Last week in the European Parliament...

ZDNet reports that the European Parliament has approved two reports on the cultural industries which cast doubts on combating copyright infringement through cutting off offenders’ internet access.

A visit to the European Parliament’s website doesn’t make things much clearer.

One report calls for greater support for industries such as publishing and the music industry which are threatened by piracy.

In another report, French Socialist Guy Bono notes

“Criminalising consumers who are not seeking to make a profit is not the right solution to combat digital piracy…The central message of this report is to find a balance between the possibility to access cultural events and content while ensuring cultural diversity and genuine income to the right holders,"

Also discussed last week, and of interest to IP lawyers, was a European heritage label for goods, memorials and monuments to combat the “threat” of the globalisation of culture.

The IPKat reckons that rather than this being a contradiction, perhaps the EP is getting this right. There is a need to protect copyright owners, but not in a way that is disproportionate to the interests of the rest of society.