GrassrootsEffort in Finland Defeats EUCD's Broad Bans

   Helsinki --  Civil liberties groups including ElectronicFrontier Finland (EFFI) have been successful in temporarily defeatingthe European Union CopyrightDirective (EUCD)'s implementation in Finland that would have outlawedeven more legitimate consumer circumvention of digital media than the DigitalMillennium Copyright Act forbids in the US.   Copyrightedworks are increasingly distributed with technological restrictions thatprevent even its owners from using the media in lawful ways, like readingan eBook on another computer or fast-forwarding past commercials on DVDs. The EUCD makes it illegal for Europeans to circumvent those controls ontheir own property.

"Unfortunately,the EUCD obligates 15 European nations to pass DMCA-like circumventionbans, giving US media giants enormous control over what Europeans can dowith their movies, CDs, and eBooks," said Robin Gross, Executive Directorfor IP Justice .  "But, togetherwith the recent acquittal of Norwegian teen Jon Johansen for creating softwareto watch his DVDs on his Linux computer, today's EUCD defeat in Finlanddemonstrates that Europeans can resist Hollywood's power grab with digitalmedia."  IP Justice is a civil liberties organization that promotesbalanced global intellectual property law and protects freedom of expressionin a digital world.

The Finish proposalcarried a 2-year jail term for circumventing technological controls, oftennecessary to play "stero-only" CDs on personal computers or bypass DVDregion code restrictions.  Heavy public criticism against the proposalconvinced the committee chair considering the legislation that it was toooverreaching in its prohibitions of legitimate consumer activity, sendingit back to its drafters indefinitely.

Mikko Välimäki,EFFI's Chairman, who spearheaded much public opposition in Finland concluded,"today I got the feeling we can really make a difference if we just wantto."

See EFFI pressrelease for more information on Finish proposal's defeat at:
http://www.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/pressrelease-2003-01-31.html

Also related: IP Justice Statement to German Judicial Committee on EUCD:
"CircumventionProhibitions Reconsidered: Why America's Mistake is Europe's Future"
By Robin D. Gross -  Jan. 29, 2003, available at  http://www.ipjustice.org/eucd012903.shtml

To contact EFFI:
Mikko Välimäki
Chairman, ElectronicFrontier Finland
 mikko.valimaki@effi.org
+358 50 5980498

Ville Oksanen
Vice Chairman,Electronic Frontier Finland
ville.oksanen@effi.org
+358 40 5368583