French Senate Passes Three-Strikes Anti-Piracy Law

The "graduated response" would start with an e-mail warning, followed by a written letter, and end with ISPs terminating Internet access for one year.

The French Senate has approved a controversial "three strikes" or "graduated response" law for those accused of illegal file-sharing.

The legislation must still be approved by the lower house of parliament, the EU Observer reported. The goal is to force people now engaged in electronic piracy of movies, music and video games to use legal sources like iTunes.

The "graduated response" would start with an e-mail warning would start with an e-mail warning, followed by a written letter, and end with ISPs terminating Internet access for one year.

The Senate passed the law 297 to 15 with Communists abstaining. The Senate rejected an amendment by Bruno Retailleau, a right-wing senator, who wanted to substitute a fine for the service cut-off. Retailleau argued that depriving people of Internet access is unfair because the service often comes bundled with television, telephone and other services.

"Cutting access to the internet is discriminatory," he said.

He also pointed out that the Internet has become an "essential commodity" that allows people access to social services and that their removal would be "traumatic for a family."

But, the French legislation clashes with an amendment agreed to by the European Parliament back in September that rejected attempts to disconnect file-sharers from the Internet.

The parliament amendment, part of a wider telecoms bill, has since been upheld by the European Commission. Indeed, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso rebuffed a personal appeal by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who demanded that the parliament amendment be rejected on the basis that it gets in the way of the fight against piracy.

What still remains unanswered though is the question of who gets to play copyright cop in the whole affair. Is it really in the best interest of justice to have the accuser play judge, jury, and executioner?

Stay tuned.