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Belgian ISP Scores Victory In Landmark P2P Case

Posted by timothy on from the you-can't-make-us-do-that dept.

secmartin writes "Belgian ISP Scarlet scored an important victory in the first major European test of copyright law. The interim decision forcing them to block transfers of copyrighted materials via P2P has been reversed, because the judge agreed with Scarlet that the measures the Belgian RIAA proposed to implement proved to be ineffective. A final decision is expected next year."

8 of 76 comments (clear)

  1. Belgian RIAA by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We're going to need a better term than
    "[name of country that is not America] RIAA"
    Since the last "A" stands for America

    I propose RIA* and MPA*
    [/Serious]

    Collectively, they can be referred to as **A*

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
    1. Re:Belgian RIAA by ethana2 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I call them the Music and Film Industry Associations. Simple and to the point. MaFIA.

    2. Re:Belgian RIAA by jnnnnn · · Score: 5, Funny

      Let's just go with ****. After all, every time I hear about them I want to swear.

    3. Re:Belgian RIAA by PlasticArmyMan · · Score: 5, Funny

      We are the RIAA. Lower your firewalls and surrender your harddrives. We will add your bank balance and soul to our own. Your life will adapt to service us. Court cases are futile. Etc. :)

    4. Re:Belgian RIAA by Godji · · Score: 5, Funny

      Barely Original Recordings Group?

  2. So.. by Aerynvala · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If people use public transportation to move 'stolen' goods, does that mean stores should have the right to sue the transit authorities running the bus systems? Because that's pretty much what that case amounts to.

    --
    http://transformativeworks.org/
  3. Re:Belgian RIAA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Think I can solve this with a Twitter analogy:

    Slashdot has an insane user called Twitter, he comes out with a lot of weird shit, just like the RIAA. Then a user called freenix appears and spouts the same weirdness, as do a bunch of other users. They all have different names and UIDs than Twitter but, if it talks like Twitter, if it doesn't post anything other than support for Twitter, it's safe to assume that it is Twitter.

    The same is true of the Belgian RIAA: if it talks like the RIAA and litigates like the RIAA, it's safe to assume that it is the RIAA.

    Think about it, the RIAA is made up of the world's most powerful record labels. They may have registered different names, but they're the same beast underneath. :)

  4. Hi, Belgian here... by Paaskonijn · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm afraid you've been misinformed.

    There's no real victory here. At least, not what we on Slashdot would call a victory. The judgement still stands. The only thing that's been revoked is the penalty of 2500 euro per day the ISP does not actively block illegal downloads on its network.

    The judge explicitly asked Scarlet to keep looking for "a technical solution to suit the decision of the court".

    The final decision (and our last chance at a real victory) is scheduled for October 2009.