Though anti-privacy advocates and other stakeholders on that side of the aisle in the Netherlands have undoubtedly applauded the country’s ban on illegal downloads, at least one Dutch politician has expressed pessimism towards the approach — even going so far as to suggest that it won’t work as planned, TorrentFreak reports.
“The aim of the download ban is to reduce the amount of unpaid material being downloaded, but experience shows that bans do not help in such cases,” Kees Verhoeven, an elected member of the nation’s Democratic party said.
The ban, which was first put in place on April 10 and affects popular sites like The Pirate Bay, came about when complaints were voiced by manufacturers of hard drives, blank DVDs, CDs, and other storage media. They stated that their wares were too expensive due to surcharges that were added to those products by the Dutch government. These surcharges were then used to compensate copyright holders to offset the losses they suffered as a result of illegal downloads/burned discs.
The European Court of Justice responded to these complaints, and ruled that this approach was illegal. In response, the Dutch government made the blanket decision to ban all illegal downloads.
However, Verhoeven says that he would prefer a more balanced approach to the issue, and hopes to spark a debate regarding the issue of illegal downloads in the country.
“It is important that the legal supply of music, films and series, is both accessible and of a high quality,” Verhoeven said. Speaking for his party, he added “We do not want a ban, but a larger legal offer.”
Verhoeven hopes to discuss the issue with the nation’s Secretary of State next month.
