European Commission VP Neelie Kroes opposes SOPA

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION VP for the Digital Agenda has called the US Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) "bad legislation".

In a message on Twitter Neelie Kroes said that she was glad to see opposition against SOPA growing.

"Glad tide is turning on #SOPA: don't need bad legislation when should be safeguarding benefits of open net", she tweeted. "Speeding is illegal too: but you don't put speed bumps on the motorway #SOPA".

Kroes' comments come at the end of a very big week for the SOPA legislation in the US, one in which internet industry and public opposition mounted to the point that it could not be ignored.

Hours before calling SOPA "bad legislation" she hinted at her position, saying, "there is no #EU version of #SOPA. Internet reg must be effective, proportionate, preserve benefits of open net."

In November last year Kroes said that copyright laws were too strict and had moved away from the artists that they were supposed to support.

"We need to go back to basics and put the artist at the centre, not only of copyright law, but of our whole policy on culture and growth. In times of change, we need creativity, out-of-the-box thinking: creative art to overcome this difficult period and creative business models to monetise the art," she said.

"The life of an artist is tough: the crisis has made it tougher. Let's get back to basics, and deliver a system of recognition and reward that puts artists and creators at its heart." µ