EU states, lawmakers on Internet collision course

European Union states are headed for a collision course with the bloc's parliament as a spat over how to tackle illegal downloads threatened a wider telecom reform. There is broad agreement over the reform package, authored by EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding, but a last-minute standoff between member countries and parliament has put back final adoption to May at the earliest. The battle over copyright abuse has emerged as a final sticking point between EU states and the European Parliament, which have joint say. The issue was not part of Reding's reform, which covers infrastructure rather than content. To help crack down on illegal downloading or sharing of copyright material, the two sides agree that an Internet service provider should be able to cut a subscriber's access if there is approval from "a competent legal authority."