Jeremie sez,
A resolution of the European Parliament calling for more repression of file sharing will be voted upon on Wednesday. European conservatives, led by a pro-Sarkozy rapporteur and helped by a diversion from the liberal group, are pushing for the adoption of the Gallo report [ed: an EU "initiative report" that recommends a whole bunch of brutal private copyright laws to be set and enforced by industry, not goverment]. If they succeed, private copyright policing the Net will become the official position of the European Parliament. Our fundamental freedoms are at stake. In just 5 minutes, you can help the European Parliament reject it.
If adopted, the Gallo report will open the door for new European Commission legislation imposing criminal sanctions for copyright infringement [ed: that is, jail time for downloading]. It will also open the door to private Internet copyright police through wihcih ISPs and entertainment companies could bypass due process, deciding between themselves what an infringement is and how to sanction it. Hidden behind the benign name of "cooperation" between rightholders and ISPs, what lies ahead in the Gallo report is de facto censorship, automatic sanctions, and a generalized surveillance of the Net.
All EU citizens are invited to contact all Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and advise them to reject the original Gallo report (as well as the very similar alternative resolution by the ALDE group). Instead, they should be advised to adopt the alternative resolution by the S&D, Greens and other Members, much more balanced and open-ended, calling for alternatives to repression.
Deadly Copyright Repression Threatens EU. Act Now!
(Thanks, Jeremie!)
