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French parliament expected to vote on 3-strikes anti-piracy bill in the fall

20 June 2008 2:13 by Rich "vurbal" Fiscus | 12 comments

If you've been wondering what ever happened to France's plans for a so-called "3 strikes" law to punish file sharers repeatedly caught violating copyright law, have no fear. It's not gone, just a little behind schedule.

French Culture and Communication Minister Christine Albanel expects it to pass this fall, which is apparently they can get it in front of parliament due to a large number of bills lined up in front of it. The original plan was to put it to a vote before summer.

If you're not familiar with the controversial proposal, as originally laid out it would have required ISPs to monitor subscriber traffic for copyright infringement and send them threatening letters if caught. If someone were to be caught three times they would lose their internet connection.

The actual bill is apparently a little different, and would instead create a government agency to monitor P2P sites and catch file sharers in the act.

The law, was not only drafted by the entertainment industry, but even given an official introduction and stamp of approval at the MIDEM music industry conference in France earlier this year. In return for getting the government to prop up their outdated business model the recording industry has magnanimously agreed to work on getting rid of DRM in online music.

What's that you say? Consumers have already forced them to do that? Don't tell the French government or they may think they've been had.

Ironically if they succeed the biggeset losers will be the music industry itself. As study after study has shown, the same people downloading illegally are the ones who buy most of the legal music as well. It's hard to sell a download to somebody you just kicked off the internet.

Permalink to this article | Topic: Lawsuits & Legislation

'Three strikes' plan is struck down (27 September 2008)

'3 Strikes' legislation moving to the full EU (4 July 2008)

European Parliament rejects plan to criminalize file-sharing (10 April 2008)

7Digital to offer DRM-free downloads from Warner (5 March 2008)

Play.com goes DRM-free in the UK (13 February 2008)

Three strikes law for internet piracy to be proposed in Britain (12 February 2008)

Musician uploads album to P2P networks, blames music industry for increasing piracy (3 February 2008)

France to mandate ISP monitoring of customers for copyright infringement (29 January 2008)

IFPI annual report praises labels for being forced to ditch DRM (24 January 2008)

Sony BMG drops DRM in digital downloads (7 January 2008)

Warner adds its catalogue to Amazon MP3 store (27 December 2007)

France wants to cut off pirates from the Internet (22 November 2007)

Consumers show preference for ditching DRM (11 November 2007)

Do DRM free downloads mean innovation in online music? (15 October 2007)

EMI says that DRM-free music is selling well (21 June 2007)

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Discuss this article!
iluvendo (AfterDawn Addict) 20 June 2008 2:20
What in the world are the French thinking ? [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 20 June 2008 3:13
hows the climate in frenchdom over CP and consumer rights? Is it as bad as this article leads us to believe? [ + quote]
vurbal (Staff Member) 20 June 2008 3:15
*Originally posted by iluvendo:* What in the world are the French thinking ? Apparently exactly what they were told to. [ + quote]
vurbal (Staff Member) 20 June 2008 3:17
*Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* hows the climate in frenchdom over CP and consumer rights? Is it as bad as this article leads us to believe? I have no idea about the general atmosphere. It's my understanding that the president's support is probably the primary factor in this particular bill's chances of getting passed. Whether that's because he was duped by the music industry and has simply bought whatever numbers they've thrown at him or some large issue I have no idea. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 20 June 2008 3:19
*Quote:* *Originally posted by ZippyDSM:* hows the climate in frenchdom over CP and consumer rights? Is it as bad as this article leads us to believe? I have no idea about the general atmosphere. It's my understanding that the president's support is probably the primary factor in this particular bill's chances of getting passed. Whether that's because he was duped by the music industry and has simply bought whatever numbers they've thrown at him or some large issue I have no idea. typical politician ignorance then, oy.... thanks for the info ^^ [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20 June 2008 3:20
thomasz12 (Newbie) 20 June 2008 5:04
I am not sure about that. Maybe search web. [ + quote]
7thsinger (AfterDawn Addict) 20 June 2008 8:37
*Quote:* *Originally posted by iluvendo:* What in the world are the French thinking ? Apparently exactly what they were told to. With strict guidelines in backward thinking. [ + quote]
nobrainer (Inactive) 20 June 2008 11:51
*Originally posted by vurbal :* *Originally posted by iluvendo:* What in the world are the French thinking ? Apparently exactly what they were told to. Ain't that the truth, and with the protests going on in France over fuel costs this is a great time to introduce this law so it will pass unnoticed. The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI. The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above! The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20 June 2008 11:54
susieqbbb (Inactive) 20 June 2008 12:18
This is funny even if you monitor someone's connection and they use a ip address changer they still cannot keep track this is stupid on a major level. funnier still i would like to know how the french people will fair with this i can see a major riot happening and a lot of music stores going out of bussiness. [ + quote]
xSModder (Junior Member) 20 June 2008 16:19
looks like we'll see a lot more connections from France in Tor.. [ + quote]
lynchGOP (Inactive) 20 June 2008 16:32
The French are the French. Thinking in the same retarded fashion as they did with WWII and NOW. Arrogant, holier than thou mentality and COWARDS. They're a bunch of coat-tail ridin' croissants too afraid and too weak to fend for themselves when attacked. Now they're like the kid that was bullied in H.S. and became a cop.........PAYBACK!...........only they are paying back their own people. Dumb dumb dumb!! [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20 June 2008 16:33
xempler (Newbie) 23 June 2008 9:52
Wow, the French sure to like to roll over and give in to anybody who tell them what to do. The RIAA was just recently found to be incompetent in their investigation of people who they thought were involved in piracy. That's pretty serious when you have a law like this in effect. Governments need to seriously get off their knees and stop sucking the crap the big companies and organizations like the RIAA/MPAA feed them. [ + quote]