French legislators toughen stance over illegal downloaders
Thursday, April 9, 2009 at 11:12AM The French National Assembly has rejected a law that threatened to suspend the internet access of those caught downloading copyright works without permission.
Deputies in the National Assembly rejected a compromise text proposed by a joint commission of lawmakers from the Assembly and the Senate, just hours after the Senate had approved it.
In the mostly empty chamber of the National Assembly, 15 deputies voted in favor and 21 voted against, according to local news reports.
Conflicting versions of the law were voted by the French National Assembly last week and the French Senate last year, forcing the government to appoint a joint commission composed of members of the two houses of the French parliament to reconcile the differences in a final text.
The joint commission discarded a number of amendments voted by the National Assembly that had softened the Senate’s earlier draft of the law.
It reinstated the double penalty for internet users accused three times of downloading copyright works without permission: In addition to having their Internet access suspended, they will now have to continue to pay for that service for the duration of the suspension.
illegal downloading, law in Movies, Software 