets condemned in France or Germany, they can make an appeal in front of the European court, which will take a long time but will end up in a good result (since European law prevails).
And, last but not least, the french/german government can be fined if they refuse to apply those decisions. But again, that’s over a long period of time.
All that counts is that Europe is not yet completely sold to the lobbies. And that’s very good a news.
Yup, basically any law that the EU passes all the member states have to enact. As above states they can postpone it, but if the appeal goes to the EU Courts, they it’s a guaranteed win.
I think members can be penalized as well if they do not enact the policies within a certain timescale but I’m not sure.
Germany does not have a “3 strikes law” or a comparable law that allows to disconnect filesharers, nor is such a law planned or even discussed!!
In fact, organisations like the mpaa or the riaa (or their german counterparts) have hardly a (legal) chance to obtain information on a filesharers identity based on an IP here in Germany, not to speak of using such information in a trial (according to a newer ruling of our constitutional court).
I wonder how the situation in France could get like that in the first place. Is it in the popular opinion of France that they want such a 3 strikes law?
Roze
http://www.28chan.org/apstdt/
they can collect the information about my balls..
go f*ck urselves MPAA.. lick my sack.
total pwncakes
MPAA & RIAA sucks big time.
Europe should kick their @ss A.S.A.P
F**K THE USA and their anti piracy SH*T !!!
HEY MAN BACK OFF THE USA! Its not like were all fat ass greedy asshole ignorant double standard ‘protect you from yourself’ retards!!
oh wait..
*waves the white flag*
Good one Europe! Who’s the Rogue nation now ? U.S.A !
the mafiaa lobbies have shot themselves in the foot. it was they who took the matter of 3 strikes policy to the European level. their arrogance is overwhelming
the mafiaa has inadvertently funded an early day decision from the parliament which would not otherwise have been sponsored
the decision demonstrates the deep differences in legal frameworks, and rights of the individual, which exist between Europe and the USA
we knew this was coming but the mafiaa is clearly blindsided. it is a fabulous victory, the losers’ have lost a central tenet of their anti-filesharing campaign
http://www.h33t.com where every step is in the right direction
Woo good news for a change
This was a relief :)
This is a clear victory for civil liberties and human rights. It’s just unbelievable how many isp’s and law enforcement agencies believe the crap riaa/mpaa feed them. Even allowing them to ban people from the internet without proof, thats just stupid.
F**K THE MPAA!
F**K THE RIAA!
P2P WILL NEVER DIE!
LONG LIVE THE HYDRA!!!!
Fuck yeah SEAKING!
Apparently the land of the free is now the EU. Fuck this America crap.
First of all , you should not forget that this amendment was accpeted during the first lecture of the law. And to be definitively adopted this amendment must also be accepted during second and last lecture of the law. So this is not done already even though the amendment should be adopted cause it was accepted with a very large majority.
Second of all, in France, we’re looking forward for the fight when our government will try to pass the three-strikes law. There already was a hudge fight during the DADVSI law and the one about the three-strikes law will be a lot more difficult fr the governement to pass.
However month after month, this conservative government is postponing the discussion in the French parliament because their credibilty is very low atm. In fact, atm the main reason of this postponing is the scandal about a police file called Edvige where informations about people (sexuality, race, religions, trade-unions, etc…) could be stored… :/
F**K PIRATES!
P2P WILL DIE!
TOO EASY TO BUST P2PTARDS
Im moving to Europe. Now.
Er… Wonder which country should I move to? Any pointers?
@29 FU*K U 2. TW*T.
Hope Davenport Liars and Losgiscab take note and fu*k off harassing the fair sharing, tax paying folks of Blighty.
@30 Def the DAM. Legal drugs and hookers an added bonus. :-)
@30
Moscow, RU.
or
Budapest, HU.
or Norway or Sweden.
All I have to say is it’s about time we had sense… I’ve always thought the european union was a useless formailty, seems they have made a good choice this time round!
I’m rather surprised that the EU made the correct decision. However, this does show the danger of international bodies. If the EU made the incorrect decision, every member state would be required to adhere to it. Sovereignty ftw!
Hooray for Europe. First no software patents, now no three strikes law. I was anti eu but they are making some good decisions.
I wonder if someday they will legalise p2p for personal use. One can only hope. If Sweden and few other states legalised it, I could see it happening.
Netherlands is a good choice.
I’m from England myself but I hear they have liberal laws there. ;) Plus they have pretty sweet internet connections. Most speak English too.
I kind of hope my girlfriend dumps me and my family disowns me soon, then I could move to Europe guilt free… Wow, that sounds horrible, but the US is riding the failcar into a shitstorm and there are too many ignorant closeminded dumbasses here to try to change anything (Not everyone mind you, but easily the majority.)
So how hard is it to get an EU passport?
I would like to correct something in the article.
It is writen “France has gone even further, and adopted a law that will enable the entertainment industry to disconnect alleged pirates on their third warning.”
In fact, the law is still not adopted and not even presented to the national parliement. It is an official project of one of our minister, see the wikipedia article here (translated from french): http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffr.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FLoi_Hadopi&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8
The law project is called HADOPI or “Creation and Internet”. However, the three-strike method is a french idea… from Denis Olivennes: http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffr.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FDenis_Olivennes&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
By this comment I would like to point out that anti-P2P lobbies says that France already have a three-strike law in order to spread it easily to other countries. It’s pure lies.
So please, don’t help lobbies to spread this lie.
:)
@38 Why should there be guilt for moving to Europe? Is your girlfriend and family a bunch of xenophobic bigots?
Theres no such thing as a EU passport. A passport from any EU state e.g Great Britain will allow you to travel and work anywhere in the EU. If you can prove that your family has a european ancestry then you can sometimes apply for dual citizenship of that country. Otherwise you have to go through the usual immigration channels.
