The proposed EU directive would create new rules on copyright
protection, and would require each EU country to pass laws
criminalising intellectual property infringement. It must be
approved by the Council of Ministers before it takes effect.
In the UK some IP offences are criminal, but only when carried
out on a commercial scale. The new directive would criminalise
offences such as illegal downloading but only when profit is made
from anything that was downloaded.
The directive's main supporter is Italian Socialist MEP Nicola
Zingaretti. "Organised crime is a global activity that does not
recognise borders or customs…We want to make sure that, all over
the EU, pirates and counterfeiters are punished," he said last year
when the Parliament narrowly backed the proposal. "It is about
punishing mafia-style criminals, not about jailing kids who
download music from the internet."
The proposal, though, is likely to face significant opposition
because criminal law has never before been harmonised across EU
states. The fact that the Council of Ministers has not yet
discussed or backed the proposal is taken by some to be an
indication of that reluctance.
Zingaretti, who is in charge of the passage of the proposal in
the Parliament, has used a written question to the Council to try
to make the Council consider the issue.
"Given the need for urgent action by the EU in response to the
increasingly systematic violation of copyright by some internet
users, can the Council provide a time frame for discussion of the
directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on criminal
measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property
rights?" he asked.
The proposal does not include patents, though. There had been
serious worries in the business community that if the proposal had
included patents thousands of patent infringing businesses would
have instantly become criminal organisations.
The proposal has always been controversial and was opposed by UK
Green MEP Jean Lambert, amongst others. When put to a vote in the
Parliament last April it was only passed by 374 votes to 278.
