Does The Punishment Fit The Crime? Is Manslaughter An Equivalent Crime To Copyright Infringement?

from the manslaughter-is-about-the-same dept

Via ZeroPaid, we learn of a fun article in the French publication Numerama, which tries to compare the length of time in jail one could get for file sharing in France to a few other crimes (Google translation from the original French). The results are telling, in terms of just how extreme current copyright laws really are. The article includes two lists. The first is of crimes that can get you about the same amount of time in jail. This list includes:

• Manslaughter
• Sending death threats
• Doing biomedical experiments on a person without consent
• Provoking someone to commit suicide.
• Theft
• Escaping prison
• Forgery

Clearly, sharing a few songs in an unauthorized manner fits with that list. As for the list of crimes that will get you less punishment, there are some surprises:

• Exposing yourself in public
• Sexual harassment
• Domestic violence
• Identity fraud
• Abandoning a family
• Getting a minor drunk
• Making sexual advances on someone less than 15 years old
• Abuse and cruelty to animals
• Destruction of property

Somehow, it's difficult to see how infringement belongs in that first list. But, that's what you get in this day and age.

Filed Under: copyright, france, punishment

If Even The Death Penalty Won't Stop Infringement... Perhaps A Different Approach Is Needed

from the enforcement-doesn't-work dept

We've argued for years that stricter enforcement doesn't stop "piracy," no matter how many times industry folks and politicians insist it otherwise. There's been some recent new empirical evidence that enforcement doesn't work, from the massive SSRC report, but still politicians and industry folks seem to think enforcement is the only way forward. Rick Falkvinge questions how far it needs to go before people realize enforcement won't stop copying when copying feels totally natural. He points to the situation a few centuries ago in France, where the king set up (and sold) monopolies on certain fabric patterns -- and when people kept copying the fabric patterns, they kept ratcheting up enforcement mechanisms until it was punishable by death. And out of that, sixteen thousand people ended up dying.

But at least copying went down, right? Nope. There was no noticeable change in the amount of copied fabrics:

Capital punishment didn’t even make a dent in the pirating of the fabrics. Despite the fact that some villages had been so ravaged that everybody knew somebody personally who had been executed by public torture, the copying continued unabated at the same level.

So why do politicians and industry folk still think that greater legal threats will make a difference?

Filed Under: copyright, death penalty, france, infringement, nature

54-Year Old School Teacher Who Doesn't Know How To Download Movies First To Be Kicked Off The Internet In France

from the hadopi'd dept

We recently noted that, over in France, under the HADOPI three strikes regime, they had their first 10 people get their third strike, and each was being reviewed to see if they should lose their connection. Well, it looks like the first guy has lost his connection... and it's a 54-year old school teacher who insists he has no idea how to download unauthorized content. The story is a little unclear, but it sounds like he had open WiFi, and he didn't understand what the "first strike," was really about. When he got the "second strike" notice, he tried to figure out how to secure his WiFi, but it either took too long or he was unable to figure it out... and so along came the third strike. The guy is pretty upset about this, for a damn good reason. It's going to be ridiculously expensive to fight and it may get appealed up to European courts outside of France, which would entail significant travel expenses as well. This is why it's supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, right?

Filed Under: france, hadopi, oversight, review, three strikes
Companies: hadopi

France Three Strikes Law Suggests A Huge Percentage Of French Citizens At Risk Of Losing Internet Access

from the yeah,-that's-not-going-to-play-well dept

When you have a law that a huge percentage of the population violates, you have to wonder if the law is just. The first data is out about the French 3-strikes HADOPI program, and apparently copyright holders have sent in notices claiming 18 million incidents of unauthorized file sharing. The Torrentfreak article suggests that it's 18 million individuals, but I think that they really mean 18 million incidents, which could include some repeat offenders. Still, it suggests a large number of people in France have engaged in file sharing... Of course, HADOPI, much to the chagrin of the entertainment industry, only sent out 470,000 "first strike" notices, 20,000 second strike notices, and just ten third strike notices (which are being reviewed by judges, but no one has been disconnected yet). It'll be interesting to see if there's any noticeable impact on purchases in France. Other reports have already suggested that a mere 4% of unauthorized file sharers in France said they were changing their behavior because of this. Many others were simply shifting to encryption to keep their activities away from prying eyes. Still, the bigger point is that when you have so many people violating the law, perhaps the problem is with the law, and not the people violating it...

