[A2k] EU Culture Council rejects French three-strikes proposal

Tue Nov 25 12:04:01 2008

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
It is indeed quite positive coming from the European Council. If the Counci=
l
still reflects the traditional views of culture ministers, this is however =
a
positive step towards the recognition of the need of balance within the
copyright enforcement debate.

See also the note posted last week on TACD IP working group's blog:
http://www.tacd-ip.org/blog/


Anne-Catherine Lorrain

Intellectual Property Policy Expert

The TransAtlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD)
Avenue de Tervueren, 36 Bte 4
1040 Bruxelles - Belgium

aclorrain@consint.org

Mob (Belgium): +32 473 99 97 92

Cell (US): +1 202 390 6264
Tel: +32 2 740 28 17
Fax: +32 2 740 28 02
www.tacd.org

http://www.tacd-ip.org/blog

2008/11/25 Pranesh Prakash <pranesh@cis-india.org>

> Dear All,
> Some important developments from the Council of the EU (the 2905th
> Education, Youth, and Culture Council meeting)
> <
> http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/104=
198.pdf
> >,
> in the form of a resolution titled "Council Conclusions on the
> development of legal offers of online cultural and creative content
> and the prevention and combating of piracy in the digital
> environment":
>
> On TPMs:
> "Although the use of technical systems for protection (Technical
> Protection Measures (TPM)) or rights-management information (Digital
> Rights Management (DRM)) may in some cases, while taking due account
> of the principle of personal-data protection, contribute to protecting
> and managing rights in the digital world, the lack of interoperability
> or transparency of these systems creates insecurity for consumers and
> limits their use of the content offered by the various platforms;"
>
> On balancing of rights and proportionality:
> "The need to ensure a fair balance between the various fundamental
> rights, particularly the right to personal data protection, freedom of
> expression and information and the protection of intellectual
> property, and to seek, when implementing Community law, solutions in
> compliance with the general principles of Community law, in particular
> the principle of proportionality."
>
> Glyn Moody makes much of the ordering of the rights in that sentence.
>
> ----
> From Glyn Moody:
>
> http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/11/three-strikes-and-youre-out-str=
uck-down.html
>
> 21 November 2008
> "Three Strikes and You're Out" Struck Down
>
> Wow. I was convinced that the meeting of EU culture ministers
> yesterday was going to end badly; I was wrong
> <
> http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/104=
198.pdf
> >
> - and I take my virtual hat off to them:
>
>    EU culture ministers yesterday (20 November) rejected French
> proposals to curb online piracy through compulsory measures against
> free downloading, instead agreeing to promote legal offers of music or
> films on the Internet.
>    The EU Culture Council pushed yesterday (20 November) for "a fair
> balance between the various fundamental rights" while fighting online
> piracy, first listing "the right to personal data protection," then
> "the freedom of information" and only lastly "the protection of
> intellectual property".
>    The Council conclusions also stressed the importance of
> "consumers' expectations in terms of access [=85] and diversity of the
> content offered online". No mention was made of a gradual response to
> serial downloaders of illegal cultural material, as foreseen by the
> French authorities.
>
>
> I think this is very significant, because it indicates that the
> culture ministers and their advisers are beginning to understand the
> dynamics of the Net, that throttling its use through crude instruments
> like the "three strikes and you're out" is exactly the wrong thing to
> do, and that there are serious issues to do with freedom of
> information at stake here that cannot simply be brushed aside as
> Sarkozy and his media chums wish to do.
>
> Judging by the generally sensible tone of the meeting's conclusions
> <
> http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/104=
198.pdf
> >,
> the optimist in me starts to hope that the tide is finally turning.
> However, I do wonder whether this saga is finished yet, or whether the
> Telecoms Package still has some teeth
> <
> http://www.laquadrature.net/en/how-french-presidency-hides-a-political-la=
undering-inside-eu-telecoms-package
> >
> that it can bare....
>
> Update: Following up that thought, here's a letter
> <http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/11/save-our-amendment-138.html>
> I've sent to the relevant UK ministers who will be involved in a
> crucial meeting on the Telecoms Package this week (24/11/08).
>
> ----
> /. thread on the above:
> http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/11/23/1952248.shtml
>
> Regards,
> Pranesh
>
> --
> Pranesh Prakash
> Programme Manager
> Centre for Internet and Society
>
> T: +91 80 40926283
> W: http://cis-india.org
> _______________________________________________
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>


--
Anne-Catherine Lorrain
aclorrain@gmail.com
+32 473 99 97 92
www.aclorrain.fr