Confusion reigns over the impact of the Telecom Package's Amendment 138 which was designed to force a measure of judicial oversight on national governments' '3 Strikes and you're out' regimes (if they introduce them). But one thing is clear: judicial oversight or not, 3 Strikes is unlikely to work. By Ian Scales and Gerd Leonhard.
What are we to make of Amendment 138 of the Telcoms Package? One day it's being promoted as a buttress to protect the European Internet and the rights of its citizens as we know them, the next it's been gutted to allow governments to enact legislation that would allow for non-judicial disconnections.... and the next it's back to the happy buttress phase again, all with the change of a few words. I suspect those on both sides are starting to lose sight of their original objectives.
At least in France, Sarkozy is fairly straight-forward about his intentions and is bullish about disconnecting offenders.
In the UK a much more subtle game is being played. It appears there will be "3 Strikes and you're not out, but we'll let you know that we're quite cross with you". This is the idea of 3 Strikes as an option of last resort and it suggests that the thinkers - both in government and in the music industry - want to change the mindset around downloading without having to get nasty and appear in the headlines.
So 3 Strikes is to be put into place to set a new tone without actually being used except against really 'bad' offenders, a little like the old nuclear deterrent (please suggest a musical equivalent to 'mutually assured destruction').
Still, the discussion continues. And it certainly did at the digital music session at yesterday's Telco 2.0 Executive Brainstorm in London See www.telco2.net/event.
It turned out that most of the audience (75 per cent) believed that the '3 strikes' option (to disconnect Internet users who download illegal music files) would not work.
» This story continues on page 2. Please click here to read
please sign in to rate this article
45711