The European Parliament has today established its position on the EU-US Trade agreement. In the post-ACTA environment,  its stance on copyright is  waivering, as is the issue of transparency in the negotiations. But, unlike ACTA, TTIP is a broadly-scoped agreement, and the copyright industries  are the subject of a quite different controversy – the so-called cultural exception.  Moreover, another telecoms issue appears to have been entirely ignored.

Read more: EU-US trade talks: Parliament TTIP-toes around IPR & culture

But what of intermediary liability? Iptegrity has examined the Lescure report.

The French government, led by the Socialist President Hollande, is to partially reverse the controversial 3-strikes (graduated response)  law and re-modelling it in what government hopes will be a more user-friendly format. France  is also bringing in a range of new measures that are intended appease the copyright industries. Among them is a proposal to tax devices such as smartphones and tablets. Whilst these measures will grab the headlines, there are other proposals lurking beneath the surface that are less clear, for example, the French government’s approach to intermediary iability in this context.

Read more: Hadopi slashed & smartphones taxed in French 3-strikes re-modelling

 The European Commission  has confirmed that is is looking at a  Europe-wide approach to intellectual property enforcement on the Internet. In light of its  ACTA defeat, the Commission  is being deliberately ambiguous as to the nature of the measures under consideration. But could it mean pan-European web blocks?

Read more: EU puts fast-track IPR enforcement on the map