More Fairness to File Sharers, Says EU

File sharers in Europe could be given some (legal) break.Later this month the European Parliament and Council will decide upon its Telecoms Reform Package. Internet users from all 27 EU states accused of copyright infringement will be granted through this package a "fair and impartial procedure" before having their Internet connection cut off. However, so far, we have no clear definition of the syntagm "fair and impartial".

All Europe's telecoms regulations have been subjected to thorough examination which will result in this amendment.

Monique Goyens, the director general of BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation, was quoted by the BBC News: "It has been long hard battle but at least all sides have acknowledged that fundamental rights of users need to be guaranteed in the digital world."

She further added: "However, these rights will be meaningless if Hadopi-style laws are allowed to be enforced at national level."

For those unfamiliar with the Hadopi law – it equals the ‘three strikes’ rule – illegal file-sharers would first be sent an e-mail warning, then a letter, and, it they don’t stop downloading files, would be disconnected. In France, Hadopi was adopted earlier this year.