The American law that should prevent and punish digital piracy the DCMA has it's equivalent in the European Copyright Directive, the EUCD. But with currently only two members (Greece and Denmark) of the European Union having adopted the directive, the Europe Union is dealing a huge blow to media and software companies.
The industry lobbyists have not convinced politicians that technological stop-gaps such as rights management tools, which would ensure a copyright holder is compensated each time his song is downloaded onto a mobile phone or a computer hard drive, would work or are necessary. |
Other actors in the private sector, such as Internet service providers, have weighed in heavily on the issue, opposing laws that could ultimately hurt consumer rights. The United Kingdom's Patent Office issued a statement on its Web site saying it was still considering a variety of view points on the matter and would endeavor to implement the directive by March 31, 2003.
Unfortunately this does not mean every seperate country in the EU will have laws that are less strict. In theory countries could even introduce stricter laws in their country. Read the entire story here
Source: MSNBC.com
