A report on "Cultural Industries" will be adopted next Tuesday in the European Parliament (CULT committee) which could request internet filtering ("We cut your internet connexion if you download") all over Europe. This is emulating the bad ideas coming from the French government and Vivendi-Universal, as it has been proposed by the movie and the music industry in the recent Olivennes report.
Here is the proposed amendment by a british MEP Christopher Hilton-Hearris (in bold is the new text proposed):
Amendment by Christopher Heaton-Harris
Amendment 80
Paragraph 9 a (new)9a. Urges the Commission to oblige all those active in the sector to join forces and seek
solutions equitable to all with the aim to develop the offer of legitimate online
content and to make sure that all the involved stakeholders act responsibly. In the
event that adequate solutions have not been found within a reasonable period of
time that should not exceed 1 year, calls on the Commission and the Member States
to adopt legislative measures obliging Internet service providers to cooperate in the
fight against online piracy. This cooperation of Internet service providers should
include the use of filtering technologies to prevent their networks being used to
infringe intellectual property, the removal from the networks or the blocking of
content that infringes intellectual property, and the enforcement of their contractual
terms and conditions, which permit them to suspend or terminate their contracts
with those subscribers who repeatedly or on a wide scale infringe intellectual
property; draws Member States' attention on this point to the fact that legislative
measures which oblige Internet services providers to cooperate in the fight against
online piracy would be more effective than the legal pursuit of users who infringe
intellectual property;
Another amendment is also covering "P2P website designers":
Amendment by Erna Hennicot-Schoepges
Amendment 89
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Takes the view, therefore, that the Commission should consider establishing close
consultations between the industry, Internet access providers, consumers, P2P
website designers and all categories of rights holders and all other parties in order
to more openly examine the new forms of consumption and the resulting uses, with
the aim of putting in place permanent, legal models for the distribution and use of
new online products and services;
It might be a good idea to contact MEPs members of CULT and ask them to reject this intrusive proposal.