From: Ad 

Rich Gauszka wrote:
> Looks like YouTube is toast in the EU
>

Like I said this is to hurt the big IP companies just as much if not more
than the consumers....my guess is that it's a big stick to get them to
start changing their views.

Adam


> http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/News/Details.aspx?NewsId=20318
>
>  EU directive aiming at harmonising national criminal law was backed by the
> European Parliament when it adopted on Wednesday a first-reading report on
> legislation imposing criminal sanctions for the infringement of intellectual
> property rights.
>
> If ultimately adopted, the directive will oblige all Member States to regard
> any intentional infringement of an intellectual property right carried out
> on a commercial scale as a criminal offence.
>
> The European Parliament decided that criminal sanctions should apply only to
> infringements deliberately carried out to obtain a commercial advantage.
> Piracy committed by private users for personal, non-profit purposes is
> therefore also excluded.
>
> The proposed directive aims to ensure that national judicial authorities
> will always be able to impose sufficiently serious penalties by setting out
> minimum levels for the upper limits on punishments imposed by national law.
>
> At present maximum fines for violating intellectual property rights range
> from œ586 in Greece to œ67,000 in Holland.
>
> Under the new directive, in cases of serious crimes committed by a criminal
> organisation, the maximum penalty must be at least ?300,000 and/or four
> years' imprisonment. The same applies where the offences carry a health or
> safety risk. For less serious infringements, the maximum penalties should
> include criminal and civil fines of at least ?100,000. Aiding or abetting
> and inciting anyone to infringe intellectual property rights will also be
> treated as a criminal offence. In some cases, remedies can include the
> seizure and destruction of counterfeited goods.
>
> This is the first directive using criminal law. The text adopted by the
> Parliament will be sent to the Council for discussion by national
> governments.
>
>

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