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Sarkozy gets tough on internet pirates

In France’s hardest crackdown yet on online filesharing, President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was backing a “three strikes” policy against internet pirates, while simultaneously announcing a new deal with film and music companies, which would see access to cultural offerings boosted on the web.

The scheme — drawn up following an independent review by Denis Olivennes, the head of a French entertainment retailer — involves plans to clamp down on piracy by sending offenders a series of e-mail warnings. If ignored, the culprit could face having their broadband account suspended or even closed.

The new rules will also see entertainment companies drop all copyright protection on French material, meaning that any music or videos bought online can be played on any sort of computer or digital player, although it would also make the files easier to copy.

The deal was backed by more than 40 signatories, including France’s Education, Justice and Culture Ministers, internet service providers and the entertainment industry.

As part of the plans, the French film industry agreed to release DVDs more swiftly, moving the release date of DVDs from seven and a half months after their cinema screening to six months.

Some groups in France said the new scheme was unnecessary, since illegal downloading is already punishable by up to three years in prison. Opponents, including consumer groups and some politicians, fear the deal is too repressive and poses a threat to civil liberties.

Record labels and film studios, however, welcomed the proposals as the latest victory in their ongoing war with filesharers, who they blame for the decline of CD sales and cinema attendance.

Data for 2005 showed that as broadband penetration rose sharply in France to well above 20% of households, so did filesharing, while music sales fell dramatically by more than a quarter in the 2002-04 period, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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