EU Public Affairs Monitor - 09/10/08

Norwegian Consumer Council Wants Special Complaint Board For Copyright Lawsuits 09/10/08
"Earlier this year, we wrote about how the Norwegian Consumer Council, an independent organization financed by the Norwegian government, was telling people not to sign letters the recording industry was demanding ISPs send to users, which would put liability for file sharing on those users without any sort of due process. Now the NCC is back suggesting a special independent committee to handle copyright infringement cases. From what's written, it sounds like it would act as a separate process for copyright holders to bring charges of copyright infringement, that avoids an expensive and overcrowded court systems, while still allowing individuals due process and a guarantee of other basic rights. The NCC proposes that this is a much better solution than, say, cutting off accused file sharers with no due process.

The idea definitely sounds a lot better than what's out there now -- but there could be unintended consequences as well. Here in the US, for example, we set up a special Federal Appeals court for patent lawsuits (CAFC), because of complaints about patent lawsuits clogging up courts where judges knew little about patent law, leading to bad outcomes. However, what happened was that CAFC became dominated by former patent attorneys (if not in numbers, in terms of influence) who significantly shifted the scope of patent law towards patent holders. In setting up a special court or arbitration system to deal with copyright infringement, there's a risk that it, too, could become dominated by interests focused solely on strengthening copyright law. While I definitely think it's a more interesting and productive proposal than most others out there, it's worth wondering if there would be unintended consequences. It still seems like the better long-term solution is for copyright holder to simply start embracing better business models." [TechDirt]

EU Commission: Internal Market - 30/05/08

EU Internal Market Chief: Counterfeiting and Piracy Need Industry-Led Solutions
"The European Commission wants practical, pragmatic suggestions for fighting the “modern-day highway robbery” known as piracy and counterfeiting, Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said at a 13 May commission-sponsored high level conference on the issues.

McCreevy stressed that more regulation is not the answer, and that solutions lie with public-private cooperation. He called on industry to lead the battle against fakes, and on internet service providers (ISPs) to solve the problem of illegal downloads. But he also outlined planned expansion of anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy efforts within the Commission." [IPWatch]

European Commission Proposes Forum On Future Of Copying Levies
"The European Commission has recommended that a forum involving creative artists and the consumer industry should be established to determine the future of private copying levies.

Twenty-one of the European Union’s 27 countries impose oft-criticised surcharges on equipment - ranging from blank cassettes to MP3 players and mobile phones - that may be used for recording or copying images or sound. While such levies are officially designed to compensate musicians or authors for the use of their work, they have attracted much criticism for allegedly being imposed in an arbitrary manner and for hampering cross-border trade within the EU." [IPWatch]