Volume II

Issue : 6: March 18, 2004

• Protest Site Withstands Scrutiny under Anticybersquatting Legislation
• EC Data Protection Directive Working Party Critical of Canadian Airline Passenger Information Program
• U.S. Federal Communications Commission Releases VoIP Rulemaking Initiative
• Online Pharmacy Takes Federal Government to Court
• Spam Lawsuits Filed by U.S. Internet Providers Include Canadian Defendants
• RIAA Ordered to Sue "John Doe" Defendants Individually; Recording Companies Seek Copyright Fees from Chinese Karaoke Bars
• B.C. Introduces New Consumer Protection Bills
• Utah Passes First State Net Filtering Bill
• Information Broker Pays Settlement to Mother of Slain Girl
• The European Union Passes New Antipiracy Law

Home > Volume II > Issue 6: March 18, 2004 > The European Union Passes New Antipiracy Law

The European Union Passes New Antipiracy Law

The European parliament, in a final majority vote held on March 9th, 2004, has approved the EU Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive. The Directive is intended to target organized criminal counterfeiting of copyrighted products such as football shirts and music compact discs. Under the new Directive, companies with stakes in copyrighted products are permitted to take enforcement measures against professional pirates. Such enforcement measures include court ordered freezing of bank accounts and assets belonging to suspected commercial counterfeiters. In addition, aggrieved parties may carry out raids on the homes of those accused of abusing or stealing trademarks or intellectual property.

The EU Directive has been criticized by various civil liberty and consumer protection lobby groups who have compared it with the draconian and controversial US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Music companies in the US have used the provisions of the DMCA to initiate lawsuits against individuals who use file sharing systems to swap copyrighted music online. Critics of the EU Directive feared that similar measures might be taken against individual consumers in Europe who download music in good faith and for their personal use.

In response to the concerns raised, and despite demands made by organizations such as the Business Software Alliance and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the European parliament voted against proposals for the imposition of criminal sanctions such as jail sentences for convicted counterfeiters. The Directive was in fact amended in order to limit its application to large commercial counterfeiters rather than to individual consumers with the former facing stiff civil, rather than criminal, penalties.

The European Union's member states are expected to adopt the Directive as part of their respective national laws within the next two weeks.

For the complete text of the EU Directive, please visit:
http://www.ipjustice.org/CODE/021604.html