stories filed under: "france"
Not Many French Users Scared Away From File Sharing By Hadopi
from the there-goes-that-plan dept
One of the main arguments made by the entertainment industry in support of three strikes rules is that it won't really kick people off the internet, because so many people would just stop file sharing. It looks like that's not really happening. A new survey in France suggests that only 4% of people have decided not to file share since the new rules were put into effect. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to ask whether or not any of those people actually started buying music instead, but I would doubt it. A lot larger percentage said they'd keep on downloading, with many taking more precautions not to get caught. Meanwhile, about 75% of those surveyed said they didn't download at all... but they're not thrilled that they now have to pay higher ISP fees to cover the costs of Hadopi.Filed Under: file sharing, france, hadopi
End Result Of HADOPI? Higher ISP Fees
from the but-is-anyone-buying-more? dept
It's not like people didn't warn everyone what would happen with various three strikes laws. The costs for ISPs were widely discussed, even if the recording industry lobbyists insisted they were overblown. Yet, here we are, a few months into France's HADOPI implementation of three strikes, and French ISPs are already warning users that they need to jack up fees to pay for compliance with HADOPI. And, of course, no one has provided any evidence that kicking people off the internet for file sharing makes anyone any more likely to buy. So, now, not only are people less inclined to buy just in general, but they have less money, because they have to pay more to their ISP. How's that going to save the recording industry's old business again?France Wants To Extend Private Copying Levy To Tablets... But Not If They Run Microsoft Windows
from the say-what-now? dept
Kurata points us to the news that French politicians are debating extending the "you must be a criminal" private copying levy to tablet computers -- but, oddly, the new levy would not apply to tablets running Windows (Google translation from the original French). The tax would apply to any iPad or Android-based device, but apparently Windows tablets won't be counted, since they'll be classified as full computers, while the other tablets are in this new taxable category. Not surprisingly, this has some companies up in arms, with the French-based Archos particularly steamed, since it's producing Android-based tablets, and doesn't like the fact that its government seems to be giving preferential treatment to an American company.Filed Under: android, copyright, france, ipad, private copying levies, tablets, windows
Companies: archos, microsoft
French National Assembly Approves Internet Censorship Law
from the lovely dept
We were just talking about how Thai government officials were admitting that internet blacklists simply don't work, and along comes France's National Assembly to approve a law to set up a blacklist allowing the government to censor any website it doesn't like. The full law isn't passed yet, apparently, as it still needs to be approved by a variety of others before it becomes a law. There's also some hope that the French Constitutional Council would refuse to validate the law.Filed Under: blacklist, censorship, france, free speech, internet, internet filter
Record Labels Angry That Hadopi Isn't Kicking People Off The Internet Fast Enough
from the pick-up-the-pace dept
A few months back, we noted that Hadopi, the French bureaucracy in charge of sending out "you're an infringer" notices and then kicking people off the internet under that country's three strikes plan, was receiving 25,000 notices from record labels per day (there was some confusion on that story, as I originally believed Hadopi was sending out 25,000 notices, but it was only receiving that many). Only a few months later, and the labels have now ramped it up to 50,000 per day, which was the target amount that they had set back in September. However, it appears that the record labels are upset that, while they're sending Hadopi 50,000 notices per day, Hadopi is only sending out notices on about 2,000 per day. The industry wants Hadopi to just do what I had thought they were doing originally and rubber-stamp all their notices and pass them on. It hopes to get up to 10,000, but the industry is still pushing for 50,000 per day, which is insane when you think about it.Think about how many mistakes are being made when you're sending 50,000 notices per day. Over the course of about five years, the RIAA apparently sued less than 20,000 people -- and still made a lot of mistakes. US Copyright Group got a lot of attention for accusing a few thousand people of file sharing particular movies -- and also appears to have made a lot of mistakes. Yet, here, with Hadopi, the labels are accusing 50,000 people per day, and are upset that Hadopi isn't just rubber stamping all the notices? It appears that the record labels don't care at all about what happens if they accuse totally innocent people.
