In January 2003, an EU Directive was proposed to standardize enforcement of intellectual property law within the European Community. The document detailed the perceived needs for which the solutions were proposed, including the implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement). The proposal has met with criticism, most recently by IP Justice, which describes itself as "an international civil liberties organization that promotes balanced intellectual property law in a digital world. " On August 11, IP Justice released its "IPJ White Paper: Overbroad Provisions Threaten Civil Liberties, Innovation and Competition."
The IPJ paper opens with the charge that the proposal "contains a number of seriously troubling provisions that threaten innovation and competition and endanger the civil rights of all Europeans. Specifically, Article 9 creates broad and easily abused subpoena powers for intellectual property holders to obtain personal information on consumers. And Article 21 mandates a ban on technical devices that threatens innovation, competition, the fair use (fair dealing), and free of expression rights of Europeans."
Posted by dougsimpson at August 13, 2003 08:51 PM | TrackBackI do not fear computers. I fear lack of them.
Posted by: Denis JudeLaure at February 28, 2004 10:16 AM