France Gets Closer to Three-Strike Policy

On 18^th this month France took one more step further in its enterprise of developing mighty plan to bring illegal file-sharing down to an end. This followed Culture Minister Christine Albanel's (photo) presentation of a three-strikes bill to the French President's Cabinet.

In her view, this plan proves fairness and objectivity representing "an essentially preventive and educational approach" to illegal file sharing. In a recent news conference she said: "We know that we are not going to eradicate piracy 100 percent, but we think that we can reduce it significantly."

What this three-strike policy stipulates is that alleged illegal downloaders will receive initially a warning through e-mail, followed by a registered letter and in the eventuality of a third offense, they will be disconnected from the Internet for a year. This measure might be implemented as early as January 1st, 2009.

To make sure there will be no distractions from the plan the government assigned an enforcement agency called "Hadopi" (high authority for copyright protection and dissemination of works on the internet). Is there any need to say how the music industry took the proposal? …Thought so.

"It's a great initiative that is good news for the whole music sector and we hope it will get through the legislative process as quickly as possible," said Adrian Strain, the director of communications for the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). "We're very pleased to see France taking the lead in addressing the critical issue of internet piracy."

The plan received, however, a large number of critics as well. The main focus of these critics was the aggressive policy towards people who "happen to love culture" and the fact that so many people risk to be cut off from what is undoubtedly a vital means of communication, education, and even employment.

A major such critic came from The European Parliament which argued that "criminalizing consumers who are not seeking to profit from the acts is not the solution to combating Internet piracy."

To reward France’s willingness to implement such draconian anti-piracy measures, the entertainment industry promises to remove current DRM protections on French content to allow digital music or videos legally paid for to be compatible with any media player.

After the bill was introduced, President Nicolas Sarkozy made one of those arresting statements - "There is no reason that the internet should be a lawless zone."

We can only smile bitterly at the thought that the France, once the homeland of democracy and freedom, where repression was so bravely fought against, could now reinstate the conditions of a chained liberty.