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French Assembly pass three-strikes for a second time
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 16 September 2009
No such debate required in France, where the government is hell bent on making three-strikes law whatever it takes, though in a market where selling four and half units gets you to number one (more or less) probably most of the industry would welcome any measure that might make recordings make some money again.
As much previously reported, the government in France had already got its proposals for a three-strike system, whereby persistent file-sharers who ignore warnings lose their net access, through the country’s parliament. But those proposals fell at the final hurdle – the French Constitutional Council – who expressed concern that a government agency rather than a court of law would be depriving file-sharers of their internet access.
To deprive a citizen of such an important right, the Council argued, should only be possible if their case has been considered by the judiciary. The French government’s solution? Appoint a judge to rubber stamp the disconnections. And so revised proposals are now working their way back through the French parliamentary process.
And yesterday the National Assembly, the lower house of the French parliament, passed the new proposals. The upper house, the Senate, had already done so back in July, and first time round it was the Assembly who caused problems for the French government, so their approval is significant.
The revised proposals will still need approval from the Constitutional Council, and those who oppose three-strikes will speak out against the system once more, arguing this time that the new proposals do not provide a suitable process for those accused of persistent online copyright infringement to defend themselves.
Government officials seem confident this time three-strikes will become law, though they were pretty confident before the Council hearing on the issue first time round, so it’ll be interesting to see how this pans out.
