Governments Blamed For Piracy

Content providers and governments are failing to offer European consumers legal channels to download music while punishing them for illegal file-sharing, according to European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes.

Speaking in a recent video conference with EU Telecoms and Information Society Ministers, Kroes said the failure of governments and content producers to agree on common standards and platforms across Europe was directly contributing to illegal file-sharing.

The EC has already said the lack of a single digital market in Europe is boosting illegal file-sharing in the region, as in some countries there are few legal options for downloading content.

The waters are further muddied by EU member states taking their own unilateral actions against illegal file-sharers, seemingly making it harder to establish a pan-European agreement.

An Irish court has just told broadband provider Eircom to proceed with cutting off Internet access to illegal music downloaders. It’s a judgment that may be questioned by other ISPs.

The UK has just passed a digital economy bill that includes cutting the Internet connections of illegal file-sharers, although the wording of the new law is also likely to attract challenges from ISPs and human rights groups.

Kroes pointed to the much larger size of the legal download market in the U.S. as a sign that the EU was behind when it comes to creating legal platforms for users to download music.

“While the Internet is borderless, Europe’s online markets are not,” she said. “It is often easier to buy something from a U.S. website than from the next-door country in Europe. Often you cannot buy it at all within Europe.”