Posted 11/03/08 at 01:25:57 PM by Paul Lilly

The World Series might be over (congrats Philly fans), but baseball fever is apparently sweeping through France in the form of a "three strikes" copyright enforcement proposal gaining ground in the country's Senate. The pitch is this: Get caught downloading illegal content a first time and receive an email from the ISP with a warning. A second strike earns a written letter via snail mail, and a third strike means you're out. Of course, in baseball striking out is only temporary until the next at-bat, and for internet surfers caught breaking the law three times, they'd have to wait a year before having their internet connection turned back on.

The controversial legislation is receiving widespread support with a cross-party vote showing 297 in favor of the new law and only 16 voting against. That leaves it up to the French National Assembly to vote on and decide the proposal's fate. If it should pass, the French government could find itself at odds with the European Parliament, who earlier this year shot down the notion of cutting off repeat offenders.

Think this type of legislation could ever fly in the U.S.? Hit the jump and post your thoughts.

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P2P, france, peer to peer, anti-piracy, software piracy, three strikes

Posted 06/24/08 at 02:25:56 PM by Mark Pengelski

Starting in January 2009, French users bittorrenting the latest film or music from singer Carla Bruni can get the guillotine -- from the Internet at least. That's the plan approved by the French presidential cabinet last week. It goes to a vote in the French Parliament later this year.

Under the 'three strikes plan', individuals who do not cease their illegal downloads after 2 (very official) warnings will be have their broadband service disconnected for 1 year. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said "There's no reason that the internet should be a lawless zone."

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bittorrent, piracy, law, france, downloads