James Delahunty
25 Oct 2012 4:53
France cuts anti-piracy agency's funding by 23 percent.
Hadopi is the entity responsible for fighting piracy by Internet users. Its actions led to the first French court conviction of an offender under the three strikes rule in the country. The French government however will slash its budget by 23 percent for next year.
It's budget will be reduced from €10.3 million to €8 million, yet Hadopi has said it will expand its monitoring activity to include pirated video games.
Under President François Hollande's new regime, there were hints that Hadopi could be done away with completely, when French Minister of Culture, Aurélie Filippetti, suggested a significant reduction in Hadopi spending, commenting that a €12 million was too expensive "just to send e-mails."
A person found to have clocked up three strikes will have their Internet connection suspended temporarily.