France Passes Three Strikes Net Piracy Bill

On the second attempt, France's National Assembly has passed a net piracy bill that would see offenders disconnected from the Web.

Last month the French National Assembly rejected a bill that would see illegal file sharers cut off from the Net after being caught three times. Yesterday, in a 296-233 vote, they passed it, making President Nicolas Sarkozy, a firm advocate of the legislation, a happy man.

The Creation and Internet bill, as it’s known, will now go to a vote in the French Senate today.

Setting a harsh global precedent, the bill would see persistent illegal file sharers cut off after receiving an e-mail warning from a state agency, followed by a letter, and finally a year’s disconnection from the Net.

John Kennedy, chairman of the IFPI, the global music industry body, called the bill "an effective and proportionate way of tackling online copyright infringement and migrating users to the wide variety of legal music services in France."