French citizens caught downloading copyrighted music three times will not face possible banishment off the Internet after French politicians rejected a controversial Internet bill.
The proposed legislation, which is backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy, was unable to get the proper support, with the latest vote 21 to 15 against the bill.
Despite this temporary setback, it's likely that supporting politicians will again bring the bill up in front of legislators before the end of the month. The bill was originally approved by the Senate, but must now make it through the National Assembly before it can be signed into law.
"This law is the result of an agreement between artists, producers and telecommunications companies," a statement by Sarkozy said. He'll continue to support the bill and won't let politicians give up "because of derisory moves that have the effect of harming creative diversity."
Supporters of the bill will continue to carefully reword it while trying to persuade nay sayers to approve it during the next vote. Critics said the bill is too intrusive, and it's too unfair to consumers; for example, an earlier draft would ban net-access for infringing users but force them to keep paying their Internet bill, despite losing service.
Furthermore, critics also said that it's an unrealistic monitoring structure, especially when public Wi-Fi access points and proxies are considered.
Music revenue has fallen over the years -- with much blame aimed towards file sharing -- so copyright holders are pressuring politicians to come up with stricter laws to battle online piracy.
