Commissioner points to 'graduated response' to illegal file sharing
Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding has described the 'graduated response' to illegal file sharing and downloading advocated by a number of Member States as 'a major step forward'. The Commissioner was addressing an informal meeting of ministers for audiovisual policy in Cannes on 16 May, focusing in particular on the impact of the information society on the European film industry. Ms Reding said the opportunities for people to access films online are set to increase dramatically, and that Europe must take the opportunity to exploit new markets and offer more choice to the general public. However, she stressed that: 'Intellectual property rights represent the economic heart of the audiovisual industry as a creative activity [and play] a vital role for fostering investment, growth, job creation and cultural diversity in the European Union.' The advent of film online presents opportunities both for the film industry, in terms of access to new international and niche markets, as well as Internet service providers, for whom high quality content will drive broadband adoption. However, warned Ms Reding, successful business models cannot be built on a 'free-rider' system of illegal downloading and file sharing. 'Rights holders must receive an equitable share of the revenue,' argued the Commissioner. 'As high quality content cannot exist without such remuneration, a business model built on a free-rider system is in fact a house of cards. Moreover, illegal uploading and downloading takes up enormous amounts of bandwidth, which puts a lot of strain on the 'backbone' of the Internet.' In the fight against this type of piracy, the Commissioner welcomed the so-called graduated response being introduced in certain Member States and called for an exchange of best practices in combating piracy. The graduated response can entail the following steps: (1) Internet service providers (ISPs) send an e-mail to their clients telling them to stop sharing files illegally; (2) ISPs send a registered letter to their clients telling them to stop; (3) ISPs cut the bandwidth of their clients; (4) ISPs suspend or terminate the contract. Ms Reding also called for educational programmes on the value and importance of intellectual property rights for the availability of content. 'Explaining why something is wrong is often more effective than telling people not to do something. In particular, the accent should be put on the fact that peer-to-peer networks involve not only downloading, but also uploading of pirated works,' she said. In conclusion, Ms Reding stressed that: 'There is an urgent need for a meaningful dialogue between the film industry and the service providers to ensure that online distribution takes place through legal supply. There may be a disastrous loss in revenue if the market is inundated with unauthorised file sharing of films, as has been observed with music.' Ms Reding finished by promising that the Commission will investigate the possibilities of designing funding mechanisms for online distribution, for instance through the MEDIA 2007 programme, as well as for encouraging the digitisation of new audiovisual works for online distribution.