EU to Harmonize Anti-Piracy Laws

Last Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a legislation aiming to harmonize criminal sanctions for the infringement of intellectual property rights in the EU. Those sanctions should apply only to infringements leading to commercial profits, and should exclude piracy committed by private users for personal and non-profit usage. Maximum penalty might reach 300,000€ and 4-years' imprisonment, while for less serious infringements, penalties could include criminal and civil fines associated to 100,000€ financial penalty.
The adopted text is now to be discussed by national government representatives at the European Council before being applied in all national legislations for avoiding the current situation with variable penalties for the same infringement of intellectual property rights (900€ in Greece and 100,000€ in Holland).