EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT BACKS CRIMINALISING PIRACY

BY KEITH NUTHALLTHE EUROPEAN Parliament has approved in principle a directive criminalising across the European Union (EU) the counterfeiting and pirating of goods, including tobacco products. MEPs however excluded patent rights abuse from its scope and also decided its minimum criminal punishments should apply only to deliberate and commercial counterfeiting. A parliament spokesman explained: "Piracy committed by private users for personal, non-profit purposes is therefore excluded." Nonetheless, the agreement in principle is a major step towards the directive ...


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