Filed Under: france, hadopi, labels, three strikes
French Hosting Company Asks Judge If It's Okay To Host Wikileaks
from the better-than-just-taking-them-down... dept
It seems like, as in the US with Senator Lieberman's desire for censorship, a French politician has also been looking to censor Wikileaks, which has been partially hosted by French firm OVH. However, rather than just folding, PrometheeFeu alerts us to the news that OVH notes that their job is to run infrastructure and they have no feelings one way or another about Wikileaks itself. However, due to all of the publicity and controversy, they're asking a judge if it's okay for them to do what they're doing (Google translation of the original French). They specifically state that they don't think it should be up to politicians (or the company itself) to decide but that a court of law should actually determine if it's legal. That certainly seems like a better solution than just taking it down...Filed Under: censorship, france, hosting, wikileaks
Companies: ovh
French Author Plagiarizes Wikipedia; Does That Mean His Entire Book Is Now CC Licensed?
from the a-legal-test dept
PrometheeFeu alerts us to a fascinating situation happening in France. Apparently, a successful French author, Michel Houellebecq, recently came out with a novel, La Carte et Le Territoire. However, it turns out that Houellebecq copied decent chunks of three separate Wikipedia articles in the novel, without any credit or indication that he was quoting another source. This is what is normally referred to as plagiarism -- or, in some views, sampling. This isn't all that surprising, and we hear stories of plagiarism in books all the time. In fact, we tend to think that people get way too upset over such things in books. After being called on it, Houellebecq appears to have admitted to copying those sections.However, what makes this case more interesting, is what came next. Some folks realized that Wikipedia articles are licensed via a CC-BY-SA license, which in real terms says that you are free to share and remix the work, so long as it's with attribution and (most importantly):
"If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one."If you're paying attention, you'll realize that it appears Houellebecq's La Carte et Le Territoire appears to "build upon" the Wikipedia works, which would then mean that his work, as well, must also be available under such a license. Thus, they've created a PDF version of the book -- with the proper Wikipedia references added back in -- and put it up for download under the very same CC-BY-SA license.
The question now is whether or not the author or his publisher will take legal action -- and whether or not the reading of the Wikipedia CC-BY-SA license is accurate. It certainly seems like a pretty strong argument can be made in favor of those now sharing the work. The terms of the Wikipedia content are clear, and thus, in using that content, it does appear that Houellebecq and his publisher may be required to abide by the terms of the license. Of course, there are other questions raised by this as well: such as the enforceability of a license that the person might not have read or understood. Before people automatically assume those posting the PDF are in the right here, remember all those stories we've discussed in the past about questionable end user license agreements that people agree to on websites without ever having actually seen them. In those cases, many of us feel that such licenses should not be enforceable. Is the same thing true for a Creative Commons license?
Update: As noted in the comments, the publisher has said it will take legal action against those who posted the work, though it's unclear if such proceedings have started yet.
Filed Under: copyright, creative commons, france, michel houellebecq, plagiarism, wikipedia
Model Wins Lawsuit Against French Playboy For Publishing 'Unauthorized' Naked Photos
from the publicity-rights? dept
Erik sent over the the news that Dutch model Lara Stone has apparently won damages against French Playboy for publishing what were referred to as "unauthorized" photos of her in their June issue. Tragically, much of the reporting on this doesn't explain what kind of photos we're talking about (from the description, it almost sounded like photos taken while she was unaware). However, in the interest of understanding the legal implications only (of course), I (ahem) found the photos in question (oh so very NSFW). The photos all appear to be professional studio shots, most likely from a single photoshoot. Stone claims that her main complaint was just that "no woman wants photos of them to be published in Playboy without permission." However, I'm wondering how French Playboy got the photos in the first place, and if it wouldn't have a claim against the photographer, if he had claimed the rights to the photos (and produced a signed model release form). Obviously, the photos themselves were initially taken with permission, since it's clearly a professional photoshoot. So, where in the process did the photos become "unauthorized"?Filed Under: france, lara stone, playboy, publicity rights, unauthorized
Companies: playboy
Hadopi Already Up To Sending Out 25,000 'First Strike' Notices Per Day
from the no-internet-for-you dept
When Hadopi first started sending out "you're an infringer!" first strike notices last month, we noted that it was initially sending out 10,000 per day with plans to ramp up to 50,000. It isn't taking long. The latest reports show that it's already sending out 25,000 notices per day. That seems like an awful lot. Remember, in all the years the RIAA was suing individuals for file sharing, it only ended up suing 18,000 people total, though it threatened legal action against 30,000.Of course, this should give you an indication of why the entertainment industry likes these sorts of three strikes things much more than actual due process and lawsuits. They can go after a lot more people, for a lot less money, and a lot less of pesky due process and silly antiquated concepts like "innocent until proven guilty."
