States cannot cut off net access over illegal downloads

GOVERNMENTS will not be able to automatically cut off internet access to users who illegally download copyright material under draft new EU legislation just agreed.

This followed a major battle between the European Parliament, which wanted to make access to the internet a fundamental right that could not be denied, and member states that were not so enthusiastic.

Both were subject to some of the most intensive lobbying ever seen in Brussels from the music and film industry and others that want to prevent unpaid for downloads on the internet.