The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has withdrawn its plan to bar local Internet users from accessing foreign Web sites suspected of copyright infringement.
The office yesterday told a press conference that it decided to scrap the plan after receiving widespread criticism from netizens over the past two weeks.
“Feedback on the IPO’s plan tells us that the public worries the government might use its power to infringe citizens’ rights to free speech,” IPO director-general Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said.
“To reduce Internet users’ serious concerns, the IPO will stop promoting its plan. The IPO never intended to cause the public to worry about their freedom of speech, but aimed to help protect local creative industries,” Wang added.
Last month, the office announced it was considering amending the Copyright Act (著作權法) to demand that Internet service providers block users’ access to Web sites that contain illegally downloaded or uploaded content.
At that time, the office said the purpose of its planned move was to help protect artists’ copyrights.
The government’s plan was similar to the US’ proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in seeking to block file-sharing Web sites.
However, SOPA would authorize US courts to decide which Web site should be blocked, while the IPO’s plan, if implemented, would allow the office to host an inter-agency meeting to make such a judgement, the non-profit Wikimedia Taiwan said last week, voicing strong opposition to the plan.
Yesterday, Wang said the government’s judicial departments would still be in charge of identifying whether specific sites have infringed artists’ copyrights.
To protect artists’ copyright more effectively, the IPO said it would come up with solutions with judicial departments in the future.
A netizen yesterday said the the government should have realized the policy went against the Constitution.
“If the IPO’s amendment received approval by the legislature, the government would find new excuses to block more Web sites,” National University of Tainan student Chang Yu-hao (張宇豪) said on Facebook.
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