French 'three strikes' piracy law dealt setback

France's controversial attempt to crack down on Internet piracy was dealt a setback Wednesday when that country's highest legal authority struck down a provision that would have denied Internet access to those who repeatedly download copyrighted material illegally.

The French Constitutional Council rejected a key provision that would have given a newly created government agency the authority to cut off Internet access to those deemed to be copyright scofflaws after two warnings. The council said "free access to public communication services on line" was a human right that only a judge should have the power to disconnect.

The "three strikes" measure, which was approved in May by the French National Assembly with the support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, would have punished digital pirates by suspending Internet service if they were caught illegally sharing copyrighted material. The legislation would have created a new government agency known as HADOPI (the Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Oeuvres et la Protection des droits sur Internet), which would have been tasked with sending notices to illegal file sharers.

Suspected offenders would have received two warnings about their illegal activities and on the third suspected offense, their Internet access would have been disconnected for anywhere from two months to a year. Users would also have been put on a blacklist preventing them from subscribing to another ISP.

Consumer and free speech advocates opposed the legislation, arguing that it would deny accused Internet pirates the right to challenge the government's charges in court. Opponents of the legislation also feared that it would pave the way for governments to violate its citizens' personal privacy rights.

The legislation, considered one of the most aggressive digital antipiracy regulations, proved to be quite controversial in France and throughout the world. As a pre-emptive measure, the European Parliament passed a measure prohibiting EU governments from terminating a user's Internet access without a court order.

The entertainment industry has for years lobbied for more active policing of the Internet, but France is one of the only countries to put together such stringent legislation. Other countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, instead are encouraging partnerships between ISPs and the entertainment industry to fight piracy.

At least one major ISP in the U.S., AT&T, has already agreed to work with the music industry by sending notices to consumers suspected of illegally distributing copyrighted content. And in the U.K., ISPs have agreed to help the entertainment industry fight piracy in lieu of new legislation.

[redmarine]

Oh well, back to the drawing board Entertainment Industry!<br /><br />I can't stop laughing each time these companies try to illegality file sharing. By suing the Pirate Bay they've shot themselves in the foot!<br /><br />There is a moral lesson to be learned here... Don't make things worse.

[contentcreator--2008]

I love it when thieves start lecturing on morality.

[darfjono]

then you must love it when you do it yourself. <br /> <br />industry shill/troll, the MAFIAA steals more than any "pirate" could DREAM to

[redmarine]

I monitor the Entertainment Industry every move as it is essential for my privacy and safety. Personally I don't have anything against the Entertainment industry but I will not tolerate anyone who tries to criminalize my internet behaviour according to a dying industrial model which will soon be rendered useless.

[xpress31]

especially when judge is corrupted, cop is corrupted!

[fredtheviking]

The problem is there are too many thrieves in the internet. People seem to believe that they have right to free content. Even it cost 100 million dollars to produce. Or in of music, it cost a million or so dollars to produce a good album. Soon, all the movies I will have access to, will be nothing more than some cleative flash made by high school students. Or music by a bands of whiny heartbroken teenagers to immature rebels without cause with little talent. But hey at least it will be free. Cheers.

[Sam Papelbon]

a million dollars for an album? maybe if they use 24k gold guitars

[Sausagebiscuit]

"Soon, all the movies I will have access to, will be nothing more than some cleative flash made by high school students. Or music by a bands of whiny heartbroken teenagers to immature rebels without cause with little talent."<br /><br />Some would argue that is what movies and music are like already today. Those darn 'thrieves'.

[shootfirst]

O ya let me guess, it is right for a movie star to demand more money than I will see in my lifetime for one movie. I don't think it is correct for that to happen as many really good movies are low budget with actors trying to prove themselves I for one think if the industry can afford to pay millions to just one member of the cast then it is my right to make them feel the pain for their stupid decisions. This country needs to be more focused on the people that keep it running than some greedy actor. Also if you make prices fair for media, more people will watch them and pay the cost as it will ultimately beat the cost to pirate, however the media has to be DRM free otherwise people will pirate it so they can listen/watch their media on what they choose.

[fmcentire]

God forbid the music industry actually be creative like the artists they leech off and find a way to make money from their music being on the internet, instead of constantly trying to stop it from happening. I think more people steal the music now just because they have a disdain for the record labels, not the artists.

[zincmann]

The bottom line is, the prices for content are out of control, people have gotten wise over the years for the TRUE cost of a product when its produced, the markup that most stores charge as well as online outlets are still unacceptable to the average consumer. What if you buy an album and half the songs suck, who gets left holding the bag? The consumer, what if you buy a $20 DVD and the movie is terrible, again who gets holding the bag? Can you return the media? Oh in most cases no unless its defective, so the MPAA and the RIAA has been ripping consumers off for a long time, and they continue to cry foul?

[Sausagebiscuit]

I know the fact that you can't return opened music, movies, software, etc is the main reason why I rent or obtain using other methods before buying. In just about any other industry you can try before you buy or have 15-30days to return a product if it is not to your satisfaction.

[contentcreator--2008]

Yeah, zincmann, glad you're an expert on the "TRUE COST" of making content and getting it out there, and how people are fed up with the outrageous margins being made by the ever-consolidating and closing content production industries. Those same people fed up with outrageous margins are the people buying T-shirts and jewelry in the mall. Get a clue. <br /><br />People don't want to pay for anything, by definition. And some people think that if they can get away with stealing, then it's OK. (Being able to return a movie you're watched, possibly copied --- really, who can argue that makes sense with a straight face?)

