French Legislators Pass Stricter Internet Piracy Bill
In a move to curb online piracy, French lawmakers have recently approved a proposed bill that will allow authorities to cut-off internet connection to illegal file-sharers.
The Bill was passed following a 296 to 233 voting results in favor of the stricter Internet piracy bill.
It was learned that the president’s wife, Carla Bruni, a model-turned-singer-turned-first lady, have proposed the Bill to the members of the parliamentary.
In April, the right wing Sarkozy party was upset by the minority following a low voter turn-out from the alliance, which led to failed bidding to pass the Internet reform bill. It was a rare win for the Socialists opposition, which “antagonize” many of the supporters of the traditional arts.
On Wednesday, the proposed legislation is set to be subjected for final approval in the Senate. Although insiders in the upper house said that the Bill’s statute book introduction may be delayed for more than a month after proponents against the law vowed to take the fight in the High Court of France.
Under the said Bill, violators will be slapped with at least two warnings before being cut-off with the rest of the world if they commit a third offence. Illegal Internet downloaders will remain “offline” for a period of one year. However, they will still be required to pay their Internet service providers.
Meanwhile, the socialist minority challenged the Bill while tagging it as “inefficient, outdated, and unworkable”, saying that the double punishment has its own violation of the fundamental right to have an Internet access.
Also, consumer groups and private citizens warned of a possible “illegal” monitoring of their Internet activities, adding that innocent people may be subjected to the stricter punishment if hackers used their accounts to download data from the web.
SOURCE : HERE
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