EU to Offer Fileshares More Protection From ISPs
The European Parliament is currently considering a Telecoms Reform Package that could result in more protection for those accused of filesharing by their internet service providers.
The BBC reports the new package entitling users in all 27 EU states to be put through a "fair and impartial procedure" before being disconnected for filesharing is a compromise following all night negotiations. Some members of the European Parliament reportedly felt that no one should be cut off until after they had been prosecuted for illegal downloading in a court of law.
Monique Goyens, the director general of BEUC, the European Consumers' Organisation, said it had been a hard fight but she is glad of the outcome. "It has been long hard battle but at least all sides have acknowledged that fundamental rights of users need to be guaranteed in the digital world."
The news follows the passing of a "three strikes" law in France earlier this year. The law gives internet users three chances before disconnecting them. First time offenders are sent a warning via email. They are then sent a later in the post if they continue to download illegally. Finally, if they are caught a third time, their ISP will disconnect them.
The European Parliament is expected to vote on the package at the end of this month.
- eu ,
- filesharing ,
- p2p ,
- bittorrent ,
- europe
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We do not need law
if i caught my wife 3 times on cheating me then i kill her 
POLICE go home we are thr best in this whot is good for us 
So, what if I am downloading something in the morning, go to school, return, and I'm disconnected?
Aren't ISP's only aware of download traffic, not download content?
What if I'm a Linu freak, and download hundreds of Linux programs,apps,and OSes, as well as be on youtube all day? I'd have a large monthly transfer, but does that automatically mean I'm downloading illegal stuff (even if everything downloaded is legal)?
I think you will find that they DO know exactly what you are downloading.
@ ProDigit80. If you are downloading heavily, but legal things you have absolutly nothing to worry about.
What happens is that the big studios set up what is called a honey pot. This is a bogus download setup to catch people. They then packet sniff your line and hey presto they have the time stamp and all the details of the file you are downloading. They then have you red handed and send you an email or letter.
In my eyes any sort of eves dropping should be illegal. After all no one can legaly open your post before it comes through your door so why digital content is any different is beyond me. I had a very interesting conversation with an ISP about this some time ago and they felt that what they were doing was wrong for them to do.
Encrypt everything !!!!
@AIstudio. It is illegal for an ISP to packet sniff your line in the same way that phone companies cant tap your phone. Third party companies setup the honey pots then log the people who connect to them to download it. They then give the list of IPs that connected to the ISPs so that they can find who they belong to and take action. A combination of PeerGuardian and the Tor network should protect against detection.
The title is wrong, the ISPs DON'T want to be the police of the internet and don't want to kick there own users off. If anything its to protect them from unlawful disconnecting being pushed by the anti-piracy lobbyists and the governments who they are funding.
when downloading torrents, its more difficut. since the torrents are piece files, on average 1000+ of them, they cannot identify what each piece is, or what its making. however, for your client to download these pieces, it makes use of something called a tracker. the ISP's can examine your connection to the tracker IP address, and obtain what the final product of the pieces will be. encryption really is the best way to go, however something like ssl is far too CPU and bandwidth intensive for it to be effective. But i seriously think that if sites dont want to follow in the doomed footsteps of piratebay, they need to set up some form of mild encryption, that will keep them, as well as the users safer from the prying eyes of Big Brother
If the big studios paid 'fair' wages (not hyper inflated wages) and didn't waste so much money on marketing they could charge reasonable amounts for their films. Instead they are going after the people they are trying, and failing, to provide a service to.
One day people will realise that file sharing isn't evil and it's just the companies who want you to think it is.