Post by Admin on Jan 5, 2011 2:33:56 GMT 1
Nicolas Sarkozy's war on illegal downloading has begun in earnest, with the state internet surveillance body dubbed "Big Brother" warning more than 100,000 French internet-users that they have been caught accessing pirate material.
The controversial anti-piracy law is one of Sarkozy's pet projects, backed by his singer wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The couple argue that artists must be protected from the nation's massive illegal download culture – France is thought to be the world number one in illegally accessing film and music online.
The internet policing system, known under its acronym Hadopi, investigates specific incidents of illegal downloading reported by music and film companies.
It obtains web-users' details from internet service providers and issues a series of warnings by email and letter. Repeat offenders risk one month's suspension from all internet access.
Those accused of counterfeiting can be fined and cut off from the internet for one year. At least 100,000 warning emails have been sent since early October.
The French left has attacked the law as draconian and against civil liberties. But it is also criticised as ineffective and out of date. The law targets peer-to-peer sites, but not streaming and direct download sites.
The controversial anti-piracy law is one of Sarkozy's pet projects, backed by his singer wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. The couple argue that artists must be protected from the nation's massive illegal download culture – France is thought to be the world number one in illegally accessing film and music online.
The internet policing system, known under its acronym Hadopi, investigates specific incidents of illegal downloading reported by music and film companies.
It obtains web-users' details from internet service providers and issues a series of warnings by email and letter. Repeat offenders risk one month's suspension from all internet access.
Those accused of counterfeiting can be fined and cut off from the internet for one year. At least 100,000 warning emails have been sent since early October.
The French left has attacked the law as draconian and against civil liberties. But it is also criticised as ineffective and out of date. The law targets peer-to-peer sites, but not streaming and direct download sites.
