TPP : UK Plans to punish copyright theft more harshly then child abuse and rape

by | Apr 24, 2016 | Government, World News | 0 comments

While the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership was released last November, a legal combing of the deal modified some language that resulted in substantially heavier penalties for copyright infringement.

Since the November finalization of the text, parties involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free-trade agreement among twelve Pacific Rim nations, have had their lawyers engaged in a “legal scrub” of the document. Such activities normally never make substantive changes to the document.

However, Jeremy Malcolm at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) caught a change made during the legal scrub in the intellectual property chapter of the agreement that has far-reaching implications for copyright infringement law.

The scrub only changed the world “paragraph” to “subparagraph” in the following:

“With regard to copyright and related rights piracy provided for under paragraph 1, a Party may limit application of this subparagraph to the cases in which there is an impact on the right holder’s ability to exploit the work, performance or phonogram in the market.”

The UK appears to be attempting to take the lead in following TPP guidelines and could impose extremely harsh punishments for online copyright infringement, as the government has confirmed it is pushing for legislation that would increase the maximum sentence for web piracy to 10 years behind bars.

Baroness Lucy Neville-Rolfe, the Minister for Intellectual Property, has confirmed that the British government is leaning toward the idea of increasing the sentence to bring it into line with that for physical infringement.

“Last year the government consulted on increasing the maximum term to 10 years. We received over a thousand responses, which have played a significant part in helping to shape the discussion,” she stated in a document published on Thursday.

“As a result we are now proposing changes that include increasing the maximum sentence, but at the same time addressing concerns about the scope of the offence.”

The government argues that the current maximum sentence of two ears is not enough. “The current disparity has existed for many years and, just as the range of legitimate content services online has grown, so too has there been an increase in infringement of content online,”read the statement.

Neville-Rolfe said stressed, however, that insignificant copyright infringement of web material should not be prosecuted. “Criminal offences should not apply to low level infringement that has a minimal effect or causes minimum harm to copyright owners, in particular where the individuals involved are unaware of the impact of their behavior.”

In December of 2015, the British High Court ordered that 85 websites accused of copyright infringement be blocked.

Source: RT News , RT News

Ceribalius

Ceribalius

Ceribalius is a pseudonym used by one of our writers, he/she is a digtial nomad and dedicated fighter of freedom and liberty. If there is something that needs saying which no one else is, he/she is the one to do it.
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Facebook Outage – Information Blackout Or Technical Catastrophe?

Facebook and its other sister applications, Instagram and WhatsApp, have been down for the best part of the day. It took some time for Facebook...

Pandemic of Propaganda – The Unvaccinated Are NOT Filling Up The Hospitals

"The Unvaccinated are filling up hospitals" and "It's a Pandemic of the Unvaccinated" are comments I'm seeing and hearing every day right now,...

Winter’s Approaching – Are You Scared Yet?

Here in the northern hemisphere the days are beginning to shorten, the mornings are starting to show the first signs that winter is creeping up...

UK Vaccine Passports Abandoned? Not Likely, Flip-Flop Imminent

In recent days, we have been hearing reports that the UK Government will scrap 'Vaccine Passports'. From BBC News just yestrday: Plans to...

UK To Go Ahead With Vaccinating 12-15 Year Old’s Despite Scientific Concern

As predicted, the UK Government has given the go ahead to vaccinate all healthy 12-15 year olds. Chris Whitty today endorsed plans to vaccinate...

UK Government Preparing For The Largest Flu Vaccine Campaign Ever This Winter

As part of the UK Governments 'blueprint' for dealing with the pandemic this upcoming winter season, it is being hinted that we may see the...

Biden Demands US Businesses Introduce Vaccine Mandates

The Biden administration will demand that US companies force employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 or submit to weekly testing as part of...

UK Government Expected to Vaccinate 12 to 15 Year Olds Despite JCVI Rejection

Earlier this week the UK's scientific watchdog body, the JCVI, recommended that the COVID vaccinations should not be rolled out for 12 -...

More Vaccine Propaganda From The BBC & Van-Tam

When things are looking down and it looks like maybe things are not going to go your way, what do you? Well, if you are a psychopath you simply...

Two of the Fully ‘Vaccinated Female West Indies Cricket Team’ Collapse

In yet another 'One in a Million' or 'Coincidental' event, two recently vaccinated players of the west indies cricket team have collapsed...

Stay Connected - Subscribe Today

Thank you for subscribing!

Pin It on Pinterest