New Copyright Law Starts Today In France - Bad News for Internet

News Via PCworld

Software publishers and Socialist Party members are among the groups unhappy with the new French copyright law that took effect today. French Internet surfers could now go to prison for downloading copyrighted music files without authorization, while companies such as Apple Computer, which make or use DRM (digital rights management) technology to protect music downloads, may have to provide details of their DRM system to their competitors in the interests of interoperability.

Though the law is intended to protect copyright material, it will, in effect, actually undermine copy-protection efforts, according to The Business Software Alliance (BSA), a group of software publishers. The BSA's main criticism is that the law requires makers of copy protection software to disclose information about their security technologies.

Now that the law is in effect, Internet users who download copyrighted music files using P-to-P (peer to peer) file-sharing software technically could face prison terms or fines of up to $640,000. However, the Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the law's sponsor, has made clear that was not his intention.

Glad i dont live in France, another Barmy law

Ohhh, my french friend wont like this

This is a step in the wrong direction,we a human society need to improve information exchange not hinder it.:(I wonder if this legislation affects open source software licensed under GPL,MIT or BSD licenses?

AH! I vant ze x-boxe!

thank god this does not happen in USA. RIAA is dying for something like this which will ultimately just kill the industry (they keep **king the industry over).

Does anybody know how this affects open source licences like GPL?Or if it does at all,I haven't had a chance to look at the actual legislation.

No Offense but this means im never EVER living in France! lol :p

Yeah, hopefully nothing like this happens in the U.S.

well, it's not a surprise for me. sad, but expected

if you keep giving up our rights for those of the big companies by voting the right handed (capitalist parties) that always fight for the enterprise instead of the plain, working population, that's what we will have in the future in all "modern" countries

as for the US, well, I certainly see something like this not too far away, as the states are the biggest producer of media crap (music, movies, games, etc).

it won't take long until big companies pay lots of money to overcome any resistance the can find on politicians. actually they already put lots of money into politics...they just have to put a bit more, that's all

and soon, all "illegal" downloaders will be treated as terrorists or something similar

that's the future we are building...a very sad one, but we deserve it

You know xiringu I agree with you completely.best thing we can all do as consumers is support free and opensource software.That way big media companies can't control advancement.Capitalism as it is now is not democracy since capitalism really only gives power to the rich.