Consumers Rally at EU Today Against Dangerous IP Enforcement Directive Artists Claim Law Will Not Help Them and Will Harm Consumers Consumers, artists, and representatives of civil liberties groups from across Europe will join together today in Strasbourg, France to demonstrate against the controversial European Union Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive.The proposed directive is scheduled for debate and a final vote in the European Parliament tomorrow, 9 March, and threatens to become EU law two days later. The enforcement directive has been widely criticized for its lack of balance and over-broad scope, since it treats individuals who engage in unintentional non-commercial infringements the same as if they were major commercial counterfeiters. Sponsored by a broad coalition of consumer groups, today's rally takes place outside the EU Parliament in Strasbourg between 4:30-6:30pm as MEPs enter the building for the evening's debate. Rally organizers include members of the Campaign for an Open Digital Environment (CODE), including the European Digital Rights Initiative (EDRi), the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), IP Justice and others. Consumer groups aim to convince MEPs to either reject the bloated directive or to vote for amendments that would reduce it's danger to ordinary consumers for non-commercial infringements. "The proposed directive would allow recording industry executives to privately invade the homes [...]

March 2, 2004 Consumer Rights Rally at EU in Strasbourg on 8 March: Coalition Urges Rejection of Controversial EU IP Directive An international coalition of civil liberties and consumer rights groups are holding a digital rights rally and press conference to oppose the controversial European Union Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive on the eve of its final vote in EU Parliament. The meeting is set for 8 March, 2004 in Strasbourg, France, where a broad coalition will urge EU Members of Parliament to reject the controversial directive due to its excessive treatment of users and consumers for minor and non-commercial infringements. Members of the Campaign for an Open Digital Environment (CODE) including IP Justice, European Digital Rights (EDRi), the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) and others have joined to rally against the EU IP Enforcement Directive. Consumers oppose this directive because it treats them as if they were large commercial counterfeiters – even for a single, unintentional, non-commercial infringement. The powerful new enforcement provisions it creates to combat infringement apply even to people who believed their activities were lawful. First introduced in January 2003 by the EU Commission, the proposed EU IP Rights Enforcement Directive has undergone a complete re-drafting behind closed doors in so-called informal trilogue meetings chaired by French [...]

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 harmonize Member States existing enforcement laws against large-scale commercial counterfeiting. But through EU back-room deals, the directive’s scope has been extended to any infringement -- including all minor, unintentional, and non-commercial infringements, such as P2P file-sharing.  The directive creates powerful new enforcement tools that will be used against average European consumers for engaging in non-commercial or accidental infringements. For example, recording industry executives will be able to raid and ransack the homes of P2P file-sharers and freeze an alleged infringer's bank account without any hearing under the directive's Anton Pillar Orders and Mareva Injunctions.  Most consumers would not have a problem with this directive if it targeted its "nuclear weapons" of enforcement tools against commercial counterfeiters. But a [...]