BSA Supports Europe's 'Three Strikes' Internet Rule

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

05 May 2009

As the European Parliament geared up for a final vote on the Telecoms Package, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) said two aspects of the proposed legislation require further refinement.

One provision would change the treatment of repeat copyright infringers, while another would render Internet “cookies” unworkable and create significant inconvenience for consumers.

The so-called ‘three strikes’ response to online piracy (Amendment 46) is a tool proposed to counter piracy on the Internet by monitoring Internet uploads and downloads, identifying alleged copyright infringements and establishing a graduated response.

Alleged pirates would be warned two times before their Internet access is cut off. This process would require the involvement of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Regarding the three strikes response, Francisco Mingorance, BSA Senior EU Policy Director, said:

“Piracy over the Internet is a serious problem that needs attention. We support the European Parliament’s goal of establishing procedures to deal with people who deliberately and repeatedly engage in piracy. The implementation of any such provisions should be based on a full and fair process that enables all parties to be heard by an impartial judicial authority, rather than leaving it to ISPs or to an administrative body to decide. This is necessary both to ensure that pirates are punished and citizens’ rights are respected.”

The BSA is in support of the principle that enforcement measures – including the disclosure of the identities of serious copyright infringers – should require a court order from the responsible judicial authorities.

Some Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have also proposed new provisions regarding Internet “cookies” that would require users to be notified before any “cookies” are stored on their computers.

“Cookies” make Internet browsing easier by allowing a server to recall any customized information you have set. For example, storing your language preferences for a website or facilitating the access to your customer information. They are essential technological tools to deliver online services efficiently and effectively to consumers and should not be confused with malicious software or ‘malware’ prohibited by the EU Framework Decision on Illegal Attacks against Information Systems and national legislations.

The BSA supports the basic objective of ensuring that users are fully informed. However, the provisions being currently proposed could fail in accomplishing this objective. By requiring excessive over-notification of Internet users, the proposal would more likely than not cause users to simply ignore the notices.

Mingorance commented:

“There are two aspects that need consideration. First, some users will face a barrage of pop-up windows to accept “cookies”, which isn’t user-friendly and is likely to be ignored, defeating the purpose. Second, because implementation will depend on Member States, Europe could get a patchwork of Internet “cookie” policies which will make the provision of cross-border online services unworkable, be a significant burden for providers, and skew the internal market.”

For this reason, the BSA is urging the responsible MEPs to oppose changes to the provision on Internet “cookies” and to take up this issue as part of the forthcoming review of the General European Data Protection Directive later this year.

“Changing a system that has been working extremely well for more than seven years will require time to fully understand the impacts. It is unfortunate that this issue is being rushed by some due to the pressing European Parliament elections in early June,” Mingorance concluded.

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