Another blow for "three strikes" and music industry internet filtering

Significant developments at European level, where the European Parliament's report Security and Fundamental Freedoms on the Internet has rejected arguments for the filtering of p2p networks or disconnection of users alleged to have shared music. As summarised by the Irish Times:

The report on security and fundamental freedom on the internet said the penalties imposed should be "proportionate to the infringements committed" and rejected "systematic monitoring and surveillance” of all users’ online activities. It also warned against "certain excessive access restrictions placed by intellectual property holders themselves".

This echoes action by the Council of Europe which in July 2008 adopted Human Rights Guidelines for Internet Service Providers. Those guidelines took a similar approach - rejecting blanket monitoring of traffic and stating that:

Cutting access to individual customer accounts constitutes a restriction on your customer’s rights to access the benefits from the information society and to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and information. Cutting access should only be done for law enforcement or other legitimate and strictly necessary reasons.

Of course, neither document is itself directly enforceable in Irish law - but both may have a persuasive effect if the issues of filtering and disconnection of users return to the High Court.