A controversial legislation may be passed in France, making it possible for the government to cut off a users internet connection after they’ve been found downloading or sharing illegal files. The legislation will use a ‘three strikes’ rule, which means the user will receive two warnings before their internet connection is blocked for a year. The legislation was previously rejected in a parliamentary vote early this month but looks like it could be the first of its kind to be passed globally in the fight against online piracy.
Obviously the film and music industry are extremely supportive, along with the French President Nicolas Sarkozy (the short guy with the hot wife). Sure the legislation seems fair enough, but it does raise a few questions…
Innocent until proven guilty?
How much power will this new state agency have? Now it’s been a while since I’ve brushed up on the French legal system, but it seems to me that the new agency that has been proposed will essentially take away any possibility of a fair trial the user may have had. How is it decided what is illegal activity and where is the line crossed?
These pirates are the clever kind
The people that this law would be aimed at stopping are those that are heavily involved in illegal file sharing. Basically anyone involved our found using Torrents. You know. The kind of people who know how to block their IP’s or mask their IP with the identity of innocent people. But then again, maybe it is the average user they are trying to punish.
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June 9th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
[...] Strikes’ French Internet Law I wrote a post last month discussing the law France was attempting to pass that would essentially allow the [...]
June 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
[...] soon – I’ll be writing a follow up to my article on the 3 strikes and out French internet law. I’ll also be looking at the Australian governments Internet filtering plan, so stay [...]