Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-13-Speech-2-124"
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"en.20010213.6.2-124"2
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"Mr President, first of all I would like to thank the honourable Members from the various groups for supplying the 32 signatures which allowed me to submit a number of amendments in Parliament. I am absolutely convinced that we must endeavour, on a couple of points, to revert back to Parliament’s opinion from the first reading, which we adopted exactly two years ago by a very large majority. It is mainly to do with tightening up on private copying, establishing clear regulations for the on-line storage of data so that the responsibility of Internet providers is better defined in line with the e-commerce directive, and the possibility of Member States being able to introduce technological protection measures without disrupting the internal market.
Why am I defending this opinion? First and foremost for reasons of principle. Is there anything more important than protecting private property? Is there anything more personal than the product of human talent, the creation of something which rejuvenates. The European Parliament has always been the guardian of Europe’s cultural heritage and that is how it must stay, also in the digital age. If we do not put a brake on indiscriminate copying, there will soon be nothing left to copy. After all, if we fail to provide protection, people will lose the incentive to be creative and produce new works of art.
But there is more to this debate than principles. Copying will also cost jobs. According to current estimates, one hundred thousand jobs have been lost in the European Union owing to the copying of CDs. The State loses out on income too. Apparently, the State of Belgium alone, which I know very well, misses out on one billion Belgian Francs in VAT as a result of this practice, and the same goes for all government coffers. We must be in no doubt about what it is we are risking. I would like to echo Mr Rothley’s sentiments. So all in all, I think there is good reason to support the amendments which I tabled, together with many of my fellow delegates, for which I would like to thank you in advance."@en1
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