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UK Prepares Own Version of the DMCA

Posted by michael on from the bow-to-the-inevitable dept.

philkerr writes "I've just been informed by the UK Patent Office, below, that the EUCD (European Union Copyright Directive, the equivalent EU legislation to the DMCA) consultation paper has been released. It's important that we give feedback to the UK government that this legislation will have a chilling effect on the software industry." NTK has a few choice words on the subject as well. We've done several articles on the EUCD before, and Alan Cox has been campaigning against it, but it appears that the fix is in: Europe is going to get DMCA-like laws implemented in each nation by the end of 2002.

2 of 225 comments (clear)

  1. Re:chilling effect? by DoctorFrog · · Score: 5, Informative
    I'm waiting for the chilling effect. So far I've kept nice and cosy with the DMCA around.

    I'll take the bait...

    When a graduate student is afraid to present a paper, I shiver. The fact that MicroSoft, for whatever reason, chose not to actively oppose the paper is good, but the fact that the college was worried to that extent was a perfect example of chilling effect.

    There was also Bruce Perens having to withdraw a demonstration because HP was afraid of the repercussions. That's free speech which was curtailed by the chilling effect of the DMCA.

    There are more, but that should be enough to show that a chilling effect exists.

  2. WTO + WIPO = DMCA by Khalid · · Score: 5, Informative

    DMCA is alas just the implementation in local laws of the WIPO recommandations. So it's just a matter of time until all the countries that have adhered to WTO (i.e nearly all) implement similar law. Have a look at this intersting FAQ http://anti-dmca.org/faq.html