25 Feb, 2004: FFII-UK Update: “FFII urges all European citizens to contact their local constituency MEPs as soon as possible, to make them aware of the dangers of this Directive.”

24 Feb, 2004: EFF Action Alert Urging Europeans to Immediately Contact EU MEPs and Oppose Directive

23 Feb, 2004: Controversial Intellectual Property Law Rushes EU Parliament: European Consumers Face ‘Nuclear Weapons’ of IP Law Enforcement
23 February 2004 Contact: Robin Gross, IP Justice Executive Director +1 415-553-6261 robin@ipjustice.org Controversial Intellectual Property Law Rushes EU Parliament: European Consumers Face "Nuclear Weapons" of IP Law Enforcement Today and tomorrow (23-24 February 2004), the controversial European Union Directive for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights heads to its final debate in the EU’s Legal Affairs (JURI) Committee. Although criticized by civil liberties groups, scientists, and industry groups for its extreme provisions and harsh treatment of consumers, the proposed directive has moved through the EU legislative process with unprecedented speed and threatens to become EU law as soon as next month. The directive was originally intended to ...

23 Feb, 2004: Report from JURI Committee Meeting on EU IPRE Directive from Andreas Dietl of EDRI
Report of JURI Committee Meeting Discussion on EU Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive on 23 February 2004 JURI, Feb 23, 2004 IPR Enforcement Directive (Report Fourtou) President: Willy Rothley (PSE) Present: 14 MEPS Council Representative Commission Representative Much audience, mainly lobbyists, mainly of rightsholder industries Started: 15:15 Ended: 15:45 *Council* Emphasized the importance of adopting Directive at March Competitiveness Council meeting (March 11), in trilogue meetings concerns of Parliament had all been taken into account: -Criminal sanctions in a text that is based on Commission Art. 20.3 and Recital 25 -Scope - a "balanced solution" had been found here also -introduction of "commercial scale" limitation in articles 7, 9, 10 balanced deletion of limitations from Art. 2    -EP concerns on competiton issues, sampling, protection ...

23 Feb, 2004: Controversial Intellectual Property Law Rushes EU Parliament: European Consumers Face “Nuclear Weapons” of IP Law Enforcement

22 Feb, 2004: Archive of news from 2004 and prior
14 Feb., 2004: IP Justice: EU Poised to Attack P2P File-Sharers and Punish Non-Commercial Infringements Feb. 4, 2004: IP Justice Analysis of 3 EU Proposals (Council, EP, and Commission) on Key Issues March 12, 2004: Report from EDRI on the Passage of the EU IP Enforcement Directive EurActiv Report on Passage of Directive, with Links and Positions (also see EurActive coverage of IP Rights) Roll Call Vote Tally with Analysis from AEL (Association Electronique LIBRE) 9 March Open Letter from Markus Beckedahl Regarding IP Enforcement Directive - "Willkommen im Reich der Intellectual Property - Mafia" (German / Deutsch) 9 March Press Release from EFA and the European Green Party on the Passage of the EU ...

19 Feb, 2004: Europe’s New IP Law: “You’ll Just Have to Trust Us” - From Foundation for Free Information Infrastructure UK

16 Feb, 2004: Council Proposal
This is the most recent proposal that is about to become the law of the EU unless amended - official version in (.pdf) or (word). See also: Overview of directive with links by James Heald 16 February 2004 Proposal for a DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on measures and procedures to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights (Text with EEA relevance) THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof, Having regard ...

15 Feb, 2004: Amendments Proposed by EDRI/FFII-UK to Limit Directive’s Scope to only Commercial Infringements, etc.

14 Feb, 2004: European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA) Statement on IPRE Directive (Word format)

14 Feb, 2004: EU Poised to Attack P2P File-Sharers and Punish Non-Commercial Infringements
14 February 2004 Contact:  Robin Gross, IP Justice Executive Director +1 415-553-6261   robin@ipjustice.org European Union Poised to Attack P2P File-Sharers IP Enforcement Directive Targets Non-Commercial Infringements The final weeks of the European Union's push to enact the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive are heating up with a battle brewing between consumers and the recording industry over the directive's targeting of Peer-2-Peer (P2P) file-sharing software and other non-commercial infringements. Article 2, which determines the directive's scope, remains a crucial concern for consumers.  Through "trialogue" meetings, the European Council, Parliament, and Commission are headed toward agreement to make the directive applicable to any intentional infringement of an intellectual property right.  This ...

12 Feb, 2004: US Gov’t Comments to EU on IPRE Directive: Recommends Targeting Non-Commercial Copying
U.S. Government Email on Proposed EU Directive on Measures and Procedures to Ensure Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights [Forwarded to IP Justice from MEP, details of US Government source under investigation, possibly USPTO] February 2003 [sic - 2004] The effective enforcement of intellectual property rights is a challenge faced by all of our governments.  The increase in both the quality and quantity of counterfeits and pirated copies combined with increasing involvement of organized criminal syndicates presents a threat to rights holders and society.  Given the importance of this issue, the United States Government is pleased ...

11 Feb, 2004: Strasbourg EU MEP Meeting (Reports, Statements, Official Results)
A meeting was held in Strasbourg, France on Febraury 11, 2004 to discuss the EU IP Enforcement Directive. Members of Parliament (MEPs), non-governmental organizations (including IP Justice, the FFII, EDRI, FIPR, and others), legal experts, and others were invited to participate. IP Justice Statement to the Strasbourg IP Enforcement Directive Meeting (HTML, also available as PDF and Word document) Report from the Strasbourg Meeting by James Heald Attendance List from the Strasbourg Meeting Invitation to the Meeting by Neil MacCormick, MEP FFII Announcement of the Strasbourg Meeting

10 Feb, 2004: Analysis from Andreas Dietl (FIPR)

10 Feb, 2004: Analysis from FFII

4 Feb, 2004: IP Justice Analysis of 3 EU Proposals (Council, EP, and Commission) on Key Issues
IP Justice Comparison of Key Provisions in EU Proposals to Enact the EU Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive   Article 2 � Scope of Directive Commission[1] European Parliament[2] Council...