France
By Pascale Gelly
As reported in the October issue of the Privacy Advisor (page 10), the law to fight against infringing downloads had to be modified in order to meet the requirements of the French Constitutional Court. Finding the new draft still unsatisfactory, some MEPs challenged it once more before the Constitutional Court. This time, the Court approved most of the text.
The principle of “graduated risposte” was maintained:
- Rightful owners can report an unlawful download to a High Authority, which will identify the Internet subscribers with the assistance of Internet access providers, and send them two warnings.
- In case of repetition, a summary criminal procedure can be launched without trial; the sanctions being fines and the suspension of the Internet access.
The Ministry of Culture announced members of the High Authority in November and the first e-mail warnings will be sent at the beginning of 2010.
Pascale Gelly of the French law firm Cabinet Gelly can be reached at pg@pascalegelly.com.
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