FRENCH legislators yesterday rejected legislation to permit cutting off the internet connections of people who illegally download music and films. But the government plans to resurrect the bill for another vote soon.
Backers of the bill – record labels, film companies and law-and-order parliamentarians – could not rally enough support in a near-empty lower chamber ahead of the Easter break. MPs voted 21 to 15 against it.
The measure would have created a gov
ernment agency to track and punish those who pirate music and film on the internet. Analysts said the law would have helped to boost shrinking profits in the entertainment industry, which has struggled with online file-sharing that lets people swap music files without paying.
The government, intent on gaining the upper hand on piracy, has managed to slip the measure into a 28 April special session devoted to initiatives by President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative UMP party. Music labels, film distributors and artists, who have seen CD and DVD sales in France plummet by 60 per cent in the past six years, almost universally support the measure, hailing it as a decisive step toward eliminating online piracy and an example to other governments.
Artists' groups in France have said the future of the country's music and film industries depends on cracking down on illegal downloads, and the legislation received industry support from around the world.
Legislators and activists who opposed the legislation said it would represent a Big Brother intrusion on civil liberties, while the EU Parliament last month adopted a non-binding resolution that defines internet access as a "fundamental freedom".
