French National Assembly rejects bill on illegal downloads
The French National Assembly has defeated a bill aimed at stopping piracy of copyrighted content on the Internet, a measure that has created much controversy among French Internet users. The bill was proposed by the government of Nicholas Sarkozy and supported by large companies that dominate the content business. The law was supposed to have been voted in last week after lengthy discussions in the French National Assembly and the French Senate, but it failed to get approved through a final vote in an almost empty Assembly.
The proposed law would have created a special national agency called HADOPI (Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet) to track users who illegally download music and films. The agency would send them up to three warning letters, and if they have not stopped their downloads after the third letter, the agency would ask the service provider to cut off their Internet access for a period of one year. It would be a kind of “three strikes and you’re in the digital jail.” During the debate, Minister of Culture Christine Albanel, who was in charge of drafting the text of the bill, said the budget of HADOPI would be around €7 million per year (paid by taxpayers). She also stated that she expected the agency to send out hundreds of thousands of letters per month.
SACEM: a system created in 1850
SACEM, the French union of authors, artists and their representatives would be allowed to find the IP addresses of users and turn them over to HADOPI for retaliation. SACEM is close to a private monopoly in France with exclusive rights for collecting royalties and controlling music rights, but is not subject to public scrutiny of its finances. It has about 130,000 members and collects approximately €760 million per year and gives back about €650 million to its most active members through a fairly obscure process.
Several observers have noted that this organization, which has 1400 employees, does not function optimally, but it has the support of the big television channels as TF1 (owned by Bouygues) and the music distribution channels under the control of the music industry. At a time when the French president is seeking more regulation of the financial sector, many believe that the entertainment sector’s business model, organization and practices, need to be scrutinized as well. A recent manifesto supported by French artists, among them actress Catherine Deneuve says: “The rejection of HADOPI is a victory for freedom, for the movie business and for culture. Diversity and creation are today at the center of considerations on the challenges of the digital revolution, as well as the protection of freedom for people and authors.”
No benefits for the artists and musicians
The law would have also forced telecom operators and service providers to install filtering measures to track down who is downloading illegally. The costs of these filtering measures are estimated to be in the tens of millions of euros. The total cost of enforcing the law would be borne by French taxpayers and artists. Although law would give more power to SACEM, it has virtually no benefits for its members. One of most controversial provisions requires the filtering of open Wi-Fi networks in public libraries and public places, and the creation of a white list of exclusive sites they would have been allowed to access. Many analysts think the law will not stop the decreasing sales of music CDs, but it will raise the cost of Internet access. French Culture Minister Christine Albanel admitted during legislative discussions that the law would not put an end to digital piracy, but she hoped it would educate people about digital content rights and raise consciousness among users. Still, no one has questioned the way the entertainment industry works. For many organizations and municipalities opposed to HADOPI, this law is practically unenforceable.
Possible violation of European law
The French government had presented this law to be voted in emergency sessions, and expected it to be approved before the spring vacation of the French National Assembly. Albanel said she will represent it again at the next session (end of April). The failure of the proposed law has been highly publicized in France, where many people were not even aware of its draconian measures. The government’s second attempt to get it passed may require significant changes in its provisions.
In Brussels, the European Parliament is working on the final version of the “Telecom Package” which states in part: “The Internet is essential for the freedom of expression and for the freedom of access to information… no restriction can be put on these fundamental rights without the previous decision of a court.” The terms of the proposed HADOPI law will clash with the new Telecom Package, which may be approved before the next session of the French Assembly.
UPDATE (19 May 2009): The National Assembly passed the HADOPI law this month and it appears to be on a collision course with the EU.
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