Despite being backed by President Nikolas Sarkozy and approved by the Senate, the French National Assembly has rejected a bill which proposed that Internet pirates have their connections suspended. The legislation proposed a "three strikes" system, in which a file sharer caught breaking copyright laws would receive a warning e-mail first, followed by a letter for a second offense. On the third strike, the user would be cut off from the Internet for a year.
The bill was backed by the film and music industries. Both have been pushing for tougher laws for Internet pirates as revenues continue to sink. Consumer groups voiced concerns that such a system would inevitably end up affecting innocent users, particularly those who may have had their computer or wireless connection hijacked without their knowledge.
The warnings and subsequent connection suspension would be delivered at the demand of a new state agency setup for the task. The socialist parliamentarian Patrick Bloche said the bill was "dangerous, useless, inefficient, and very risky for us citizens." The bill was defeated in a vote of the National Assembly despite already being approved by the Senate. Two members of President Sarkozy's majority government joined the opposition to the bill.
However, an amended version of the bill is expected to go before parliament in the next few weeks. The two dissenting votes, allied with the opposition, were made only in protest to a clause that would have forced Internet users who were cut off to keep paying their bill regardless.
The warnings and subsequent connection suspension would be delivered at the demand of a new state agency setup for the task. The socialist parliamentarian Patrick Bloche said the bill was "dangerous, useless, inefficient, and very risky for us citizens." The bill was defeated in a vote of the National Assembly despite already being approved by the Senate. Two members of President Sarkozy's majority government joined the opposition to the bill.
However, an amended version of the bill is expected to go before parliament in the next few weeks. The two dissenting votes, allied with the opposition, were made only in protest to a clause that would have forced Internet users who were cut off to keep paying their bill regardless.