Filed Under: france, hadopi, statistics

Major French Political Party Puts Repealing HADOPI/Three Strikes On Its Platform

from the but-suggests-a-blanket-license-instead dept

Apparently the secretary of the Socialist Party in France -- which came in second in the last elections, so is a serious party there -- has suggested that the party is interested in appealing HADOPI. Hadopi, for those not paying attention, is the French three strikes plan, designed to kick accused (not convicted) file sharers off the internet. Instead, she is proposing a blanket license on ISPs. Such ideas have been discussed elsewhere, and I believe there are significant and serious problems with a blanket ISP tax, but on the whole, it's a much more acceptable solution than kicking people off the internet. At the very least, it's focused on a carrot-approach, rather than an unworkable stick-approach.

That said, there are still significant problems with any such blanket license, many of which we've covered in the past. It significantly distorts the market, and often at the expense of up-and-coming artists. It also kicks off an ever upwards ratcheting process that we've seen historically with collection societies. Furthermore, it sounds like the Socialist Party's ideas here still include "strengthening of copyright, particularly in the digital sphere." That sounds like a step backwards.

Filed Under: collective licensing, france, hadopi, three strikes

French Government Looks To Create Great Firewall Of France

from the following-in-the-footsteps-of-china dept

It was just a few weeks ago that Nicolas Sarkozy brought together a bunch of techies at the e-G8 to tell them that he wanted to start regulating the internet much more seriously. Apparently, he's not wasting much time. There's a draft executive order making the rounds that would give the French government wide latitude in censoring the internet throughout France. It really sounds quite similar to China's "Great Firewall."

To implement article 18 of the law for the Digital Economy of June 21th, 2004, the French government is proposing to give to several of its ministries the power to order the censorship of online content that harms or otherwise puts at risk public order and security, the protection of minors, of public health, national defence, or physical persons.

Clearly, the definition of these categories of content are both vague and overreaching. Such censorship measures – whether they consist in the removal or filtering of content – would be directly undertaken by the government, without any decision by a judicial authority. In practice, they would apply to all kinds of websites or online news services.

This isn't going to go over well.

Filed Under: censorship, france

French Government Creates Its Own Giant Patent Troll

from the state-sponsored-patent-trolling dept

It may seem like we've been particularly tough on the French government lately, but it keeps doing ridiculous things. The latest, as written up by Guillaume Champeau, is that it has built its own giant patent trolling operation, funded with €100 million (Google translation from the original French). The operation, called "France Brevets" or "France Patents," will buy up patents from small operations and put the French government in charge of "licensing" (read: shaking down companies for money). Think of it as Intellectual Ventures, but run by the French government.

Filed Under: france, patent troll, patents
Companies: france patents

French Radio And Television Newscasters Say 'Au Revoir' To Facebook And Twitter

from the paging-george-carlin dept

Say what you will about France (go ahead! -- that's why we have comment threads!), but it's never been afraid to look reality right in the eye and attempt to legislate around it. The French government seems to profoundly misunderstand the internet, an ignorance which has resulted in some of the worst legislation ever passed and some of the most wrongheaded judicial decisions ever handed down.

Here's a brief recap of France's legislative/judicial prowess:

• Introduced HADOPI, the anti-piracy initiative better known as "three strikes," which was recently condemned by the U.N. as "a violation of civil rights" due to its ability to kick certain users off the internet if it doesn't approve of their activity. (See also: Libya, Syria, Egypt, Iran.)
• A French court declared that including the word "torrent" in your URL equals an admission of copyright infringement. (If one word = pleading guilty, god help the people at the Mole Station Nursery -- update: removed the link, because the nursery folks appear to have moved on to a new link, and "someone else" has taken over the old one.)
• Passed a data retention law that required an incredible amount of user data (including passwords and verification questions) be gathered by ISPs, who are also required to log every action by every user of their services. (See also: above "See also" list.)

I could go on and on (and on -- I haven't even made it through the first page of search results yet) but you get the idea. If there's an internet-related issue that could possibly be handled badly, the French government has always been there to do just that.

Here's the latest in a long line of intellectually stunted decrees, via Business Insider:

This week we learned that France’s broadcasting regulator had just issued another decree: henceforth, hosts of television and radio programmes must refrain from uttering the words “Facebook” and “Twitter” on the air.

