This looks like a serious attempt at a balance of rights folks
http://www.p2p-blog.com/item-603.htmlThe German parliament has ratified a new copyright extension aimed at fighting file sharing a few days ago. The law was supposed to make it easier for the entertainment industry to get the identities of file sharers, but it's unclear yet what the real effect on the country's millions of P2P users will be.
Rights holders will now be able to get a simple court order to force ISPs to give up their customers names, similar to what record companies are already doing in the US. Simple acts of infringement will however only result in a 100 Euro fine.
Germany's tough privacy laws and a recent court decision against data retention will also make it hard to get the names of infringers in time, since most ISPs are forced to erase such data within seven days. Finally, rights holders will have to front the costs of these lawsuits, making them much more expensive than previous enforcement actions.
Whilst its too early to celebrate this victory for common sense I think this copyright extension goes a long way towards the smack on the wrist approach infringement deserves.
