Civil liberties groups are engaging in a last-minute attempt to alter a controversial intellectual-property law that they claim will lead to a flood of frivolous lawsuits against consumers and small businesses.
The Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, which passed through the European Parliament’s judicial affairs committee last month, is scheduled for a parliamentary debate on Monday. The parliament is set to vote on the directive Tuesday, in the last chance for members of the European Parliament to introduce amendments before ministers vote on the directive Thursday. If approved, member states would have two years to incorporate the directive’s provisions into national laws.
The directive is primarily aimed at cracking down on organized piracy and counterfeiting in the EU, which is a growing problem. Critics, however, say the directive’s scope has been broadened to cover not just piracy for commercial purposes, but also involuntary acts or those committed by individuals without commercial intent or impact.
According to U.K. civil rights group the Foundation for Information Policy Research (FIPR), the law would also allow large companies to use draconian legal measures to threaten and harass smaller competitors, for example, by raiding their premises, seizing evidence and freezing bank accounts in highly technical patent infringement cases.
