The draft Directive, issued by the Commission in January last year, is intended to help intellectual property rights holders in their fight against counterfeiting and piracy.
The draft Directive has been intensely controversial, with copyright owners and big businesses lobbying for the legislation to be as tough as possible, and civil rights groups and smaller firms stressing that strong legislation will restrict innovation and hurt SMEs.
The UK Government is currently consulting on the proposals, but the draft has been amended several times with the final version, issued earlier this month, beefing up the proposals considerably, according to pressure group the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII).
The FFII is concerned that this will result in the harassment of innovative businesses – a concern shared by the US-based Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF).
In an alert issued yesterday the EFF explained that the proposed Directive did not "distinguish between unintentional, non-commercial infringers and for-profit, criminal counterfeiting organizations."
According to the EFF:
"If this Directive is adopted, a person who unwittingly infringes copyright – even if it has no effect on the market – could potentially have her assets seized, bank accounts frozen and home invaded. Don't let these tactics become the latest weapons in intellectual property rights-holders' destructive war on 'piracy.'"
While the EFF accepts that penalties against commercial pirates should be tightened, it is concerned that the broad range and ambiguity of the draft will:
Endanger consumers' privacy and expose them to strident enforcement remedies for unintentional and non-commercial infringement;
Harm free software and open source software distributors, stifling technological innovation, impairing competition and reducing consumer choice; and
Place significant cost burdens on ISPs, network operators and small businesses, which are likely to lead to increased costs for end-users.
Despite similar worries expressed by pressure groups throughout the progress of the draft Directive, the European Parliament's judicial affairs committee (JURI) approved the measure on Monday, paving the way for a full Parliamentary debate on 8th March.
The vote is scheduled for 9th March, and the draft is then scheduled to go before the Council of Ministers on 11th March.