Wednesday, May 13, 2009

French Three Strikes Makes the Statute

The media world has been quietly watching the French attempts to implement a ‘three strikes and you are out’ law for punishing people who download music and films illegally by cutting off their Internet connections. First it was happening then no one turned up and it didn’t get passed now the first government agency to punish online pirates has been created in France.

The vote has cleared both chambers and is to be French law, or is it?

Critics say the law misses the point, targeting traditional downloads at a time when online streaming is taking off and others claim that users using public WiFi hotspots or using masked IP addresses might make them impossible to trace.

Last week the European Parliament prohibited any EU governments from cutting off a user's Internet connection without first passing through a court of law. This still needs ratification by the European Council but would impact the new French law before the ink has even dried.

Critics say the law misses the point, targeting traditional downloads at a time when online streaming is taking off and others claim that users using public WiFi hotspots or using masked IP addresses might make them impossible to trace.

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