127 lines
3.0 KiB
HTML
127 lines
3.0 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
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<html>
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<version>1</version>
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<head>
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<title>IPRED2 - Open Letter, April 18th 2007</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>Open letter to MEPs, 2007-04-18</h1>
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<p>
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Dear MEP,
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</p>
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<p>
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FSFE would like to alert you to a proposed Directive text which will
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be voted on in the next Plenary session. Com(2006)168 criminalises
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many socially useful and legitimate uses of technology and would
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create bureaucracy, uncertainty, and fear which would reduce the
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ability of European citizens and businesses to participate in the
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information society. This undoes the benefits of advances in
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computer technology which are making it easier and easier for
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everyone to be involved in developing and distributing software and
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information.
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</p>
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<p>
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The proposed text:
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</p>
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<ol>
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<li>
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Creates overly broad crimes of "attempting, aiding or abetting and
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inciting" infringements of many dissimilar laws including copyright,
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trademark, and patents. This violates Article 49 of the The Charter
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of Fundamental Rights by making disproportionate use of criminal
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sanctions.
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</li>
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<li>
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Makes enforcement so cheap and easy that police investigation will
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become a tempting tool for businesses to use against
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competition.
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</li>
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<li>
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Lacks safeguards to prevent abuse or to limit the applicability to
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socially harmful situations. The only two limits, those of
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"commercial scale" and "intentional" are not defined.
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</li>
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<li>
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Introduces intimidating degrees of punishment to areas where
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individuals, community-based projects, and other small to
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medium-sized groups which may not have sufficient money or lawyers
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to defend their rights in court cases. This must be avoided in
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areas such as digital technology where technology changes much
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faster than EU law.
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</li>
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</ol>
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<p>
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We therefore ask the European Parliament to:
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</p>
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<ol>
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<li>
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Limit the criminal sanctions to trademark counterfeiting and what
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the TRIPS agreement calls "copyright piracy"
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</li>
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<li>
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Define "commercial scale" as being for financial reward
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</li>
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<li>
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Define "intentional infringement" as being "bad faith"
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infringements
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</li>
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<li>
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Remove the criminalisation of "attempting, aiding or abetting and
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inciting"
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</li>
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<li>
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Remove automatic investigation and prosecution - enforcements of
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rights should be at the request of the rights holder
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</li>
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<li>Add counter-balances to protect against misuse</li>
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</ol>
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<p>
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Another organisation, FFII, has published draft amendments which
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greatly improve the Directive proposal. FSFE expects to endorse
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FFII's amendments when they are tabled for next week's vote.
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</p>
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<p>
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For more information, you can contact FSFE's Brussels
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representative, Ciaran O'Riordan, by phone to
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discuss this in English, or to discuss it in another language,
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contact Ciaran by email.
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</p>
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<p>
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Ciaran O'Riordan,<br />
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Brussels Representative, Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE)
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</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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