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guydickinson

Website: http://www.thinkfold.com

Proposal to extend Euro copyright, and to force ISPs to spy on customers dies! EPIC FAIL!

January 22, 2008 10:43am

I also got several personal replies from Tom Wise (an appropriate moniker, non?); he's clearly (actually can we access voting records anywhere?).

He was the only UK MEP I emailed that replied...

Europe! Stop ISP spying, website blocking AND copyright extension with one call!

January 21, 2008 12:18pm

I've also mailed the clutch of UK MEPs with the following (gratefully edited from Kieran O'Niell's email):

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Dear

I take a keen interest in issues regarding Intellectual Property, in particular to how IP is currently being scrutinised and potentially amended within the arena of EU law.

As a listed member of CULT, I'm emailing you to outline my opposition to the amendment 82 of paragraph 9a of the Guy Bono Report, helpfully listed here:

http://www.eff.org/issues/eff-europe/bono-cult-amendments#Paragraph_9a_.28new.29

In particular, I'm concerned about the section:

"9a. Calls on the Commission to propose a directive designed to protect artists who risk seeing their work fall within the public domain in their lifetime, and to consider the competitive disadvantage posed by less generous protection terms in Europe than in the United States;"

I understand you have received emails from others who share my concerns - its rare that I spend time ploughing through EU reports, but this amendment is creeping protectionism for media companies which, has been pointed out in last year's Gowers report, is not needed, as such an extension of copyright conveys negligible benefits to individual artists.

The extension of copyright also stifles creativity by restricting the creation of derivative works, and restricts public access to archival materials with cultural and educational value.

There seems to have been several completely inappropriate and pernicious amendments slipped into that report - I'm glad to see that the proposal for Internet Service providers to filter traffic has been redacted, for example.

I think a previous email that I understand was sent to you on the same, perhaps says it best:

"Finally, the tone of the amendment suggests that the EU has a moral obligation to follow the lead of the United States in creating legislation. This carries a dangerous, implicit assumption that all laws passed by the United States are automatically morally just and appropriate to a European context.
Allowing this amendment to enter the report would set a dangerous precedent for future European legislation, as it could promote the creation of laws that will benefit only record companies, and not the creators and consumers of culture."

I would implore you to vote to have amendment 82 deleted from the report, for the good of European culture, and not bow to the lobbying pressures of media companies trying to pollute the rich cultural diversity and perfectly adequate, existing legal framework on copyright terms.

Sincerely,

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