EU passes Anti-Piracy Directive

The European Parliament passed the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive by a vote of 330-151. The legislation provides for broad protections of a variety of intellectual property rights in order to prevent piracy and “misleading or parasitic copying.” The final version of the bill does not include criminal penalties for infringers, but provides for civil and administrative sanctions. Any penalty must be “effective, proportionate and deterrent, and take account of the intentional or unintentional character of the infringement.”
BBC News: EU backs tighter rules on piracy: “Before the vote, critics said the law was flawed as it applied the same penalties to both professional counterfeiters and consumers. But a late amendment limited them to organised counterfeiters and not people downloading music at home.”
Internaional Herald Tribune: EU backs deal on copyright piracy: “After a year of intense lobbying, both critics and supporters of the anticounterfeiting measures were disappointed by the compromise approved by the European Parliament.”