Most likely to land on the Constitutional Council's table again

Sep 16, 2009 14:41 GMT  ·  By

The much disputed French three-strike anti-piracy bill dubbed HADOPI made a comeback and is again close to being signed into law. A revised version of the bill has just passed the vote in the French Parliament's preeminent body, the National Assembly.

Back in June 2008, the French government introduced a bill called "Law favoring the diffusion and protection of creation on Internet.” The new proposed legislation aimed at tackling the issue of Internet piracy by creating a governmental agency with the power to order ISPs to disconnect customers who are suspected of repeated copyright infringement.

This new body is to be called the "High Authority of Diffusion of the Art Works,” or in French "Haute Autorite pour la Diffusion des &Oeuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet” (HADOPI). Copyright owners can notify the agency about copyright violations directly and the latter is supposed to send two warning letters to the supposed offenders, before ordering their connection suspended.

The bill has already faced a lot of criticism and its original version was ruled unconstitutional by the French Constitutional Council, who argued its decision by pointing out that "the Internet is a component of the freedom of expression" and that "in French law the presumption of innocence prevails." Meanwhile, the bill is in conflict with European directives, which only allow courts to decide the suspension of Internet access.

The HADOPI bill version 2 still has to be reviewed by a joint parliamentary commission, which will work out the differences between the separate variants adopted by the two chambers, Senate and National Assembly. The final revision will be subjected to votes in the two chambers again, but all this process is expected to be in its favor.

What contestants are hoping for is that the anti-HADOPI National Assembly deputies will contest the constitutionality of the bill again, which will send it back for analysis to the Constitutional Council. "The HADOPI is a disturbing step towards the control of information circulating on the Internet by economic and political actors. All seem to agree now to stifle this great space of expression and freedom that we, as citizens, must protect," commented Jeremie Zimmermann, spokesperson for French civil liberties group, La Quadrature du Net (translated from French).