No criminal sanctions for file swappers in EU vote

The European Parliament Tuesday voted in favor of a watered-down law designed to combat counterfeiting of copyrighted goods such as software and goods and recorded music, and patented inventions.

The version of the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive agreed by the European parliamentarians does away with a controversial proposal to slap criminal sanctions on private individuals who exchange music files over the Internet.

The text will be presented to national governments at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday for their political endorsement. However, this step is unlikely to change anything because the governments already reached agreement with the European Parliament and the European Commission before Tuesday's vote.

Member states will have to transpose the directive into their national statute books within 18 months to two years.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.