France on track to legalize P2P downloading By Shiraz Sidhva
Fri Dec 23, 5:11 AM ET
France's lower house of parliament has voted to legalize peer-to-peer file-sharing of films and music on the Internet, unleashing a wave of protest from the country's film, audiovisual and music industry organizations.
If the measure passes in the upper house, France would become the first country to legalize peer-to-peer downloading at a time when most Western nations are battling to curb illegal downloading on the Internet.
Introduced as two amendments to a government bill aimed at toughening digital copyright laws, the measure was approved by a vote of 30-28 at about midnight Wednesday, with very few of the National Assembly's 577 members present. The amendments have recommended that Internet users pay a fixed-royalties fee of $8.50 per month -- in the form of a monthly subscription charge -- for unlimited downloading, thus legalizing all file-sharing deemed for personal use.
France's professional film, music and audiovisual organizations displayed a rare show of solidarity at a news conference late Thursday, resolving to do "everything in their power" to stall the measure, which would have to survive a vote in the Senate before it becomes law.
"This could be a catastrophe for French cinema, affecting present and future generations of creators and artists," said producer Alain Terzian, who heads leading French film producers' union UPF.
The country's top artists and entertainers have sworn to oppose the law that might affect their livelihood, threatening to "march to the National Assembly if need be" to stop the bill from becoming a law, according to a spokesperson for audiovisual production union USPA.
"If my music is going to be free, then I insist that the government's representatives who work for the public good also do it for free," popular French singer Michel Sardou said.
"It's a very bad idea (that) could spell disaster for French cinema and completely ruin the business model of pay TV companies like Canal Plus," said Nicholas Seydoux, chairman of French film company Gaumont and ALPA, France's main audiovisual anti-piracy body.
Pointing out that the vote could jeopardize the livelihoods of artists in the music and film industry, Seydoux said in an interview that he was certain that the lawmakers who voted for the measure were "not at all clear about the true implications of such a law and only used their votes to assert their independence from the government."
"We are not trying to ban anything, we just want to ensure that the work of others isn't stolen," Seydoux added, saying he approved of the government's move to warn pirates not to illegally download movies and music from the Internet before fining them. "We realize it's impossible to produce all offenders before a judge," he said. "But we have to take some measures to stop such a mass problem."
The government is in a position to overturn the amendments, either by calling for another debate (the bill was debated in the house Tuesday and Wednesday) or if the Senate votes down the bill.
French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres has asked that a parliamentary debate on the amendment be put off until a later date -- probably after the holiday season -- to ensure that more members are engaged in the issue, a spokesman in his office said late Thursday.
The amendment, which is attached to a bill on intellectual property rights, seeks to bring France in line with a 2001 European Union directive, which stipulates that "authors cannot forbid the reproduction of works that are made on any format from an online communications service when they are intended to be used privately" and not for commercial use.
Consumer groups, including the dominant UFC-Que Choisir, rejoiced at Wednesday night's vote. "We never expected this, but France has proved yet again that it stands for all kinds of freedom," a spokesman for the consumer group said Thursday. But judging from the furor the move has caused, "our happiness may be short-lived," he said.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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