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People
attending the Nokia World event check their laptops and
mobile devices in
London October 26, 2011. (Credit: Reuters/Paul Hackett)
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(Reuters) -
Online social networks cannot be forced to block users from downloading songs
illegally, as this would push up their costs and infringe privacy, Europe's
highest court said on Thursday, adding to a worldwide debate on internet
policing.
The
Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) was ruling on a
case involving two Belgian companies: music royalty collecting society SABAM
and online social network Netlog.
SABAM asked
a Belgian court in 2009 to order Netlog to stop its users illegally downloading
songs from the society's portfolio. The Belgian judges sought advice from the
Luxembourg court.
But the ECJ
backed Netlog.
"The
owner of an online social network cannot be obliged to install a general
filtering system, covering all its users, in order to prevent the unlawful use
of musical and audio-visual work," the ECJ said in a statement.
"Such
an injunction would result in a serious infringement of Netlog's freedom to
conduct its business since it would require Netlog to install a complicated,
costly, permanent computer system at its own expense," it said.
Judges also
said forcing companies to install a filter to identify, analyze and process
users' personal information might infringe their privacy and could result in
the blocking of lawful content.
The
obligations of internet-based services to police online piracy have sparked
heated argument recently, as entertainment companies and publishers attempt to
enforce controls.
Last month,
U.S. lawmakers sought to introduce anti-piracy legislation, but backed down
after intense lobbying by internet companies and concerns by the White House.
The technology companies argued that this would infringe on freedom of speech,
internet freedom and be difficult to enforce.
In Europe,
thousands of protesters rallied on the weekend of February 11 and 12 against
ACTA, an international anti-piracy agreement that some European countries have
signed. The protesters fear ACTA might curb their freedom to download movies
and music for free and encourage internet surveillance.
Social
networking sites such as Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Google's YouTube base
their business models on the sharing of users' views and information, as does
Netlog.
SABAM is
one of 24 national collecting societies across the 27-country EU that collect
royalty payments on behalf of authors, singers and performers.
In a
separate case last year, the ECJ dismissed a bid by SABAM to get Scarlet, a
unit of Belgian telecom operator Belgacom, to stop its users from illegal
downloads of songs.
The case the
ECJ pronounced on Thursday is C-360/10, Belgische Vereniging van Auteurs,
Componisten en Uitgevers (SABAM) v Netlog NV.
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