European parliament abandons internet cut-off struggle

As France finally passes its harsh anti-piracy law and Britain readies its own bill to tackle illegal file-sharing, the European Parliament in a major U-turn has dropped its opposition to cutting internet access to scofflaw downloaders.

Representatives of the house have rowed back from insisting on the maintenance of an amendment to a package of telecoms laws that would have ruled out such manoeuvres.

On Thursday (22 October), representatives of the parliament and the member state...