French Internet Piracy Law Curbed

PARIS: France’s Constitutional Council has nixed the provision in the country’s new Internet piracy law that enabled authorities to cut off the web access of repeat offenders.

Approved last month, the Creation and Internet bill, backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, calls for the creation of a new state agency, HADOPI (the Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Oeuvres et la Protection des droits sur Internet), that, when alerted to an illegal download, would first send a warning e-mail, then a letter. If a third infraction is reported, the pirate would have their Internet connection cut off for up to a year. France’s highest legal body has struck down that provision, ruling that only a judge can bar an individual’s access to the Internet. The Constitutional Council described access to online services as a human right.