French lawmakers are poised to approve a law to create the world’s first surveillance system for Internet piracy, one that would force Internet service providers in some cases to disconnect customers accused of making illegal downloads.
The proposal, called the “Création et Internet” and known informally as the “three strikes” directive, has won preliminary votes by the Parliament and is expected to be approved in both houses Thursday. It has support from the governing party of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The law empowers music and film industry associations to hire companies to analyze the downloads of individual users to detect piracy, and to report violations to a new agency overseeing copyright protection. The agency would be authorized to trace the illegal downloads back to individuals using the downloading computer’s unique identification number, known as its Internet Protocol, or IP, address, which the Internet service providers have on record.
For a first violation, the agency would send a warning by e-mail.
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If a user made another illegal download within three months, a second warning would be sent by certified mail. If a third infraction occurred within a year, the service provider would be required to sever service.
Piracy costs the film and music industry in France at least 1 billion euros, or $1.3 billion, a year in lost sales, according to industry figures.
“This law is definitely overdue and it’s only a fair and proportionate response to a major problem,” said Marc Guez, the managing director of the French Society of Phonographic Producers, which represents recording companies. “Our members are losing more than 500 million euros a year in sales.”
