3 Strikes And You’re Out (Of Touch)

A new 3-strike policy against piracy surfs the French political system, and it aims to kick people off the Internet for online copyright infringement. The French government has given the go-ahead to the controversial “Internet and creation” bill to proceed to Parliamen

A new 3-strike policy against piracy surfs the French political system, and it aims to kick people off the Internet for online copyright infringement. The French government has given the go-ahead to the controversial “Internet and creation” bill to proceed to Parliament. Similar to policy in the United States, illegal file sharing already results in exorbitant fines and up to 3 years in prison. France’s firm new approach features a freshly created independent authority called HADOPI, which is entitled to remove a user’s Internet access for 3-12 months.

Essentially, it’s a 3-step process. First, infringers will receive a warning email. If illicit activity persists, another warning will arrive via registered mail. For the third and final message, Hadopi will be entitled to cut off Internet access. If a commitment by the accused is made to cease illegal downloading, the determined period of Internet isolation can be shortened.

Christine Albanel, French Ministry of Culture, says that “This is an innovative framework to solve a problem that is particularly important in France.” In 2007, digital business accounted for just 7 percent of the French market, but Albanel suggests that “by 2009 or 2010, the illicit download rate will allow the music industry to foresee its future with confidence.” She estimates a piracy rate reduced by 70-80 percent. Also aligning with this bill are publishers, retailers and many ISPs.

Alternately, politicians from the Green and the Socialist Party, consumer advocates, and a new technology magazine called SVM are fighting the bill. Inevitably the total cost of Internet services in France will go up. Also, critics are weary that the mostly law-abiding citizens will end up tangled in Hadopi’s Deep Packet Inspection while the real pirates will hack their way around the system. Though Hadopi will wield a hefty 15 million euro (23 million dollars) budget to thrust into the grey matter of the web, it’s hard to imagine how effectively they could track someone or “remove” that person from the Internet.

This week was the first step of the adoption process, and now the bill will have to go through France’s two houses of parliament. If this legislation succeeds in France, it’s quite likely that similar bills will go through elsewhere in the U.K. and in the U.S.