French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Photograph: Stephen Hird/Reuters
French filesharers are in the crosshairs of the country's police once again, after politicians voted for a controversial "three strikes" law that could see alleged copyright infringers disconnected from the web without legal recourse.
The so-called Hadopi bill was approved by the lower house on Tuesday, after a concerted push by Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative government to avoid a repeat of the surprise rejection that took place last month. It is expected to be passed into law by the Senate later this week.
The bill will create a new government agency called, the High Authority of Diffusion of the Art Works and Protection of Rights on the Internet – known as Hadopi for short.
That group will oversee a process that has caused outrage and controversy among activists in France – and have been called the world's tightest copyright restrictions.
According to the proposals, the first strike involves sending a message to any user who is believed to have infringed copyright online, with a repeat message sent on the second instance. When the authorities are informed of a third transgression, the user's internet access could be closed down for a period of between two and 12 months - without judicial appeal.
That aspect of the law has previously angered European officials, who recently ruled that any individuals accused of such activities cannot be disconnected without the involvement of the courts.
But regardless of that stance, the law – which passed 296 votes to 233 - is another blow to digital rights campaigners, coming on the same day that an alliance of creative industries in Britain lobbied for the UK government to force ISPs to take a greater role in the prevention of piracy.
The group, which included business and union representatives from the film, music and software industries, are arguing for a similar three strikes system involving "multiple educational warnings" and "a graduated series of technical solutions".
However John Woodward, the chief executive of the Film Council threw a spanner in the works when he responded by offering an olive branch to ISPs suggesting that the content industry should work harder to end the "Mexican stand-off" with internet users.
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