Thus, a French news anchor is not allowed to say to viewers: “For more information on this breaking story, follow us on Twitter.” Nor is any television or radio presenter allowed to mention a programme or network Facebook page. If Facebook or Twitter make the news, they can be mentioned on a strictly “information” basis. But no urging the audience to connect via Facebook or Twitter to learn more, ask questions, give their opinions, and so on.

[We'll pause briefly here for a collective rest-of-the-civilized-world interpretive dance known familiarly as the "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot." Additional exclamation points, question marks and incredulous expletives may be added as needed.]

No, wait! There's a reason for this! Ecoute:

The CSA maintained that any on-air mention of a programme’s Facebook page or Twitter feed constitutes ”clandestine advertising” for these social networks because they are commercial operations. In a word, French television and radio programmes cannot be seen to be promoting Facebook and Twitter as commercial brands.

“Why give preference to Facebook, which is worth billions of dollars, when there are many other social networks that are struggling for recognition,” CSA spokesperson Christine Kelly said. “This would be a distortion of competition. If we allow Facebook and Twitter to be cited on air, it’s opening a Pandora’s Box — other social networks will complain to us saying, ‘why not us?’”

Really? Twitter and Facebook have competitors? I know there are alternatives out there, but nothing I would consider a "competitor" (which would presume some sort of actual "competition"). Myspace? Seriously? Maybe a half-decade ago (or longer). As for Twitter, who else is out there? Tumblr (Blogging for people who don't like writing.™)? whatihadforbreakfast.com?

So, if it isn't a protectionist policy propping up development of Le Facebeauque, what is it? Business Insider's Matthew Fraser has a theory:

The obvious answer is that regulators like to impose rules, if only to make themselves feel important. That reflex is particularly in evidence in a heavily regulated society like France with an omnipresent state...

But there is another, more plausible, explanation. Facebook and Twitter are, of course, American social networks. In France, they are regarded — at least implicitly — as symbols of Anglo-Saxon global dominance — along with Apple, MTV, McDonald’s, Hollywood, Disneyland, and other cultural juggernauts. That there is a deeply-rooted animosity in the French psyche towards Anglo-Saxon cultural domination cannot be disputed; indeed, it has been documented and analysed for decades. Sometimes this cultural resentment finds expression in French regulations and laws, frequently described, and often denounced, by foreigners as protectionism.

Without a better theory in my back pocket, I'm inclined to agree. And like any policy that ignores two of the biggest rules of the internet (and sometimes, real life itself), the Law of Unintended Consequences and the Streisand Effect, it will be interesting to see what sort of backlash develops among the French themselves. The rest of the world hardly needs any more ammunition.

Filed Under: censorship, france
Companies: facebook, twitter

French Court Says Merely Having The Word 'Torrent' In Your Domain Means You Are Encouraging Infringement

from the legal-uses,-anyone? dept

We've noticed before how many copyright maximalists make claims that suggest they believe that all BitTorrent is used for is infringement, even though it is used as an efficient distribution mechanism for all sorts of legitimate offerings. However, a court in France has apparently decided to punish the admin of a forum/search engine for torrent files, in part, by claiming that having the word "torrent" in your URL means that you're encouraging infringement:

The papers include a statement from the Court which declares that “..the names of these sites [when they include the word 'torrent'] encourage illegal activity. Torrent sites are accessed by users of the BitTorrent protocol which has a main, if not unique purpose, of enabling downloading of copyright protected works.”

In a nutshell, having the word “torrent” in a domain name can be reason enough to presume bad intentions.

That's pretty ridiculous, as there are sites that use the word "torrent" that have nothing to do with infringement. Seems like yet another case of people who don't understand technology making decisions that seriously impact everyone.

Filed Under: copyright, france, infringement, language, torrent

German Police Seize Pirate Party Servers Days Before The Election... Because Anonymous Was Chatting?

from the oh-come-on dept

Early this morning, news started breaking that the German police had seized the German Pirate Party's servers. The timing was interesting, in that it happened just two days before an election, which certainly seems questionable. The details, so far, suggest that the action wasn't against the party, but due to a French complaint, because Anonymous was using the Etherpad installation on the server, PiratenPad, to communicate and plan. If you're unfamiliar with Etherpad, it's a pretty popular online collaboration tool. I've used it for other things, including preparing notes for conferences. It's ridiculous overkill to seize an entire server because of the way some people were using Etherpad. It makes no sense, and shows (once again) how law enforcement seems to overreact to things they just don't understand.

Filed Under: anonymous, etherpad, france, germany, pirate party, seizure