Majority Dutch Parliament against ‘download prohibition’

During the second part of the General Consultation on Secretary of State Teeven’s policy priority letter Copyright 20©20 yesterday, it became clear that a 'download prohibition' will not obtain a majority of votes from the Dutch Parliament. The Parliament does not support a prohibition to download copyright protected content from illegal sources.

Throughout the consultation, Teeven clearly explained what kind of structure his proposed ‘download prohibition’ would have. In his view, downloaders should be divided into three categories: large-scale users, professional users and fanatics. According to Teeven, the first category should not have to worry about any claims, the second category would probably have to be concerned and the third category could be sued. The ‘download prohibition’ focuses on this third category, Teeven explained.

Teeven explained that he would incorporate a target amount of “presumed damages” into the download prohibition, to determine whether a downloaders falls under the first, second or third category and possibly to exclude the first category from liability. This target amount raised a number of questions in the Parliament, such as: what is "presumed damage", how is it measured and who measures it? Teeven could not answer these questions clearly, however he did see a role for ISPs in this system. Nonetheless, it looks like the Parliament votes against a ‘download prohibition’.

Read more about the General Consultation on FutureofCopyright.com:

• Dutch film industry calls on Parliament to vote for ‘download prohibition’
• Illegal downloading: to forbid or not to forbid? That’s the question!
• Dutch government and Parliament disagree on how to update copyright law
• Dutch unions: legalize illegal filesharing, introduce copyright levy on internet

Reference: Webwereld

By: Karen Groen