EU to Criminalize Non-commercial Sharing?

Across the pond, two members of the European Parliament have moved to amend the second Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive (IPRED2) in order to criminalize even small-scale, non-commercial use of protected intellectual property. French MEPs Nicole Fontaine and Janelly Fourtou simply want to strike the language specifying that criminal penalties only apply for infringement of IP rights “on a commercial scale.”

In a summary on the P2P Blog, heise.de goes on to report that the proposed amendments would also double potential minimum penalties up to EU600,000 in one case, and would make it criminal to even bring home a pirated DVD from a vacation outside the EU. Currently, citizens in EU member states face only civil penalties for small-scale, non-commercial infringement.

Fourtou, spouse of a former Vivendi CEO, is a controversial figure online owing to her advocacy on behalf of software patents. A vote on tabling the amendments is due on January 19th or 20th in Brussels.