Talking of the three-strike system, France's proposals to introduce said system have been discussed in the French Parliament this week.
The new laws which, as previously reported, would see the creation of a new government agency with the powers to order internet service providers to cut off persistent file sharers, was passed by the French Parliament's upper house, the Senate, last year, but still needs to get through the lower house, the French Assembly. Although the French music industry considers itself to be on a roll with this, having successfully convinced the country's government of the need for legislative action against online piracy, there are still plenty of politicians and lobbying groups who very much oppose the three-strike proposals, and needless to say, they've been out in force this week. Alain Bazot, the boss of French consumer rights group UFC-Que Choisir, said at a press conference in Paris this week: "We won't accept such a repressive project", adding concerns that the new rules did not sufficiently take into account that it is possible to hack into other users' WiFi connections and file share via their IP addresses. Such hacking, some argue, will only increase if the three-strike system is introduced. French economist and former government advisors Jacques Attali, meanwhile, wrote on his blog this week that the proposals were "scandalous and absurd" adding: "It is absurd, because people no longer download, they stream audio and video... absurd because it would deprive entire families of Internet access... because real artists have nothing to lose by letting people know their work. It is scandalous because, instead of for once giving something for free to young people, the main victims of the crisis, we prefer to fatten up big record and film companies". The music industry has been busy lobbying too, of course. A long stream of top French artists have been wheeled out to back the proposals, while the boss of the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry, John Kennedy, told reporters: "The music industry internationally strongly supports the 'Creation And Internet Law' proposed by the French government. The proposal is good for a thriving music market in the 21st century, good for music consumers and good for artists, creators and producers whose rights need protecting in the digital world". The Assembly will return to the issue later in the month before moving to a vote on the proposals.