AfterDawn: News

France wants to cut off pirates from the Internet

Thanks to a ground-breaking industry agreement backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, internet users in France that download unauthorized music and movies could find their internet access cut off by the government.

The plan, which Sarkozy will talk about more in depth tomorrow, will be a three strikes you're out policy in which you lose internet access after the third strike. Repeat offenders will receive two warnings before being shut down. ISP's will be forced to give information to the proposed enforcement body on "high volume users", basically users that use large amounts of bandwidth per month.



The proposal has been written up by an independent review led by heads of the entertainment and retail industries. If it goes through, the music and film industries, internet service providers and the government are all likely to sign up.

There is however, a bright side to this deal. In exchange for the clamp down on unauthorized downloading, the French music industry has agreed to remove DRM from archive French material. The film industry also agreed to release DVDs quicker after its cinematic release, reducing the delay from 7½ months to 6 months.

Clear critics stand in the way of the new proposal however, including members of Sarkozy's parliament. UFC-Que Choisir, a consumer association, said the plans were "very harsh, potentially repressive, anti-economic and against the grain of the digital age".

Marc Le Fur and Alain Suguenot, two deputies from within Sarkozy's own party were both very against the proposal as well. The move "creates a truly exceptional jurisdiction for downloaders contravening the principle of equality before the law," Le Fur added.

More updates on the proposal as it moves towards a vote.

Source:
Euro2day

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Nov 2007 18:44

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• 39 comments

• P51ride

  The French president needs to wake up and smell the cow chips.
  
  On a separate note I finished cleaning up my previous posts.

  23.11.2007 05:05 #1

• badkrma

  I know they think they are doing something good. But it is not the solution. Again, all this will do is make "hackers/pirates" smarter in coming up with a way to shrink downloads to make a smaller download footprint. And you know what, that isn't a bad thing (tee hee). Sometimes the only way to progress a technology is to try and suppress it.

  23.11.2007 06:28 #2

• kepners

  this is brutal... i starting to get the impression we are loosing our free will / free speech of the internet.
  i know the level will be very high etc, but the whole concept is being touted here in the uk... its like having your milage monitored becuase your car is damanging the enviroment and its carbon efficient - then getting you for breaking environmental laws.
  
  oh well its happening here in the Uk... but i am not sure how legal is it... however, isnt someone who downloads music etc a terroist?

  23.11.2007 07:36 #3

• bhetrick

  Originally posted by kepners: this is brutal... however, isnt someone who downloads music etc a terroist?Naw... they're called "Torrentists" ;)

  23.11.2007 09:40 #4

• duke8888

  What would you expect from a bunch of frog eaters???

  23.11.2007 10:24 #5

• tefarko

  cut off pirates from the net?... they have about the same odds of success as trying to cut off corrupt politics from the office...

  23.11.2007 10:27 #6

• hughjars

  Well what a surprise, the French vote in a right-wing pro-business mouthpiece and lo and behold we are treated to this BS.
  
  If the corporatist a$$holes are serious about this then go ahead and close down the net.
  
  You might as well cos downloading is the vast majority of net traffic.
  
  .....and, in case anyone is still preferring to fool themselves over this, the alternative will not be people buying what they currently download.
  
  I wonder what the ISPs will have to say about this as they face collapse & bankruptcy and the rest of commerce faces losing one of it's newest, huge & hugely growing markets?
  
  Wow but this is just what the world needs right now with the current financial instability......talk about biting the hand that feeds.
  
  and for what?
  In the main to pander to the largest greediest elements of the movie & music industry (already hugely profitable sections of those industries) as they chase up their own a$$holes in search of the nth degree of profitability?
  
  They are insane if they are serious.
  
  But let them try, it might be funny to watch them tie themselves in knots over this one.
  
  F*ckwits.

  23.11.2007 12:18 #7

• xSModder

  Quote:ISP's will be forced to give information to the proposed enforcement body on "high volume users", basically users that use large amounts of bandwidth per month.Well what about people who do it legally? Has this guy heard of Vuze?
  Seems like it's kind of singled out.
  I'm really not sure it'll ever go through.

  23.11.2007 13:14 #8

• windsong

  "The plan, which Sarkozy will talk about more in depth tomorrow, will be a three strikes you're out policy in which you lose internet access after the third strike."
  
  This is similar to the "three strike" plan for sex offenders that Mitt Romney is cooking up..with gps chips installed in them for life.
  
  So now they're equating piracy with sex offenders?

  23.11.2007 13:23 #9

• svtstang

  Lmao you took that comparison as far as possible, eh windsong?

  23.11.2007 14:07 #10

• 7thsinger

  Originally posted by svtstang: Lmao you took that comparison as far as possible, eh windsong?Lol! No kidding.

  23.11.2007 14:34 #11

• morguex

  @windsong
  
  HUH??????

  23.11.2007 15:31 #12

• ZippyDSM

  can't waittilla few people get strikes for having high bandwidth to legitimate services,like porn,video streaming or even gaming,and if some one is in to all 3 as well as maybe net radio they are screwed..

