Europe bans internet filter operators to prevent illegal downloads

The Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has ruled today, that it is illegal for a judge to order a telecommunications operator to perform a general supervision of data transmitted on its network to prevent illegal discharges of files protected by
copyright.

The statement said that the establishment of this type of filtering system violates the basic rights of clients, such as data protection or freedom to receive and impart information, and also violates the freedom of enterprise.

The ruling stems from a dispute between Scarlet, an Internet access provider, and Sabam, a management company with a Belgian copyright. In 2004, Sabam reported that Internet users who used the services of Scarlet downloaded without permission and without
paying royalties, works contained in their catalogue through networking peer to peer.

At the request of Sabam, president of the court in Brussels ordered Scarlet to put an end to such violations, preventing any shipment or receipt by customers, through peer to peer files transmissions that reproduces copyrighted works.

Scarlet turned to the Brussels Court of Appeal, arguing that the injunction did not conform to EU law. They pointed to the fact imposed by the ruling that led monitoring communications on their network, which was incompatible with the directive on electronic
commerce and fundamental rights. Belgian judges consulted the case with the EU.

In its ruling the ECJ noted that "the injunction is ordered by a system of filtering involves monitoring, in the interests of copyright holders, all made in electronic communications network Internet access provider affected oversight also is unlimited in
time. " Therefore, "the injunction would involve a substantial breach of freedom of Scarlet company, since it would require to establish a computer system that is complex, costly, permanent and only at their expense," the ruling said.

"On the other hand, the effects of the injunction are not limited to Scarlet, as the filtering system may also violate the fundamental rights of their customers, namely their right to protection of personal data and freedom to receive and impart information,
rights that are protected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union ", highlight the Tribunal.

Furthermore, it "could violate the freedom of information, since it runs the risk that such a system does not distinguish sufficiently between legal and illegal content, so that its place could lead to blocking of lawful content communications."

Therefore, the ruling concludes that the filtering system "does not respect the requirement to ensure a fair balance between, the right of intellectual property and free enterprise, which gives the right to data protection and personal freedom to receive
and impart information."

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Posted by Awais Khan on Nov 29 2011. Filed under Business, Entertainment, Europe, Latest News, Sci-Tech, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry