By Mike Masnick, 21.09.2011, Techdirt.com
We recently wrote about a ridiculous copyright law being proposed in Italy, that could ban people from using the internet based on a single accusation of infringement. As we noted, the law did not appear to agree with overall EU law. Some in the EU Parliament are taking notice. MEP Marietje Schaake has now officially posed a Parliamentary question to the EU Commission questioning how it would respond to such a law:
Via the press it has come to my attention that the Italian Parliament is currently considering a draft law by which internet users can be disconnected and blacklisted if they have been accused on an intellectual property infringement. The accusation does not necessarily need to originate from the rights holder of the work in question. The draft law as it is proposed, violates several EU laws and principles, including: - Article 1(3a) of the telecoms package, amending the Framework Directive 2002/21/EC, - Article 6 ECHR concerning a fair trail - Article 10 ECHR concerning the freedom to seek, receive and impart information, - The principles of necessity and proportionality, and, - Depending on implementation, the exemptions of intermediary liability in E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC, Does the Commission agree the Italian proposal is in violation with EU laws and principles? If not, why not? What concrete action will the Commission undertake to put a halt to measures being implemented by Member States by which citizens may be disconnected from the internet?While it will be interesting to see how the EU Commission responds, just the fact that such questions are being asked should hopefully generate some attention to this awful proposal.
