Freedom of speech
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French jurisprudence about Google and cybersquatting
Search engine Google has lost an appeal on 10 March 2005 against a French court order to change its advertisement practices. The case about the advertisement practice was instigated by the travel companies Luteciel SARL and Viaticum SA. Competitors bought the search terms ‘bourse des vols’ and ‘bourse des voyages’ (flight exchange and trip exchange) […]
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Italian agreement to fight copyright infringements
The Italian government has closed an agreement with 50 organisations from the music, video, publishing and IT industry to fight copyright infringements by organising public ‘sensibilisation’ campaigns. The agreement was launched on 3 March 2005 during the well-known Sanremo pop music festival. Prepared by three ministers (of Technological Innovation, Culture and Communications) the agreement was […]
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Austrian and German courts protect identity file-sharers
The music industry has suffered a severe setback by two verdicts by courts in Munich and Vienna. Both courts ruled that internet service providers did not have to hand-over data about customers. In the Munich case, the Higher Regional Court squashed an earlier verdict that obliged providers to hand-over data about users suspected of operating […]
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Comments on Unesco convention on cultural diversity
The Unesco is working on a draft convention on cultural diversity, the Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions. The draft contains many references to copyright, intellectual property rights and access to information. On 15 November 2004 the campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) has presented […]
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Workshop report Copyright in Europe
Just before the Commission hearing on DRM, EDRI member FIPR (Foundation for Information Policy Research) organised a 2 day workshop on the future of EU legislation on copyright in Cambridge. In his opening remarks, FIPR chairman Ross Anderson pointed to the ‘big, greedy’ industry interests dominating the discussion about so-called Intellectual Property Rights at present […]
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EU Commission celebrates 10 years of TRIPS
10 years ago, on 23 June 1994, the TRIPS agreement was concluded as a part of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO. A good reason for the European Commission to have a party. After all, the Brussels executive body has not only taken the helm within the EU in transposing the agreement, but also goes […]
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Berlin declaration on music flatrate
During the Wizards of OS conference in Berlin, from 10 to 12 June 2004, legal scientists and civil rights defenders jointly launched a declaration on collectively managed online rights. The declaration is a response to the call for comments on the Communication from the European Commission on the management of copyright and related rights in […]
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IPR Enforcement Rapporteur made millions on IPR
The rapporteur of the EU Directive on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, Janelly Fourtou (UDF, Conservative, France), has earned millions from business related to Intellectual Property Rights, even while she was shepherding the report through the European Parliament. As several newspapers have investigated, Mrs. Fourtou runs a private fund together with her husband, Jean-René […]
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Belgian consumer group will appeal in copy protection case
On 27 May 2004 the Belgian court of Brussels rejected the complaint made by the consumer organisation Test-Achats (Test Aankoop) against four record companies in Belgium (EMI, Sony, Universal and BMG) about their use of technical copy protection measures. Test-Achats collected 200 complaints from individual members and demanded that the companies would stop using technical […]
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10 years of internet prosecution in Italy
On 18 May 2004, the Italian Senate turned a highly controversial new decree into law that puts heavy fines and even prison sentences on the download of movies, music or other copyrighted works even when done without any commercial purpose. Though the law speaks of penalties when ‘making a profit’, jurisprudence in Italy has already […]
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Heated debate in Italy about fines for downloading
Today, 21 April, the controversial Urbani decree will be discussed again by the Culture Commission of the Italian Parliament. This law (named after the Minister of Culture) puts heavy fines on the download of movies, music or other copyrighted works even when done without any commercial purpose. Downloaders and file-sharers also risk the seizure of […]
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IPR Directive soon to be law
Adoption of the Directive on Measures and Procedures to Enforce Intellectual Property Rights – the infamous Fourtou Report – is a mere formality. The General Secretariat of the European Council has invited the Council’s Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) to suggest to the Council, at one of its forthcoming meetings, to adopt the Directive as […]
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