Meanwhile, on the other side of the water, the French Assembly has finally passed the country's controversial 'Creation & Internet' law, which is the legislation that will make 'three-strikes' law there.
As previously reported, the French government's proposals for the country's copyright laws hit a setback when a low pre-Easter turnout in the Assembly meant there were not enough government-supporting MPs on hand to make sure the new legislation got voted through. The no vote forced the government to reintroduce the proposals into parliament anew.
Because of that the upper house, the Senate, which had already passed the first lot of proposals, will have to vote on them all for a second time. That should happen today. The new laws would then just need the approval of the country's Constitutional Council. I'm not sure at what point the European Parliament's efforts to make disconnection without a court hearing illegal would be discussed - though those proposals would still have to make it through the European Council Of Ministers where French representatives will presumably object loudly.
Assuming the three-strike system does become law in France, the content industries the world over will be watching closely how it all goes. Although already law in New Zealand, there the lack of any administrative system to manage warning letters and disconnections have led to the whole thing being shelved for the time being.
The French system is better thought out, though will still have to contend with the inevitable false accusations that will no doubt be made by content owners against some innocent web-users, or internet connection owners who are unknowingly letting others infringe via their unprotected WiFi connection. And, of course, the new laws are sure to send hardcore file-sharers deeper into the hidden internet, using networks and software that hide file-sharing activity. But if challenges and concerns raised by ISPs and consumer groups over here do not prove to be insurmountable or justified in France, there will be a much stronger case for a three-strike system over here.