APRIL 9, 2009, 11:30 A.M. ET French Lawmakers Reject Bill to Curb Internet Piracy
By LEILA ABBOUD Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123928254646404963.html PARIS -- French lawmakers unexpectedly rejected a bill that would have established a "three-strikes" law under which people who repeatedly pirate music, movies or TV shows could have their Internet connections cut off for up to year. The surprise rejection came as the bill was on the verge of being adopted on Thursday. Both houses of France's Parliament -- the National Assembly and the Senate -- had already voted for the text. All that remained was a final vote today to ratify the final wording. But few lawmakers actually showed up for the final vote in the early afternoon, apparently assuming the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The law was then defeated 21 votes to 15, with most of the opposition votes coming from Socialist lawmakers who have long been against the measure. The government said the law would be put to a vote again in the next few weeks. President Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right UMP party holds a majority in Parliament, so the law should pass if the president's allies rally their members. Still, the legislative snafu is an embarrassment for Mr. Sarkozy, who had championed the law as a way to protect French culture and artistic creation. It also delays the adoption of a law that members of the entertainment industry, such as Vivendi SA and luxury and retail group PPR SA, have lobbied for as a way to stem the erosion of sales of music, DVDs and cinema tickets. The government tried to downplay the vote as political trickery by the Socialist opposition, saying they took advantage of the sparse attendance and timing of the vote. Jean-François Copé, leader of the majority center-right UMP party in Parliament, said in an interview on French television that the negative vote "doesn't fundamentally change anything" because the bill would be voted on again next week. A spokesman for Vivendi's Universal Music division declined to comment. If passed, the law would make the French government the first in the world to cut off Internet access to people accused of copyright violations. The law would force Internet providers to turn over data on suspected pirates to the government, which would warn users twice. A third offense would lead to cut-off Internet access for up to a year. Third-time offenders would be put on a blacklist to prevent them from going to a different Internet provider and getting a new account. ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 *********************************** * POST TO [email protected] * *********************************** Medianews mailing list [email protected] http://lists.etskywarn.net/mailman/listinfo/medianews
