French politicians say ‘non’ to three strikes piracy law
In a shock vote, France’s parliament has rejected plans to cut off Internet access to repeat copyright violation offenders. However, the vote appears to be a freak result and the bill could well pass when the government retables it later this month.
Had the bill passed, it would have created the first government agency dedicated to online piracy. The law would also have meant those accused of downloading copyrighted material without permission would receive two formal warnings. (The Associated Press puts the figure at three warnings, two by e-mail and one by certified postal mail, though all other sources report a total of two warnings.) Any offense after this would mean automatic disconnection.
The bill had been approved by the French Senate and was expected to easily pass a vote in the National Assembly, the lower house of the French legislature. However, it appears lawmakers took the result for granted and took an early holiday.
Although the Assembly has 577 members, just 36 showed up to the vote, rejecting it by 21 to 15. It’s reported that some of those voting against the bill had remained outside the parliamentary chamber at the end of the debate and tricked supporters into believing there was no danger of it not being passed.
Most of those voting were from the opposition Socialist party, though two members of the government party voted against the bill. The BBC reports that they objected to a late amendment which would have meant those who had their connections cut would have been contractually required to continue paying their Internet subscriptions.
While some opposed the plans on civil liberties grounds, many opponents said the law would be unworkable, pointing to the way people could use somebody else’s wireless Internet connection or simply stream content rather than download it.
The French government plans to bring back the bill after the parliament returns from an Easter break on April 27. The bill still looks likely to pass, but will have to go through the legislative procedure again meaning it could be weakened by further amendments.
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