In a refreshing show of good sense, the "three strikes and you're out" measure proposed by Sarkozy as a way to combat internet piracy, previously discussed
here by MobileReaders, has been struck down by the European Parliament in what
slashdot has tagged as "a sudden outbreak of common sense".
Quote:
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 […] 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.
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You can read more
here, and download a pdf of the official press release
here.