Parliament poo-poos privacy; pursues passage of pants package

The measures (see -  'Draconian copyright enforcement measures to be bulldozed through EU' and 'Swedes protest eavesdropping law as the European Parliament drifts towards ending 'mere conduit' status for ISPs') pave the way for a dirigiste French style of Internet governance where ISPs would be made responsible for policing ultimately unenforceable copyright protections and assisting the private prosecutions of Internet end users.

Essentially, the geniuses in charge of the world's content industries plan to bring mass law suits against their own potential customers and the telecom package paves the way for this brilliant strategy in Europe, along with the possibility of introducing versions of the French '3 Strikes and you're out' law (otherwise known  by the more seductive - and less American-sounding - 'Riposte Graduee'). This would see ISPs eventually disconnecting downloading miscreants from the Internet.