The Bad News: The vote for the amendments passed. We did a good job, but the timescales were just too short.
However, there's a big, big upside.
The Good News: I'll quote from one of my fellow campaigners here:
The good news is that the drafter, Malcolm Harbour, got interviewed by the Beeb, and reiterated that it was not not not the intention of the amendments to lay the foundations for "3 strikes and you're out".
AND - that if the amendments could be so interpreted, were too wide basically, then he'd be happy to accept other amendments making it clear this WASN'T intended to be the case. ie EXCLUDING any claim that this law legitimised 3 strikes in EU law.
He's now on record about this and it should provide an opportunity to sew these loopholes up much tighter.
It's pretty certain that this interview - and Harbour's statement - are a direct result of our work and the work of everyone else who campaigned over the weekend. Even though we didn't stop the vote, we've opened a door to get what we wanted.
The fight's not over. We need to make sure that amendments get added to the bill defanging the offending clauses. Hugh will be talking to legal experts at the Open Rights Group to figure out how we can make sure that happens.
And if something goes wrong, we'll need to fight the package both at the main Parliament (in September) and worst-case, in individual countries as they vote whether to accept the law.
But for now, we can rest easy knowing one major thing - even given 48 hours, no budget, and a main team of six, two of whom are still wearing dressing gowns, it's possible to make a big difference.
Thanks to everyone who wrote to their MEPs and the press. If this thing still doesn't go away, we'll hit 'em again, and harder. We can change things.
On Monday, July 7, 2008, a small group of MEPs within the EU is trying to sneak through a law to clamp down on file-sharing. If it gets passed, you could end up being disconnected from the Net for ever if your ISP decides you've been file-sharing.
You weren't supposed to know about this.
They buried these laws inside a huge package of other telecoms legislation, slipped it out the day before the EU breaks for the summer, and hoped nobody would notice. Most MEPs won't even have a chance to read this legislation before they have to vote on it.
Their stealth tactics could still work, unless we act now.
Right now.
This is the so-called "three strikes" law, proposed by the big media companies. If your ISP decides that your IP address is involved in file-sharing, the most likely process will be that they'll have to send you two warning letters, then on the third strike, they disconnect and blacklist you. Period. No appeal.
Doesn't matter if it was someone else in your household, maybe your flatmate, your kids, or a mate and you never knew about it.
Doesn't matter if your PC was hit by malware, or someone hacked your wi-fi.
Doesn't matter if you weren't actually filesharing illegally, you just tripped some automated system on the ISP's servers because you downloaded a shedload of stuff.
The Net is what holds the modern world together. Cutting people off from it just for sharing a few mp3s or watching Dr Who via torrent instead of iPlayer or PVR is ridiculous. Even if you're not a file-sharer, this law will affect you.
If you want the full gory details, check out the following:
Other campaigners:
If you're a European, email your MEP today. UK nationals can use Write To Them. If you're outside the UK, this site will tell you who your MEP is, and may have a link to their email address or website. Don't bother writing or phoning, that won't get there in time.
A list of the most urgent MEPs to contact can be found here. The architects of this stealth bill are Messrs Harbour and Kamall, two British Conservative MEPs.
Tell your friends, and encourage them to act.
We have less than 48 hours to stop this.
Everyone Hates Stealth is a Strange Company production.