Opening up the E-commerce directive on content liability hangs like the sword of Damocles over the European Commission. But is the situation changed by bringing in a new legal instrument?

A leaked draft of the proposed new Notice and Action directive reveals that the European Commission has ruled out the option of opening up the E-commerce directive and instead has chosen to draft this new, specific legislative instrument to address the problem of Internet copyright infringement. Reading between the lines, it would seem that the Commission is gripped by fear of a reprise of ACTA, with high-pressure copyright industry lobbying and countervailing citizen protests. According to the draft directive, seen by Iptegrity, the proposed EU Notice and Action directive aims to address copyright enforcement by

Read more: Notice and action: the EU Commission's Damocles moment

Iptegrity understands that there is a draft directive on notice and action in existence. It will affect anyone providing or using web hosting facililities, search engines and social media. It is currently making its way around the inter-stitial processes in the European Commission. That means it is being passed around for comment to the different units that have an interest in it. From what I understand, the draft directive is

Read more: EU notice & action directive: its on the way

The European Commission is struggling over a move to formalise the process for taking down web content. This is the so-called 'Notice and Action', set out in the review of the IPR Enforcement directive (IPRED). It's a highly controversial measure and post-ACTA the Commission is playing its own internal game of chicken in terms of how to move forward. From what can be ascertained, there is a directive on Notice and Action has been prepared, but internal wrangling is causing it to stall.

Read more: Will the EU Act on Notice and Action?