Guy Bono, interview :
http://www.pcinpact.com/actu/news/46239-guy-bono-riposte-graduee-amendement.htm
Google translation :
http://translate.google.fr/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pcinpact.com%2Factu%2Fnews%2F46239-guy-bono-riposte-graduee-amendement.htm&sl=fr&tl=en&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8
Well, its good to see someone has some common sense! Thats moer than I can say for anyone in US Government.
Justin
http://www.privacy.es.tc
as an internet lawyer, i’m following this development closely. there is always a battle, with regard to file sharing, between content owners enforcement rights and the privacy rights of users/infringers.
@37 most people from .nl are drug junkies
Goddamn, the commenters on here are all fucking morons. This must reflect poorly on the torrent community.
@25 Shut up you idiot. Who let you out of your room with your crayons and coloring book.
People like you make everyone look bad.
@25: Excellent message I endorse it 1000%
Unlike some ungrateful cowardly morons such as #47 (Gargamel), others (like me) appreciate both conviction and bravura as we understand both are a means to power. People like Gargamel are pussies who would be imprisoned easily and give away all their rights because they are so meek and spineless.
To wit,
F**K THE MPAA!
F**K THE RIAA!
P2P WILL NEVER DIE!
LONG LIVE THE HYDRA!!!!
I never understand why the UK is so anti-EU sometimes. The EU can make good decisions!
I forcably encrypt and use random ports when bittorrenting, it will be interesting to see if I receive a ‘warning’ from my ISP.
I wonder whether just requesting the IP of popular bt sites marks you down as a sharer…
“I forcably encrypt and use random ports when bittorrenting, it will be interesting to see if I receive a ‘warning’ from my ISP.”
Since the ISPs arent allowed to inspect packets, it wont do much.
The authorities will be in the swarm, they will then notify your ISP and you will get a letter.
Bureaucrats are already trying to bury this amendment:
http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=/language_tools&u=http://www.generation-nt.com/creation-internet-ump-urgence-bono-europe-parlement-actualite-160681.html
The overt attempt from public servant who is appointed and not elected (Vivane Reding, European Commissioner) to withdraw an amendment voted by a huge majority of representatives is shocking, to say the least. Talk about democracy after such a blatant example…
Well what to say. At least the EU parliment has the ability to make common sense decisions from time to time.
Now we know why Europe has got bigger balls than America.
I don`t understand what`s happening here! Are the RIAA (and others) now allowed to create an ad hoc “legal” system that runs as a separate entity from the normal laws of the land? Whether any individual is guilty of file sharing/copyright breaches should be decided by the courts and not by some paranoid organisation imposing rules that appear to have been made up as they go along.
@47
Just when i thought someone couldn’t sound anymore idiotic and childish then @25 you blew us away.
Good job.
^^^
Gargamel = Fascist troll…
Just to add my 2 pence I will not return so put me down as much as you like as really i dont give a dam ok ;)…
ok people are under the illution that they accually have a say in this matter are you blind.. look at poll tax or smoking ban for example.
the goverment do not care about the paying public as long as they can have a cut and till the recording companys allow the goverment a higher cut of the proceeds (tax) the goverment will see no real reason to act isp have been bribed into helping with sponserships ect over here in the uk people are allready getting e-mails about pirateering,
Theres no rights left for us lil people to use as they have taken them away allready its only a moment of time and writing on this forum wont change nothing its a green world yes !!! but the only green is the colour of money.. good luck every in your pointless chat im allready ready to serve my time and hope every else is then they wont have enough room to put all there ;)
I never thought that I would say this, but: thank you EU. You did something right and are setting the direction for a better tomorrow. I had already lost hope, but seems that the whole organisation isn’t corrupted after all. There still are people fighting for our rights. However, justice will not automatically prevail. We have to work for it, every day, all the time. Once again, hats off for the parliament. *Respect*
@44 Eh, no.
So, wait.
Does this mean that here in the UK the ISP’s can NOT ban us from the Internet or give us the three-strike-deal????
europe is garbage weak army will take you out anytime .
north america bigger than europe europa straight out garbage well said yonas fags scared to fight there own battles bitches each nation too small to fight big battles gotta get help fags france fags british fags AMERICA had to help them bitches IM SCARED OF NAZIS SHUT UP SOLVE YOUR OWN PROBLEMS
@MPAA ETC.
NOW WHO’S BALLZ HAVE BEEN BUSTED B1TCH!
@60+61
Due to your inability to ellect a suitable leader in recent years your decleration of indepence is hereby revoked. lol
but joking aside….
seriously guys dont knock britain, they supported the US from a military point of view pretty constantly..
britain supported the US when the united abominations refused to enforce their own sanctions, australia supported the US also…
I don’t remember the other countrys that have lept to americas aid when they saw fit to invade on numerous occasions(i believe they were right to do so on all occasions i have seen), america as a military power is pretty sensible…
but as a government it is more corrupt than anything i have seen so far…. anyone with an iota of integrity gets steam-rolled by the corrupt majority which is sad since the basic premis of the government is actually good. sadly far to easily corruptable. im sure you will flame me and pick holes in what i have said… but quite frankly i dont care since i only really wanted to post “62″ just seeing that; i had to respond. I hope you read the history books and have a long hard think about it.
as a side note; in recent history i have seen the french government make a few bad decisions but am not well informed enough to defend or condemn them… my apologies to the french, but i encourage you to strike back at the ignorance and abusiveness of 60+61.
16 references to this post
Responses are closed
All remaining responses will continue to be archived. Use the TorrentFreak forums if you want to discuss something.