Firms face prosecution over employee downloads

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Businesses across Europe are open to prosecution under new EU legislation if they do not control illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing activity by employees.

Under the new European Union Directive for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property, counterfeiters and pirates will be prosecuted, facing fines and other civil penalties for breaching intellectual property rights. The directive also gives copyright owners the power to seize users’ assets and freeze their bank accounts, regardless of whether there was any financial gain.

Following publication of the directive, employee Internet management software company Websense urged European business to be better prepared against illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing activity in the workplace or face potential prosecution.

Businesses must avoid opening their systems to peer-to-peer abuse, according to Geoff Haggart, Websense European vice president. ‘Faster Internet connections at work and the length of time people spend in the office can tempt employees to download files during working hours, placing enormous responsibility on the shoulders of the company. Ultimately it could have serious legal repercussions for the business,’ he said. ‘Clear Internet access policies for employees need to be drawn up, communicated effectively and enforced throughout the organisation,’ said Haggart.

To enable the filtering of network protocols such as P2P file-sharing, Websense has identified and categorised 225,000 software executable files, allowing management of unauthorised or harmful applications on both desktop and laptop computers.

Global sales of illegal music discs rose four per cent in 2003 and the global average piracy rate increased to a record 35 per cent, according to figures released in late July by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The ratio of illegal to legal CDs sold also continued to increase: in 2000, one in five CDs sold worldwide was a pirate copy; in 2003 the ratio was one in three, and rising, said the organisation.

13/10/04

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