[darfjono]

"ain't no rule" that says you deserve to be paid for the garbage you put out.

[fmcentire]

Meh, use Netflix if you want movies for the right price. 9 to 10 bucks a month gets you all the movies you want to watch, thats the right price for me. If I don't like a movie, I give it back and get a new one. Perfect.

[Sausagebiscuit]

I think this set France's government in it's place. The EU said this kind of law was not allowed, but France pass it anyway. All copyright issues aside, I am glad that France was unable to regulate people's internet use. As many people have seen, the internet has pretty much become a fundamental right, much like radio and basic television. Being cut off would have severe implications on users, especially if they were allowed to be cut off without any kind of fair trial. Imagine if you could be cut off from the internet just because someone made a claim that you did something wrong and no proof was required otherwise.<br /><br />I'm not arguing for or against copyright and other possible infringements, I am arguing for the openness of the internet and (so called) due process.

[A41202813]

Did DRM Advocates Think That All The Judges Would Like To Lose Their Jobs ?

[shootfirst]

If France were to pass this, I would just go over and hijack connections and cause people to get their internet connections banned left or right. I highly doubt that a country that would cut off internet for pirating would take up investigating that it wasn't really the person doing it. Here is a thought France, why not put this time to good use to make life better for everyone in the world instead of trying to pad your coffers with incentives from the media industry.

[xpress31]

they don't care of mac spoofing<br />we told them<br />we were guilty without any trial<br /><br />another point is a trojan from my own government on my pc (china install trojan on pc now....)<br />of course it's only windows compatible...i can't install it on my fedora , so if someone mac spoof my IP i can't proof it's not me<br />this trojan is not open source of course, so it can be upgraded with others things... stalline, and some other inglorious famous bastard, would have been happy with such a tool ;)<br />this trojan is based on a black/white list and no one knows what are criteria<br /><br />why sarkozy want this law again and again?<br />his wife sings ! bad sure but she sings or try to<br />(sarkozy je te vois sale menteur ^^ : french sentence that can make me go to trial; translate if u wanna now; and it's true!!)<br /><br />for my governemnt internet means terrorism , sexual abuses..

[sanenazok]

Well while the ruling may or may not be a good thing, it's totally wrong to call Internet access a human right. ***. Does that mean that the phone company has to sue you in court if you don't pay your bills before they can turn it off? Bad, bad ruling. They should have reached the same result with a narrow reason for it. Oh well, Europe is screwed up.

[Sausagebiscuit]

Even if your phone is turned off, you are supposed to be able to make 911 calls. The internet is such a informational tool it's hard not to be without. Speaking of phones, many people use VoIP now. No internet, no phone. I'm not sure about 911 access then.... but most of those people would have a cell phone and/or land line. <br /><br />Just stop and think of all the things the internet provides people. News updates is the major thing, phones and other communications, school work, etc. It is very well becoming essential for humans to be able to access the internet in some form or another.

[karpenterskids]

Yeah, I use a VoIP phone, use the internet constantly, and have no physical TV, so I watch all my TV shows online as well.<br /><br /><br />If my internet ever gets cut off (even just due to a technical difficulty), I'm screwed. lol

[cp256]

Musicians "play" music. A movie is actors in a recorded "play." Athletes "play" games. We're all expected to pay outrageous sums for their "play." Get realistic with the prices and more people will pay.<br /><br />Boo Hoo

[Dr_Zinj]

HADOPI (the Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Oeuvres et la Protection des droits sur Internet) <br /> <br />High Authority for the Distribution of Eggs and the Protection of Rights through the Internet??? <br /> <br />I don't get it. What do eggs and internet rights have to do with each other?

[darfjono]

from wiki <br /> <br />"The HADOPI law is the nickname for a French bill officially titled "Projet de loi favorisant la diffusion et la protection de la création sur Internet"[1] or "bill of law favoring the diffusion and protection of creation on Internet", regulating and controlling the usage of Internet in order to enforce the compliance to the copyright law; "HADOPI" being the acronym for the government agency created by the eponymous bill."

[xpress31]

lol<br />it's not eggs xD<br />something like :<br />HIgh Authority for streaming/broadcasting/diffusion (?) of "artistic works" on Internet

[pierregau]

GROUPAMA was caught in a software PIRACY case of $200m and has made an unofficial affidavit (claiming that it was not guilty) to divert BEFTI investigators from the evidences officially collected one month ago at a different office.<br /><br />In its affidavit, GROUPAMA argued that bank secrecy entitled it to limit the scope of Police investigations to a building that was not the place where evidences about the infraction were officially collected.<br /><br />After the fraud was discovered and denounced by the victim, as GROUPAMA managed to have the General Prosecutor of Paris to state that Police was 'right' to ignore the criminal file and focus only on the irrelevant information provided by GROUPAMA itself, there is room for serious doubts in the way that affair was conducted.<br /><br />As a matter of facts, FINAMA and GROUPAMA have reported false information to the markets regarding their own accounts (where the fraud describbed below has never been reported).<br /><br />This unfortunate event is more than likely to compromize the confidence ratings of French (bank and insurance) regulated markets on the proven basis that the numbers cannot be trusted.<br /><br />All the details, including the General Prosecutor reply, the BEFTI investigation file and the unofficial affidavit cooked by GROUPAMA have been made publicly available:<br /><br />http://remoteanything.com/archives/groupama.pdf