CyberLaw Blog

Archive for the ‘Dutch’ Category

Dutch Govt to Make Downloading a Crime, Block P2P Sites: “

Fred Teeven, the Secretary for Security and Justice wants to make downloading for personal use a crime, and to allow copyright holders to obtain a court order to force an ISP to block a ’specific website or service’ accused of infringement.

To the dismay of many, the Netherlands, an erstwhile bastion of freedom and inhibition, is now moving to usher in a new era of repressive Internet filtering and copyright crimes.Fred Teeven, the Secretary for Security and Justice, wants to ‘modernize’ the country’s copyright laws to build ‘confidence in the copyright organizations,’ and to ‘enhance the position of authors and performers.’Dutch law currently only outlaws uploading copyrighted material; it’s considered illegal ‘distribution.’ Downloading copyrighted material for personal use is legal, at least for content other than games and software, but the govt wants to add movies and music to the list.In exchange for adding music and movies the govt would eliminate the private copying levy currently added to the price of blank media like CD-Rs and DVD-Rs. It would also make new levies on new technologies, in his words, ‘undesirable.’‘Technology has overtaken the private copying regime,’ he says. ‘ There is therefore no room for the private copying levies. New levies on devices such as MP-3 players, laptops, DVD recorders and USB sticks will Teeven undesirable. The same applies to a tax on Internet subscriptions.‘The govt also wants to address copyright infringement abroad. It says that ‘owners will soon be able to ask a court for an order to block a specific website or service once it is confirmed that they acted unlawfully, and then Dutch access providers will have to block access for their customers to those sites.’He adds that it would only be a measure of ‘last resort,’ and that site administrators and hosting providers would have a chance to dispute the allegations.In a nod that copyright holders are also part of the problem, he says that copyright license reform is also necessary if the govt is to encourage legal alternatives to online infringement.‘New online services now have 27 EU member states to obtain a license,’ he says. ‘Its is a marked contrast to the boundless nature of the Internet and is an obstacle to the provision of legal digital creative services.‘He also calls for an incorporation of a ‘fair-use’ exemption in any legislation to ‘encourage creative reuse of works.‘Dutch anti-P2P group BREIN, which has successfully targeted illegal downloaders and shuttered a number of piracy sites over the years, said it is a ’supporter of the ban’ because it removes one of the last defenses offered by P2P sites and services which had argued they only ‘facilitate the downloading of illegal content [for personal use]‘ which is legal in the Netherlands.Stay tuned.jared@zeropaid.com “

(Via ZeroPaid.com.)

Totally Tolerant, Up to a Point: “For Geert Wilders, a Dutch parliamentarian and film maker, who calls for a ban on the Koran to act as the champion of free speech is a bit rich.”

(Via NYT > Freedom of Speech and Expression.)

Hate Speech Allegations in Holland: Dutch Court to Prosecute Islam Critic: “An Amsterdam court ruled on Wednesday that populist Dutch politician Geert Wilders, an outspoken critic of Islam and maker of the anti-Muslim film ‘Fitna,’ should be prosecuted for hate speech.”

(Via SPIEGEL ONLINE – International.)

BREIN Takes out ‘Largest Illegal Top Site Ever’: “It seems that BREIN, the Dutch anti-piracy organization, is on a roll as it has announced the take down of Sparta. In November of this year, BREIN announced the shut down of a large Top Site named TV Land. BREIN accused TV Land of providing 45 terabytes of copyrighted material, and working in conjunction with the BitTorrent site SceneTorrents.org – an unusual act of cooperation between the scene and BitTorrent.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

BREIN Nukes 75 BitTorrent Sites: “BREIN has apparently taken down no fewer than 75 Dutch based BitTorrent sites, as reported in their press release today. The 72 sites were part of an elaborate hierarchy and made money from preferential treatment related to donations. With BREIN on an enforcement roll in the Netherlands, it’s surprising that any BitTorrent operator would continue operation in such a climate.”

(Via Slyck.com File-Sharing News And Information.)

‘Notice-and-Take-Down’: “Dutch ‘Notice-and-Take-Down’ Code of Conduct issued
Minister for Foreign Trade Heemskerk kicked off the ‘Notice-and-Take-Down’ Code of Conduct in The Hague. The Code sets out how internet companies are to handle reports about illegal websites. Under the terms of the Code of Conduct, illegal websites hosted from the Netherlands will eventually be removed.

‘We have already made substantial progress fighting spam, spyware and malware. These agreements now help us tackle other illegal activities on the internet, including handling stolen goods, discrimination or phishing’, says Mr Heemskerk.

The code of Conduct is based on good practices from businesses, governments and other parties involved in fighting cybercrime. The Code has been drawn up under the flag of the National Infrastructure Cybercrime (Ministry of Economic Affairs) by market parties including KPN, XS4ALL, ISPConnect, Dutch Hosting Provider Association, NLKabel, Ziggo, UPC, CAIW, Zeelandnet and SIDN. Ministries, the police and investigation services and organisations including Marktplaats/eBay and the BREIN foundations collaborated in setting up the code. ‘Affiliated businesses – 85% of all access providers and several hosting providers – hereby send a clear signal that the internet is not to be used for illegal practices. I call upon others to follow their lead’, says Heemskerk.

Those responsible for placing illegal content on the internet are often difficult to trace. As reports about illegal Dutch sites are rarely acted upon, these sites often remain online. The Code sets out the agreements between participants and their specific roles in dealing with reports they receive. In principle, internet users can report any illegal content they come across to those responsible for placing the content on the net. If this is not possible or if they don’t know who to approach, users can report their find to the next party down the chain. This may be the manager of a discussion forum, the company that hosts the relevant website, the service provider or, as a last resort, the police. These other parties in the chain will make every effort to get the information off line. The new Code will become effective today, Thursday October 9th.

According to Heemskerk, the Code is a great example of public-private cooperation. ‘We will follow up later this year with more measures to fight cybercrime. For instance, once passed by the Senate, a ban on sending spam to companies will be introduced from early next year’, he says.

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(Via .)