This round to the internet service providers then. MEPs in the European Parliament last week voted through an amendment that favoured the ISPs in the big music business debate of the moment - whether or not the net firms should take a more proactive role in policing the file sharing of unlicensed music on the big bad internet.
As much previously reported, the music industry has been increasingly calling on the ISPs to play a bigger role in combating online piracy, perhaps by introducing a three strikes then you're out system, whereby when the music industry alerts an ISP that one of its customers is illegally sharing music, they give that customer two warnings and - if not heeded - cut off the customer's net access.
The internet service providers are generally not keen to take on such a role, with Charles Dunstone, the boss of UK ISP Talk Talk, getting particularly vocal on the matter earlier this month. However, political types in France, the UK and Australia have indicated some sympathies toward the music companies in this domain, with the UK government implying it may force the ISPs to act through legislation if no voluntary agreement can be reached in the next twelve months.
However, despite the possibility of government intervention in France and the UK, the chances of a pan-European solution for the music firms in this matter seem unlikely. First, on a legal level, when a Spanish court recently asked the European courts whether there were any European laws to force ISPs to help record companies target file sharers, the European legal types said no (even when, as in that case, the file sharing had been proven in court). And now, in a European Parliament debate on a review of the cultural industries put forward by French political type Guy Bono, an amendment that specifically removes talk of forcing ISPs to police file sharing has been passed, 314 votes to 297.
A spokesman for the parliament told arstechnica.com that MEPs wanted "to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers, and that [therefore] big measures like cutting off internet access shouldn't be used". And while the European parliamentarians said they recognised "a reform of intellectual property rights is vital for promoting creativity and encouraging the development of cultural works" it added that "criminalizing consumers who are not seeking to make a profit is not the right solution to combat digital piracy".
Needless to say, the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry wasn't too impressed by the amendment, which they described as "badly drafted" and "rushed". The trade body's Exec VP France Moore told reporters: "Many of the recommendations in this report stress the need to protect intellectual property as a driver of growth in the creative sector. The report also calls on the European Commission and member states to provide the necessary resources to ensure that intellectual property is respected and protected. However, one badly drafted, rushed-through amendment was adopted which is in contradiction to the rest of the text. If the aim of the report is to protect creative content, including in the online environment, we should be looking at all options available in the fight against copyright theft. Instead, this amendment suggested discarding certain options before there is even a proper debate".
Of course the European Parliament vote does not stop national governments introducing measures to force ISPs to act on file sharing, it simply reduces the chances of their being pan-European legislative action on the matter.