France Says “Non” to Anti-Piracy Laws
April 10, 2009 10:40 pm
Sarkozy speaks about the three-strikes anti-piracy law.
Trying to steal a bit of the spotlight from Sweden, are we France? To be fair, Sweden isn’t the only country undergoing significant changes in policy amidst anti-piracy laws. TorrentFreak is reporting this week that France has rejected the three-strikes copyright infringement penalty put forth by Parliament. The legislation, known as “HADOPI” (Creation and Internet), posits that infringers would eventually lose their access to the Internet after three warnings. On top of that, the law would allow ISP’s to essentially block certain websites known for harboring large torrent traffic.
Considering the ultra-liberal majority of France, the three-strikes law was naturally opposed by the public, but even more inflammatory is the consideration to block certain websites, which would be a precedented display of censorship. To the surprise of the public, the law was indeed passed by parliament and the senate, but did not make it through the National Assembly vote. TorrentFreak notes that “according to early reports, the Socialist deputies changed their initial position and decided to vote against the law after witnessing the mass opposition from the French public.” The Socialist party, always acting on behalf of the revolting populace, seemed to be the conduit in the vote, sensing the zealous opposition of the law via national polls and media.
On top of the messy backpedaling demonstrated by French government, TorrentFreak noted that last month European parliament had opposed the three-strikes law, calling the Internet a fundamental freedom. While movements to ramp up security were supported by parliament, cutting off the Internet for users was not.
