April 15, 2009 by Matt Thomas
France is continuing with its hard line stance against Internet piracy, seeking to pass a ‘three strikes’ rule that could see illegal downloaders banned from the Internet if they persist. The proposed new law would seek to revoke the broadband service of anyone caught downloading copyrighted material three times.
The law, thought to be one of French premier, Nicholas Sarkosy’s pet projects, has already been passed once, though it was rejected by the national assembly partially on the grounds that, offenders who were banned from the Internet would still have to pay for their Broadband service. However, Sarkosy and his government are busy making amendments prior to resubmission and it is widely expected that the law will pass in some form or another eventually.
Governments have been struggling to cope with the problem of file sharing and illegal downloading for years now and legislators are watching closely to see whether or not the law can be made to work. If so, it could have a huge knock on effect globally.
Under the current proposal, bans could range from two months to a full year, depending on the severity of the offences.
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