On Wed, Jul 13, 2005 at 02:34:46PM +0100 or so it is rumoured hereabouts, David O'Callaghan thought:
To bring this more specifically back to Free Software, what bad effects could this have for us? I suppose the main threat is to free software that works around dodgy DRM schemes in order to make use of media on unsupported platforms, which could be used for copyright infringement. What are the other threats to Free Software from this directive?
I'm not sure if this bit is up for discussion at present but, IIRC, the directive allowed for "Anton Pillar" orders where accusation of infringement would allow a plaintiff to seize the accused party's "production" equipment. For a FS author, accusation of copyright infringement could lead to seizure of all of their and their family's computer equipment whether it's relevant or not. Therefore, the next threat to FS is probably in the harrassment value...
Conor