Record labels and film studios cannot demand that telecoms companies reveal the personal details of people suspected of swapping copyrighted material on the internet, the European Court of Justice has ruled.
The court was asked to decide on the issue after Promusicae, an umbrella group representing the Spanish music and film industry, sued Telefónica, the telecoms group, for refusing to identify customers suspected of swapping copyrighted material.
Promusicae wanted to use the information to bring a lawsuit against individuals it believed to have been distributing music and films on KaZaA, a peer-to-peer internet network that allows users to share films, music and other media.
Telefónica refused, arguing that European law required only that the telecoms group give out private information about its customers in criminal proceedings or in matters relating to public security.
The long history of Europeans having to fight seriously repressive governments for privacy and freedom makes the question a bit more pointed than the American public seems to notice. So far.
Wow, I’m impressed. The EU court stands up for individual privacy.
Hey! I thought GOUSA was the land of the free! “Send us your tires and poorly made goods” and all that. :0
Yes Eideard, Americans need to walk a kilometer or two in European shoes.
Cheers
#2 “Yes Eideard, Americans need to walk a kilometer or two in European shoes.”
We did from 1942-1945. You’re Welcome.
#2 “We did from 1942-1945. You’re Welcome”
Ya, isn’t it ironic that the US is turning into the fascist state that those boy’s fought and died to defeat. Go America!
“We did from 1942-1945. You’re Welcome.”
I do wish you’d shut up about what is so long in the past – in Europe your contribution is not as valued as you might like to think.
Since then the US has done nothing but be an international bully, hopefully you’ve finally learned your lesson in the Middle East.
I saw a clip with robbie williams (take that or another boygroup) on mtv germany just saying word like _unt, _ollocks, _uck, that kind of stuff. And he said something like he would not be allowed to say that on GB-TV, Germany land of the free.
And I think he’s about right. I lived in the US and in .de and .de is much less restrictive than the US, sorry guys.
Glad to see that the EU doesn’t recognize a constitutional right to make money if you’re big enough.
This whole debate suffers from an elephant in the room: copying, in this context, isn’t theft. If I stand on the street outside a club and listen to the music – because the cover is too high – am I robbing the club?
A few years ago I took a photo of the Mona Lisa and the Louvre security people come after me – I wonder why? Didn’t I just steal a valuable painting?
Actually, this needs clarification: What the court said was that the EU countries don’t HAVE to implement laws that allow private interest groups to demand the identity behind an IP-address. It didn’t forbid it, though.
Many EU governments have previously claimed that they HAVE to implement these laws, even though they didn’t want to (yeah, right). Some have, some haven’t. Those governments that are about to implement them are now faced with a dilemma – they no longer have an excuse. Now it’s a question of policy, not of “we don’t want to, but the EU is forcing us”.
The politicians will have to take a stand – piss off the voters of not.
“We did from 1942-1945. You’re Welcome.”
Well this explains nicely why the US is in the state it is in today.
That “Gee weren’t we great back then?” attitude means nothing in 2008. The US has no manufacturing to speak of and needs to borrow money from…where, China? What a goof!
But Americans still like living in the past…!
Well nap time is over time to live in the present.
Cheers
“Germany land of the free.
And I think he’s about right. I lived in the US and in .de and .de is much less restrictive than the US, sorry guys.”
Yes, the free, democratic Germany, where people are fined and put in jail for their beliefs (Ernst Zundel among many others) along with their lawyers if the put up too good or forceful a defense.