The European Parliament has voted to approve the controversial Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive by a vote of 330 to 151. While the law was originally drawn up to target professional pirates, criminals and counterfeiters who make copies of goods such as football shirts or CDs, the directive was later expanded to cover any infringement of IP. The directive allows companies to raid homes, seize property and ask courts to freeze bank accounts to protect trademarks or IP they believe are being abused or stolen. below are links to the EU pages and views of European Digital Rights (EDRi), the body representing national privacy and civil rights organisations in Europe, on the Directive and US-based civil liberties organisation IP Justice.