  23.11.2007 16:15 #13

• afbosch

  he has not must of a chance o0f geting that law pass- for one her a lame duck pres jsut about more people are again him then for him- and he could even stop his own wife from cheaping on him-

  23.11.2007 17:28 #14

• llongtheD

  This is nothing more than another way for a corrupt government to spy on its people. Where will the lines be drawn? What is a large amount of bandwidth? 100megs? With a trojan horse law like this, they can spy on anyone who is connected to the internet.

  23.11.2007 17:30 #15

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by afbosch: he has not must of a chance o0f geting that law pass- for one her a lame duck pres jsut about more people are again him then for him- and he could even stop his own wife from cheaping on him-I thought Europeans were more mature about lovers :X
  Everyone has them even married pll *rolls eyes*
  
  I kid I kid :P

  23.11.2007 17:31 #16

• Biker48

  What does one think about us people that have our own websites which allow people to download legitimate stuff?
  I run a website of my own which has my data available to download. Be careful you don't take too much data from me......
  And what about facebook eh.

  23.11.2007 17:37 #17

• ShoeBark

  In the spirit of WindSong, I will make a comparison as well.
  
  This is like saying, if I got caught stealing a CD or DVD from a store three times, I'd no longer be allowed to shop? Hmm..

  23.11.2007 19:31 #18

• plazma247

  ....and it will goto the isp's who will say thats its not realistically possible as not all large amounts of net traffic are mp3 downloads etc.
  
  For example someone who works in marketing or with the press would exchange large, big resolution pictures on a daily basis... so they also get banned from the internet ?
  
  They are basically saying you can have broadband but cant download/upload anything.....
  
  The same thing was suggested in the uk by some MP a month or so back... as soon as the isp's got into the discussion it appeared to stop dead.
  
  Its not a realistically implimentiable plan, it would harm the ISPs business, cost the goverment and the public far far to much to try and impliment let alone police.
  
  Lets see what happens.....

  23.11.2007 19:31 #19

• llongtheD

  @plasma247
  
  I think your missing the point, they're not saying you'll get banned for using alot of bandwidth, they're saying they can "look at people" who use alot of bandwidth. This law would force the isp's to turn this information over to them. like I said before, just another way for them to spy on "their" citizens. Whats next, will we start getting our mail after it has been checked by a government censor?

  23.11.2007 20:37 #20

• plazma247

  i see... this does mean still that the isp's will have to effectivly police the system... or let the goverment have free control over their networks..

  23.11.2007 20:39 #21

• svtstang

  I don't see how any ISP could effectively monitor their entire customer base. I am sure they will log total bandwidth, and then if requested by the government, release the details of how that bandwidth was used.
  
  This is just my guess, not based on any factual data.
  

  
  
  

  23.11.2007 20:49 #22

• llongtheD

  I don't think thats the way it would work systang. If they received a "redflag" on someone from the government or a copyright holder, (record label)(motion picture studio), they would then begin to monitor their data stream. Basically a nice way for corporations to use the government and your tax dollars as their enforcement arm. By the way nice stanger.
  

  If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

  23.11.2007 21:01 #23

• llongtheD

  I don't think the title of this article should read "France wants to cut off pirates from the internet", but "France wants to help corporations that corrupt their politicians, and spy on their people easier."
  
  

  If your fish seems sick, put it back in the water.

  23.11.2007 21:18 #24

• svtstang

  That sounds legitimate as well llongtheD. In the end we are just speculating. Although it would truly suck for this to go through, it would be interesting to see how things played out.
  

  
  
  

  23.11.2007 21:21 #25

• tin23uk

  they will just keep a check on bandwidth usage like insight bb do here, if you are in the top 5% of bandwidth users for any given day they call and email you to tell you that your using alot of bandwidth (strangly insight are part owned by comcast but lets not get into that).
  
  the french isp's will prolly work on a similar principal but maybe weekly instead of daily, they will then be required by law to hand over the details of the highest bandwidth users to an agency set up to police it. this agency will then monitor the internet activity of the high users to see why their bandwidth use is so high, if its found it is being used for legal reasons then their ip will be marked as one that has been checked and is being used for legal reasons so as not to keep checking the same users constantly.
  
  i personally roll with the pirates so i think any idea of trying to stop piracy is stoopid and they need to figure a way of working with us instead of against. but when you think about it this idea is alot better than what the riaa and mpaa do, at least in france you wont be forced to hand over thousands of $$$ if you get caught, 2 warnings is pretty fair i would say. but the internet ban should only last maybe a year or so, i think it would be totally unfair to ban someone for life even after 2 warnings.
  
  on the downside, who is gonna foot the bill for this bandwidth police, i would guess it would come from jacking up the cost of internet all over france, hopefully it wont be a large amount though. and involving the isp's will mean a bigger chance of getting caught.

  23.11.2007 21:35 #26

• atkerr

  On a positive note, this might even INCREASE piracy by giving low bandwidth users the opportunity to increase their usage somewhat, just so long as they do not rise up to the level of the HIGH bandwidth users. In other words, you get lost in the crowd since they can't take away internet accounts from EVERYBODY!
  
  Back to the drawing board, Sarkozy.
  
