Criminalizing File-Sharing – Not an Option for Europe

Much to a great anticipation the European Parliament did not approve the proposals to impose criminal penalty for file- sharing by private individuals, and dismissed the idea of banning copyright violators from the Internet, in a plenary vote Thursday.

According to PC World the battle was pretty tight as 314 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) supported with their vote an amendment to reject what is regarded by many as exceedingly harsh and overprotective measures on behalf of copyright owners over the internet, and 297 MEPs voted against this amendment.

It seems that what is attempted through this amendment is the establishment of real well defined boundaries to protect both consumers and copyright owners. A comment in this respect came from Malene Folke Chaucheprat, a European Parliament spokeswoman after the voting ended : "The vote shows that MEPs want to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers, and that big measures like cutting off Internet access shouldn't be used."