Give an inch…
EUObserver reports the music industry is trying to push the European Parliament extend the scope of EU anti-terror laws, to help them prosecute illegal internet pirates.
A proposed EU directive on data retention, which aims to tackle organised crime and terrorism by monitoring internet and telephone use, could be used to prosecute people who download songs, films and other copyright-protected media, if the entertainment industry gets its way.
The Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA) - representing companies such as Sony BMG, Disney, EMI, IFPI, Universal and MPA - wrote a letter to all MEPs last week, asking them to support amendments that would broaden the scope of the legislation.
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The group wants to see the directive extended to cover all criminal offences, including piracy, and not just “serious” crimes, as the original proposal states.
While the UK government, one of the driving forces behind the data retention proposal, has signalled it is sympathetic to the plan to use the powers for tackling internet piracy, human rights campaigners call it “an example of the mission creep of draconian new anti-terror powers.”
“Even the Bush administration is not proposing such a ludicrous policy, despite lobbying from Hollywood”, Gus Hosein, a senior fellow at Privacy International, told The Guardian.
The data retention rules significantly extend the the power of the state to routinely monitor the activities of its citizens and are dody enough already - so much so that more privacy-conscious nations such as Germany have have already voiced concerns. The proposals are invasive, intrusive and unnecessary - a study published by Rotterdam’s Erasmus University that looked at 65 police investigations found that in ‘virtually all cases’ law enforcement could obtain all the data they requested without a retention policy in place.
The data retention proposals are another case of governments passing laws in order to be seen to be doing something, rather than having a clear idea of what they want to achieve.
They will, of course, be a boon to music industry groups seeking to catch kids on Kazaa, but if that’s all they’re good for then the word ‘disproportionate’ doesn’t begin to describe them.
Tuesday 29 Nov 2005 | Paul | Music, Technology
