Illegal file transfers - Us laws move to europe

[Arioch]

I,ve opened this this topic to continue the one in
General Discussions/Did she do it

Web music crackdown

INTERNET users who downlosd music Illegally face having
their computers seized and bank accounts frozen under a
new Crackdown on piracy.
They could also have their details passed to record
Companies if the measures are approved by the
European Union.
The legislation, bitterly opposed by privacy and Civil liberty
campaigners, is based on US laws which have led to children
as young as 12 being sued.
It was originally intended to target big-time music and film
pirates and organised criminals but was rewritten to target
individuals.
Up to 5million computer users in Britain download music from
the Net and and up to 30million songs will be taken from legal
sites this year.
However, there are hundreds of unofficial sites, such as
Kazaa, which alone boasts more than 17million users across
the US and Europe.
If the EU Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive is
agreed, anyone visiting illegal file sharing sites could be
raided by police.
Critics say the legislasion was hijacked by the record
industry – it was put forward by French MEP Janelly Fourtou,
wife of the head of Vivendi Universal, which owns several
record labels.

Under this Law, your Home is not quite your Castle anymore.

[Street_Rat]

If the law is comming into effect over there, then it wont take long for it to come down here either.