Until Bif blogged about IPRED2 I hadn’t heard a PEEP about the Second Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive.

The European Parliament are voting on the 24th of April, which is damn soon, and according to copycrime.eu there are some major issues with the directive.

Have a look at their site, and sign the petition to amend the directive.

Below are some excerpts from the site:

PRED2’s backers say these copycrimes are meant only for professional criminals selling fake merchandise. But Europe already has laws against these fraudsters. With many terms in IPRED2 left unclear or completeley undefined - including “commercial scale” and “incitement” - IPRED2 will expand police authority and make suspects out of legitimate consumers and businesses, slowing innovation and limiting your digital rights. [...]

IPRED2’s new crime of “aiding, abetting and inciting” infringement again takes aim at innovators, including open source coders, media-sharing sites like YouTube, and ISPs that refuse to block P2P services. [...]

Criminal law needs to be clear to be fair. While IPRED2 says that only “commercial scale” infringement will be punished, the directive doesn’t define “commercial scale” or “incitement.” Even IP lawyers can’t agree on what are “private” and “personal” uses of copyrighted works. One step over that fuzzy line, however, and anyone could be threatened with punishments intended for professional counterfeiters and organized criminals.