EU wants to create global anti-piracy law

Internet service providers are becoming increasingly concerned they will be responsible to clean up the legal mess when subscribers are accused of downloading and sharing copyrighted music files.

To help combat this continued problem, the European Union (EU) hopes the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea and other countries will sign the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement -- which states that relying on the ISPs could stifle innovation and damage ISP subscriber privacy.

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The agreement, which will be evaluated by the nations next month, would more clearly outline responsibilities for all parties involved.  It will also offer ISPs a bit more support so they have additional options in any possible legal cases.

The United States, England and several other countries are slowly shifting towards making ISPs police their users to prevent piracy.  The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and other copyright groups previously waged a failed war at attempting to stop piracy while raking in revenue by suing file sharers in mass.

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"We want to have the negotiating document released so that rumors can be dispelled," said Luc Pierre Devigne, EU Trade official, in an interview with AP.  "Three strikes is no one's idea, no one has ever proposed that."

France hopes to ban repeat file sharers off the Internet, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy supporting the idea.  The French assembly originally passed the anti-piracy law, but French courts eventually rejected the third-strikes plan.

Repeat UK file sharers will also likely face possible banishment from the Internet, which remained a popular topic during piracy talks held last April.

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