France introduces tough internet piracy laws
Article published: Sunday, December 7th 2008
The French government has adopted controversial new legislation to combat illegal downloads by internet users. The measures, which will lead to persistent downloaders having their internet connection cut, have been condemned by the European Parliament as an infringement of human rights.
The film industry on the other hand, has welcomed the move. They have said the restrictions are vital for investment in cinema and necessary in order to compete with Hollywood, citing a recent study that put France’s financial losses to piracy at 1.2bn in 2007 alone.
Downloading gained popularity in the late 1990s through software such as Napster. Today it typically takes the form of sharing files through so-called peer-to-peer (p2p) software. Programmes such as BitTorrent allow copyrighted files to be freely transferred between users across high-speed broadband connections.
The music industry has blamed this practice for the massive drop in record sales over the last ten years. Retailers are also sworn enemies of the free download. In fact the head of FNAC, France’s largest consumer electronics and media retailer, drew up the legislation, which will establish an independent administrative authority (the ‘High Authority’) to oversee a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ system to catch offenders.
Those suspected will first be sent a warning email, then a formal posted caution if they continue. The punishment for failing to comply is that the connection with their Internet Service Provider (ISP) will be severed for a period of 3-12 months, subject to reduction if they agree to desist.
The ISPs will be forced to pass on up to a year’s worth of browsing information to the authority on any given surfer and face criminal sanctions if they fail to do so.
The moves have met with fierce criticism. The ISPs say there is insufficient research to show these actions will lead to a decrease in internet piracy. They question both the effectiveness and expense of putting in place costly software to track users. Critics of the law are also mistrustful of the powers given to the High Authority. This administrative body will be judge, jury and executioner of the law and, controversially, it will be the High Authority – and not a court of law – that takes the decision to ban users. This means that criminal punishments will be passed down by a bureaucratic body and not by judges, prompting worries about the erosion of accountability and due process.
A former government minister has slated the repressive measures, on the basis that they deny people their civil right of access to the internet and serve only music industry interests. And activist groups have claimed it forms part of the wider trend of a surveillance society – the compilation of vast databases of information on citizens through the internet.
These developments across the Channel fall within a broader and concerted international effort to crack down harshly on those who share music and video files online. New Zealand will implement its own three strikes law from 2009, and similar proposals are underway in Australia.
The UK is not far behind. In July 2008, six ISPs agreed to send similar warnings to users after a deal with the government. Although there is no threat of internet connections being cut as yet, a three strikes sanction has been floated in a recent government Green Paper. Meanwhile the first prosecution case against illegal file sharing in the UK opened earlier this year, following in the footsteps of a US prosecution which saw a “guilty downloader” landed with a $222,000 fine last year.
The forces gathering against free internet downloads suggest the peer-to-peer days may be numbered.
Michael Pooler
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