• Dutch Parliament: Downloading Movies and Music Will Stay Legal
    106 replies, posted
[release][b]In an attempt to reduce widespread piracy in the Netherlands, the government there recently introduced a plan that would make downloading movies and music unlawful. However, this proposal was binned yesterday by a motion from the Dutch parliament due to concerns it would restrict the free flow of information, invade the privacy of citizens and invite copyright trolls. Instead, they encourage the entertainment industry to focus their attention on providing authorized alternatives.[/b] As in many other countries around the world, downloading music and movies is hugely popular in the Netherlands. A massive 30% of the population is said to do so. Presently, the Dutch see downloading movies and music for personal use as “fair use” and not punishable by law. However, the current government is trying to find a solution to the ever-increasing piracy problem and has proposed a new bill to make it unlawful. The topic has resulted in a heated political debate over the past several months, and yesterday opponents of the bill won the first battle as the Dutch parliament adopted a motion to keep downloading movies and music for personal use legal. [b]One of the main concerns of the parliament is that a download ban would go against the free and open Internet, as it restrict the free flow of information. The motion further states that enforcing such a ban via monitoring would invade the privacy of Internet users. In addition, the parliament is worried that should downloading become unlawful, copyright holders will go after individual downloaders in court. This might result in a similar situation currently seen in countries like the United States and Germany, where hundreds of thousands of Internet subscribers are being sued by copyright trolls out to make a quick buck. Instead of a download ban, the parliament suggests that the entertainment industry should focus more on offering authorized alternatives. At the moment, it is practically impossible to download high quality copies of recent movies and TV-shows via legal channels in the Netherlands.[/b] The stance of the Dutch parliament is in line with an authoritative report commissioned by the government in 2009. In the report it was estimated that file-sharing has an overall positive effect on the Dutch economy. While it was recognized that the entertainment industry suffers some losses, these don’t outweigh the positive effects of file-sharing. This report also motivated the Swiss government to keep downloading of music and movies totally legal a few weeks ago. While the adopted motion is a win for the parties who want to keep downloading for personal use legal, State Secretary for Security and Justice Fred Teeven has already announced that he plans to bring the plan back in an altered form. Whether that will be able to address the current concerns of parliament is yet to be seen.[/release] Source: [url]http://torrentfreak.com/dutch-parliament-downloading-movies-and-music-will-stay-legal-111224/[/url] And that is how it's done.
Holy shit. I can't say I've ever heard anything bad from the Dutch/Netherlands governments.
Dutch government is best government.
Time to start learning Dutch
Jesus christ, it's like they're saying exactly what we've been trying to tell our government. Noo my automerge
Sure am glad I'm Dutch. :3
Well its easy to see who the real progressive countries are...
[b]#winning[/b]
For some reason most Dutch politicians seem to have picked up the idea that the internet should always have a free flow of information. I don't know when but it seems like it always has been popular opinion. It's a small country, but many small countries can make a difference, so if other countries start doing this too it's only going to be good. Not just for us, also the media industry.
Huzzah!
brb, moving to the netherlands now.
I'm so proud.
It's a good day to be Dutch.
[QUOTE=Djessey;33889847]It's a good day to be Dutch.[/QUOTE] Exactly.
Holland is the second country in the world that has Net Neutrality [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality#Law_in_The_Netherlands[/url]
[QUOTE=SataniX;33889397]Time to start learning Dutch[/QUOTE] Good luck, you are gonna need it. I am Dutch and I suck at the Dutch language.
If you ain't Dutch you ain't much. Horrible saying though :v:
First you give the world Geert Wilders, one of the greatest trolls in modern politics, and now this. Plus with that artificial mountain, I'd say the Netherlands is pretty much awesome.
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;33889968]First you give the world Geert Wilders, one of the greatest trolls in modern politics, and now this. Plus with that artificial mountain, I'd say the Netherlands is pretty much awesome.[/QUOTE] About the mountain, its going very well :v: They are now collecting the papers required to build the damn thing and people can buy their own piece of the mountain, a lot of people want to fund the project "De berg kan drager worden van de Olympische Spelen in in Nederland in 2028" Olympic Games of 2028 on the dutch mountain, aw yeah
[QUOTE=darth-veger;33890001]About the mountain, its going very well :v: They are now collecting the papers required to build the damn thing and people can buy their own piece of the mountain, a lot of people want to fund the project[/QUOTE]How much would it cost to, say, have a doom fortress on the mountain?
[QUOTE=JumpinJackFlash;33890017]How much would it cost to, say, have a doom fortress on the mountain?[/QUOTE] 3-4 billion euro
[QUOTE=darth-veger;33890042]3-4 billion euro[/QUOTE] That's a great deal, it's the steam sale of doom fortresses!
well done dutch comrades.
Well, I can totally see myself moving to the Netherlands in the future. America is going down the shitter anyway.
[QUOTE=Anti Christ;33889386]Holy shit. I can't say I've ever heard anything bad from the Dutch/Netherlands governments.[/QUOTE] Except for massive corruption
[QUOTE=ChinballzV2;33890777]Except for massive corruption[/QUOTE]Name one country that by your logic isn't corrupt?
[QUOTE=Baldr 2.0;33890882]Dear god we are so corrupt that the corruption index says were are one of the least corrupt country's.[/QUOTE] His retort will be "The people who made that list are also corrupt".
[QUOTE=ChinballzV2;33890777]Except for massive corruption[/QUOTE] [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index[/url] As far as I can tell the Netherlands scored an 8.9 on the corruption chart this year(7th place), which means we're pretty much not corrupt at all. Unless there's somehow some unperceived "massive corruption" going on nobody has any idea of Just because Sweden is 4th doesn't mean every country under it is massively corrupted.
Piracy shouldn't be legal..
Oh yay. (I didn't even know they were trying to make it illegal :v:)
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