Brussels, 23/01/2012 (Agence Europe) - The commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, has spoken out against the anti-piracy bills recently presented to the American Congress, the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and Project IP ACT (PIPA). “Don't need bad legislation when it should be safeguarding benefits of open net (…). The regulation of the Internet must be effective, proportionate and preserve the benefits of an open network. Speeding is illegal too, but you don't put speed bumps on the motorway”, she tweeted on 19 January. The commissioner has also voiced her concern at the dismantling of the upload site Megaupload.com. This unilateral act has global consequences, she said. In her tweets, the commissioner is confirming her stance on online piracy and illegal downloads, which is that repression is just one important way of fighting illegal content but not a magic bullet, and must be accompanied by other measures, such as the creation of accessible, interesting and reasonably-priced legal content. For his part, the commissioner for the Single Market, Michel Barnier, who is preparing to revise the directive on reinforcing intellectual property rights and the end of 2012, has stated in a declaration that “in principle, the theft of property can never be tolerated”. “My main objective is to make sure that new commercial online models are able to emerge in Europe with a solid legal base for suppliers and consumers. We want to allow the creative industries to offer their works over the internet and to protect them from the theft of their creations”, said Barnier. The commissioner stated that the Commission is keeping a very close eye on developments on the protection of intellectual property in the member states, but is also following the debate currently underway at the American Congress.
Additionally, the Parti Pirate, a French party which defends fundamental rights and freedoms, has issued a press release expressing its “astonishment” at the closure of Megaupload, stressing that the company had set in place a procedure to remove links to works covered by copyright. Referring to the SOPA and PIPA bills, the group spoke out against a “repressive leapfrogging around the sharing and diffusion of culture” and pointed out that it defends the creation of a collective management mechanism on the internet. In the opposite corner, Marielle Gallo (EPP, France), welcomed the “unambiguous position of the President of the Republic in defence of artists”, Nicolas Sarkozy having welcomed the demise of the site, and called for the fight between states to stop piracy continue. “The digital world has forced us to rethink our cultural policy”, the MEP stressed. (IL/transl.fl)