France

The French government brought in a law for measures to enforce copyright, which is officially called the Creation and Internet law, but colloquially referred to as the Hdaopi law ( loi Hadopi), and which have been dubbed " 3 strikes and you're out!" Warnings will be sent to thousands of users accused of copyright infringement (delivered by ISPs to their customers on behalf of the copyright owners) and penalties will include termination of Internet access. The proposals were first put forward by the 'Mission Olivennes', and commission headed by Denis Olivennes, former head of the French retail chain called the Fnac. The law passed through the French legislature in 2009.

The French law is supervised by a government body known as the Hadopi. It is mandating changes to computer security software which effectively entail mass surveillance of Internet users. Those behind the measures are the private corporations (entertainment and music companies who own large libraries of copyright material), who will look for users alleged to be downloading files without payment or permission.

The progress of the Hadopi measures is of interest to other EU Member States, some of whom are thinking about implementing similar copyright enforcement provisions.

My paper The French law on Creation and Internet – using contract law to squash file-sharing is available here.

If you like the articles in this section and you are interested in France, copyright enforcement policy and the Hadopi law, you may like my books A Copyright Masquerade: How Corporate Lobbying Threatens Online Freedoms and The Copyright Enforcement Enigma - Internet Politics and the ‘Telecoms Package’

France wants to relaunch the EU 'fight against piracy'

Monica Horten

Published on 25 October 2013

The Hollande government in France seems unable to decide on a policy position for copyright. Not long ago, it shunted the Hadopi authority into a siding, now it is calling other Member States aboard for new Europe-wide anti-piracy measures.

In a new position paper, issued at the European Council of Ministers meeting in Brussels this week, the French government has called for a new European plan to address copyright infringement and counterfeits. Using rights-holder language, it says it wants to ‘re-launch of the fight against piracy’ in Europe, and it puts forward possible avenues for the EU to explore. Most concerning, is its proposal to

Hadopi turns three – bon anniversaire?

Monica Horten

Published on 14 October 2013

Hadopi, the public authority charged with adminstering France’s 3-strikes anti-filesharing law, has just had its third birthday. To mark anniversary, it has released a report covering its activity to date. Interestingly, it reports 1 sole Internet disconnection in 3 years. It also outlines the underlying bureacratic process, plus an issue with identifying subscribers. A close reading of the report raises questions about the scale and costs of implementing 3-strikes measures to enforce copyright online. Can it really provide value for money?

Hadopi slashed & smartphones taxed in French 3-strikes re-modelling

Monica Horten

Published on 14 May 2013

But what of intermediary liability? Iptegrity has examined the Lescure report.

The French government, led by the Socialist President Hollande, is to partially reverse the controversial 3-strikes (graduated response) law and re-modelling it in what government hopes will be a more user-friendly format. France is also bringing in a range of new measures that are intended appease the copyright industries. Among them is a proposal to tax devices such as smartphones and tablets. Whilst these measures will grab the headlines, there are other proposals lurking beneath the surface that are less clear, for example, the French government’s approach to intermediary iability in this context.