France's Plans to Give Pirates the Boot
Nov 23, 2007
If you illegally download music or movies via the Internet in France, you may lose your Net access altogether. That's the message being sent by a French anti-piracy group that is determined to crack down on copyright infringement by hitting downloaders where it hits most: their access.
Britain's BBC News reports that Internet providers, recording companies, film studios and the government in France have agreed to band together in a quest to "curb casual piracy." Internet firms will start by monitoring their customers' Net usage and sharing information about so-called "persistent pirates" with the new anti-piracy group. There will first be a warning, followed by a suspension or termination of service for those who don't give up their illegal downloading ways.
France's President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the initiative as a "decisive moment for the future of a civilised Internet," while a French consumer advocacy group named UFC Que Choisir described the agreement as "very tough, potentially destructive of freedom, anti-economic and against digital history."
It's good to see everyone's in such violent agreement. For more, check out BBC News.
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