PARIS, FRANCE — Despite a European Parliament order that no government should terminate internet users’ connections without a court order, the French National Assembly last week passed a law requiring disconnection for consumers suspected of repeatedly violating copyrights.Supported by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the “Création et Internet” bill requires internet service providers to terminate the accounts of users the third time they are caught sharing illicit files. One month earlier parliament rejected the same bill, which is considered one of the world’s most aggressive attempts to thwart copyright piracy.
According to the EU resolution, passed days before the French law, governments are prohibited from taking exactly the sort of action the French Parliament took.
“Internet access is a fundamental right such as the freedom of expression and the freedom to access information,” the EU resolution notes.
Regardless, the French law created a new government agency tasked with sending violation notices to suspected copyright infringers. Suspects will receive two notices before their access is cut off for between two months and one year. At the time of the “third strike,” offenders also will be placed on a blacklist that ISPs are required to check before granting service to new customers.
As might be expected, the movie and music industries praised the French Parliament’s move. Consumer and free-speech groups, though — as well as many rank-and-file citizens — decried the law as overbearing because it deprives accused pirates of their day in court. In addition, some feel the law opens a door for the French government to invade users’ privacy in pursuit of enforcement.
France is the first country to take such an aggressive stance about corralling copyright infringement, but it may not be the last. Last month a Swedish court sentenced the four owners of notorious file-sharing website The Pirate Bay to jail time after finding them guilty of copyright-violation crimes. The Swedish government is reported to be considering legislation that will clarify some of the finer points of the underlying law. TPB’s owners have vowed the site will continue to operate as it always has, although the new French law casts doubt on TPB’s continued popularity in France, because simply logging onto the site could brand a user as a copyright violator.
In the U.S. and the U.K., governments have backed away from imposing mandates on ISPs, primarily for free-speech and privacy reasons. Instead, both countries have decided to wait and see if the music and movie industries can formulate a way to work directly with ISPs willingly. In the U.S., AT&T already has agreed to send “official warnings” to its customers whom copyright owners suspect of criminal activity.
