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France threatens no Internet for illegal downloaders
France is looking to hit illegal downloaders where it hurts - their Internet connection.
Although the country currently has a system with fines and jail sentences in effect, the French government and affected industry leaders announced a new tactic in late November. According to the plan, users will receive a warning for each illegal download (usually a music or movie file) detected. If action persists, more warnings will come. If the third warning is ignored, the service providers can cut off the Internet access, according to a Nov. 26, 2007 ITPro website article.
"We run the risk of witnessing a genuine destruction of culture," French president Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech endorsing the deal according to a Nov. 25, 2007 PCMag.com story. "The Internet must not become a high-tech Far West, a lawless zone where outlaws can pillage works with abandon or, worse, trade in them in total impunity. And on whose backs? On artists' backs."
Consumer group UFC Que Choisir disagreed with the move, according to PCMag, arguing in a statement the plan is "very tough, potentially destructive of freedom, antieconomic (sic) and against digital history." According to a Nov. 26, 2007 Agence France-Presse article, the current maximum fine is 300,000 euros (about $445,230 US) and a sentence of five years in jail.
The agreement is a three-way pact between the government Internet services providers (ISPs) and the owners of film and music rights. It was created by a commission headed by the chief executive of Denis Olivennes, president of FNAC, one of the country's biggest music and film retailers, according to the PCMag story.
In the AFP story, Olivennes referred to France as a "paradise for piracy." He stated France pirates material five times as much as the United States, three times as much as Britain and twice as much as Germany.
The deal, according to PCMag, also obligates the film and music companies to make changes that might please consumers. They pledged to make works available online more quickly and remove barriers that make music unplayable on some computer platforms.
An independent authority will be created to deal with the administration of the agreement. It will be in charge of deciding when to issue users "electronic warning messages." A judge will supervise the authority.
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