  Interesting comment above about how right-wing politicians are always doing the bidding of the corporations and not that of the common man/woman. Time for another French Revolution.

  23.11.2007 22:18 #27

• FrmDstryr

  Originally posted by atkerr: On a positive note, this might even INCREASE piracy by giving low bandwidth users the opportunity to increase their usage somewhat, just so long as they do not rise up to the level of the HIGH bandwidth users. In other words, you get lost in the crowd since they can't take away internet accounts from EVERYBODY!
  
  Back to the drawing board, Sarkozy.
  
  Interesting comment above about how right-wing politicians are always doing the bidding of the corporations and not that of the common man/woman. Time for another French Revolution.Definitly right about the low bandwidth, if one cannot download at high speed, why wouldn't they just slow it down????

  23.11.2007 22:46 #28

• llongtheD

  atkerr,
  if a law like this passes, they will legally be able to check anyone. Thats their whole point. You have to think about the big picture, and what happens anytime the government gets involved.
  Its all about the slow change, they get you used to having less and less rights.. Slowly.

  23.11.2007 23:24 #29

• maxsixer

  cheese eating surrender monkeys!!!!

  24.11.2007 12:08 #30

• chinpark9

  What a bloke ! What a potitician ! Here he is being strangled by his transportation deadlock, and, these french unions do not prat about, and yet, he worries about the internet. What a guy!
  
  Mind you, there was also a potitician this morning on TV, a fat ugly female, who was saying that when a politician is asked for a comment, what he/she comes up with, is biblical.......

  25.11.2007 06:55 #31

• SooperHOP

  it's extremely sad that a great website like afterdawn has a majority registered user base of uneducated socialists. you all have no idea what france was like and why sarkozy was elected. i can only hope you are not a citizen of the USA or you die before you become old enough to vote.
  
  our greatest enemy is not extreme islamists, it's our schools who rewrite history and teach soclialism as the supreme economic formula.
  
  god help us all!

  25.11.2007 22:01 #32

• Legir

  It says they just check high volume users, not imediate action against them. I'm currious if there will be any to fool the ISP or something similar.

  26.11.2007 11:09 #33

• madman91

  Thats what happens when the President of France is trying to renew relations with the US of A.
  
  It will fail, don't worry.

  1.12.2007 01:10 #34

• dabs40

  this is quite scarry s**t.
  where's the liberty of expression in here?
  sarkozy is from the " right",so he's for a pro-police state.
  he should'nt have been elected...as a frenchman in exile,i do not understand why they elected him in the first place!!they knew what would have come to them with such a gigolo as french president.
  but he was so full of promises for the french people that they believed him without thinking what would come after that...now they realise: IT'S TOO LATE!!!
  i'm ashamed for what they've done( elected him )but i also feel sorry for them for what he's done.they elected him for the wrong reasons,and now it starts to backfire at them...
  in a way,i'm quite pleased i'm not there to put up with him.on the other hand i hope the uk will not follow his footsteps ( not the people but the government:))
  
  may the force be with you ( and all of us in that case)

  18.12.2007 16:06 #35

• chinpark9

  Fellow newbie SooperHOP may have french connections, may even have voted for Sarkozy, in which case, I can only apologise for my comments, not deregatory, nor socialist, but from a long 70 years worth, of experience with the French at home, just observatory.
  Sarkozy is a parvenu, hungarian parvenu, at that, with a one track mind, to make nice with the Americans.
  
  But, the french people themselves, who know a deadbeat when they see one, will no doubt, in the fullness of time, see to him properly.

  18.12.2007 16:54 #36

• renney

  One thing comes to mind he must be be getting a big back hander from
  the industry

  19.12.2007 05:43 #37

• borhan9

  Quote:The plan, which Sarkozy will talk about more in depth tomorrow, will be a three strikes you're out policy in which you lose internet access after the third strike. Repeat offenders will receive two warnings before being shut down. ISP's will be forced to give information to the proposed enforcement body on "high volume users", basically users that use large amounts of bandwidth per month.This is really like a bad apple. I do feel that this these is a bit high strung for my liking.
  
  Quote:There is however, a bright side to this deal. In exchange for the clamp down on unauthorized downloading, the French music industry has agreed to remove DRM from archive French material. The film industry also agreed to release DVDs quicker after its cinematic release, reducing the delay from 7½ months to 6 months.This however having drm free materials is the way to go i just feel that a person using high internet use i do feel that u cant believe that just your avg person cant have a high internet use.

  20.12.2007 04:48 #38

• limpfro

  Hmm. Interesting. A political move to crack down on all the pirates in France. I think this just looks good on paper (Or more appropriately websites). BUT, There is one problem that will plague France, and cause some hustle and bustle if they decide to implement such a law: You can't trace wireless ip's. If someone has a wireless network, theres no way you can accuse them of downloading anything. You would have to obtain a search warrant for their computer to find out if they actually downloaded this "illegal" music/videos; more trouble than its worth.
  The law will cost more than it will save.
  Completely uneconomic. Push the cost to the People so a few companies can earn a tenth that.

  20.12.2007 05:11 #39