The European Commission (EC) has said it will give more details about how the procedures for taking down and blocking access to illegal content should be explained. The EC is planning to launch a 'targeted public consultation' before the end of the year so it can determine how procedures can be further developed.
During an earlier consultation, in 2010, the EC received many complaints that no attention was paid to the interests of businesses and consumers and their legal uncertainty was ignored because the rules on the notice and takedown period were not clear resulting in unlawful content remaining online too long. In a statement, the EC said 'the Commission will analyse how notice-and-action procedures can work in a way to best address these concerns'.
Under the EU E-Commerce Directive internet service providers (ISPs) and website hosts are generally not liable for copyright infringing material, although the UK High Court ordered the British ISP BT in October 2011 to block its customers' access to the Newzbin2 website.
Michiel Willems © 2012 CP Publishing Ltd. London, UK.
