France Passes Tough New Law Against Internet Piracy

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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France Passes Tough New Law Against Internet Piracy


France is getting tough on file sharing, passing a new "three strikes" law that will give judges the power to cut off internet access and impose other penalties on illegal downloaders.

Under the terms of the new law, people caught illegally downloading files will receive a warning by email on their first offense, followed by a warning sent through registered mail on the second. On the third offense, the user's details will be sent to a judge, who will have the power to cut off internet access and impose hefty fines or even jail terms.

In a bit of an odd twist, it's the third time the French government has attempted to pass a law of this kind. The first attempt was rejected by the French parliament, while the second was passed but ran up against the French high court, which ruled that giving sole discretion to cut off internet access to the agency that will monitor web piracy violated the "fundamental human right" of internet access. The new regulations are expected to take effect by the end of the year.

Unsurprisingly, the law has the backing of the movie and music industries, which claim the theft of copyrighted entertainment is costing them "millions of pounds" every year. Pop singer Carla Bruni, the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, is also said to be a "major backer" of the new legislation.

But not everything thinks it's a good idea. The French Socialist Party called it "repressive" and pointed out that it will do nothing to actually compensate artists for their work, while the newspaper Le Monde said it will create an "internet Big Brother" that will snare more innocent people than real pirates, who have the technical skills to evade detection. Laurent Bedoue, head of the French Magistrates Union, went even further, suggesting that the law would be essentially unenforceable on any kind of meaningful scale because the country's legal system would be "paralyzed" if every suspected pirate was taken to court.

"With an estimated 180,000 cases a year, there is no way each one could be taken to court anyway without the most vast expense," he said. "The government should have seen this coming."

Source: Mail Online [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1213694/Sarkozy-gets-tough-illegal-downloaders-France-passes-new-law-internet-piracy.html]

(photo [http://www.flickr.com/photos/monstershaq2000/2453431917/])


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uppitycracker

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Oct 9, 2008
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ya know, i don't care how many dollars or pounds worth of shit you pirate. you take away internet access from people these days, and you severely impair their ability to function in society. it's really not a fair trade-off.
 

Arassar

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Nov 25, 2008
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Coming next: French water and power companies cut off your utilities! Do anything illegal and you do it in the dark while really thirsty!

I know our legal system has plenty of problems, but at least stuff like this isn't within the purview of some random judge without any kind of due process.
 

Avaholic03

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May 11, 2009
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When did home internet access become a "fundamental human right"? People existed just fine without it 10-20 years ago. It certainly isn't necessary for survival...it's a luxury. If you need to get online that badly, there are internet cafes or libraries.

That being said, I think governments need to focus on something a little more pressing than internet piracy. As far as I'm concerned, it's a victimless crime. How about worrying about education, crime prevention, etc. that will actually have a positive effect. Nothing good can come out of punishing internet piracy.
 

Destal

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uppitycracker said:
ya know, i don't care how many dollars or pounds worth of shit you pirate. you take away internet access from people these days, and you severely impair their ability to function in society. it's really not a fair trade-off.
If you don't pirate, what's the problem?

The internet isn't a right. If you use a car for making a bank robbery, they impound your car. It's the exact same logic when you think about it. They are taking away your means to commit another crime. It's not as big of a scale for sure, but I still wouldn't have a problem with this. It's not like it will affect people who aren't pirating stuff. Plus, you know they won't bother to go after the guy who downloads a song here or there, it's not worth it. They will only go after the people who download lots of stuff.
 

Antzon

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Malygris said:
France Passes Tough New Law Against Internet Piracy

France is getting tough on file sharing, passing a new "three strikes" law that will give judges the power to cut off internet access and impose other penalties on illegal downloaders.

Under the terms of the new law, people caught illegally downloading files will receive a warning by email on their first offense, followed by a warning sent through registered mail on the second. On the third offense, the user's details will be sent to a judge, who will have the power to cut off internet access and impose hefty fines or even jail terms.

In a bit of an odd twist, it's the third time the French government has attempted to pass a law of this kind. The first attempt was rejected by the French parliament, while the second was passed but ran up against the French high court, which ruled that giving sole discretion to cut off internet access to the agency that will monitor web piracy violated the "fundamental human right" of internet access. The new regulations are expected to take effect by the end of the year.


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Some government in the world does this too, its only a matter of time, not really a big deal
 

The_ModeRazor

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The only way they can find out about people pirating, is if they are spying on them.
By using this information, they are admitting that they violate the most basic human rights.
Ah, the irony.
 

VincentX3

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I will pity the French if this really happends to them.

The_ModeRazor said:
The only way they can find out about people pirating, is if they are spying on them.
By using this information, they are admitting that they violate the most basic human rights.
Ah, the irony.
Indeed, I dought this law will really take effect for a long time.
 

Asehujiko

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And how do they determine if you have been pirating things? Say, if you download a music album, would they send the email after you finished loading cover.jpg, start typing the letter when you are done with coverback.jpg and ban you the moment you receive lyrics.txt? Or do you get to take it to court every time to challenge the aquisitions? If this is the first, they might as well dig up Petain and put him in charge again. If this is the second, getting anybody convicted might take a very, very, very long time and if the TPB court case is taken as an example, the pirates win unless the judge is corrupt.
 

bue519

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uppitycracker said:
ya know, i don't care how many dollars or pounds worth of shit you pirate. you take away internet access from people these days, and you severely impair their ability to function in society. it's really not a fair trade-off.
Great points, but also how exactly do you find out whose pirating without severely attacking someone's privacy.
 

hansari

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May 31, 2009
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Avaholic03 said:
When did home internet access become a "fundamental human right"?
Yeah, I got a good laugh when I read that too...

Avaholic03 said:
That being said, I think governments need to focus on something a little more pressing than internet piracy...
You think they would after citing their are only 180,000 some cases every year...I mean thats a big number, but not outrageous. (or maybe I was just expecting a higher number...)
 

Amnestic

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Aug 22, 2008
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hansari said:
Avaholic03 said:
That being said, I think governments need to focus on something a little more pressing than internet piracy...
You think they would after citing their are only 180,000 some cases every year...I mean thats a big number, but not outrageous. (or maybe I was just expecting a higher number...)
It seem big, but the population of France is some 65 million. 180,000 is a drop in the ocean.
 

Bretty

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Jul 15, 2008
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As much as I slate the French, they wont let this pass.

I would just keep watching Sweeden, I think, who passed that IP tracing bill. Thats the way it should be done.
 

ae86gamer

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The_ModeRazor said:
The only way they can find out about people pirating, is if they are spying on them.
By using this information, they are admitting that they violate the most basic human rights.
Ah, the irony.
Thats the first thing that came to my mind. They won't let this pass though. Not because it takes away from peoples rights, but because the expense of taking the individuals to court would be too high.
 

wildpeaks

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Dec 25, 2008
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Worst part of this new version of the law is that if someone hacks your internet connection, you're guilty of not securing your connection.
It's like someone steals your car and you get fined because your car wasn't secure enough, wtf :/

Also, this is a good summary: http://www.vimeo.com/4038324