In defiance of the major music companies and film industry, the European Parliament has voted against punishing alleged file-sharers by shutting off their internet connection, an idea that has been pushed by both record labels and French President Nicolas Sarkozy over the last year.

An amendment to a report on Europe's Cultural Industries that was narrowly adopted by the parliament on Thursday (10 April) describes such a manoeuvre as disproportionate to the act of downloading a copyrighted music track or film.

Recognising the internet as a "vast platform" for cultural expression and democratic participation, the amendment, proposed by 31-year-old Swedish centre-right MEP Christofer Fjellner and French Socialist MEP Michel Rocard, calls on the European Commission and member states "to avoid adopting measures conflicting with civil liberties and human rights and with the principles of proportionality, effectiveness and dissuasiveness, such as the interruption of internet access."

The International Federation of Phonographic Industries - the music industry's trade association - had heavily lobbied MEPs to adopt the so-called three strikes approach, whereby repeated violators of copyright through the sharing of songs, films, games or software would have their internet connection cut off.