OT: France Lawmakers Endorse File-Sharing

jrazz wrote on 12/22/2005, 12:40 PM
Hopefully this won't be as controversial as the last post, but I thought it to be interesting... pay a monthly fee and share away!

Here is the link.
"The right of consumers to make copies of their music and videos for private use is enshrined in European law, and media companies have faced legal action in France for selling copy-protected CDs and DVDs. "

j razz

Comments

p@mast3rs wrote on 12/22/2005, 1:09 PM
Canada does it and it doesnt seem to hurt either. Definitely something to look in to. :)
farss wrote on 12/22/2005, 1:12 PM
Isn't Canada a province of France anyway?
Bob.
p@mast3rs wrote on 12/22/2005, 1:26 PM
Um, dont know. But Canada has been allowing downloading from P2P for a while now. They just add on an extra tax to blank media. I believe that you cant share in Canada but you can download.
p@mast3rs wrote on 12/22/2005, 1:39 PM
The final lower-house vote is not expected until after Jan. 17, when deputies return from their winter break. The bill requires only one further vote in the Senate to become law, under the emergency procedure invoked by the government to comply with a 2001 European Union directive on digital piracy.

Now my question is what can US content producers do to prevent this short of not making content available in France? Who wants to bet that now P2P networks will dummy IPs to resolve to France addresses?
PierreB wrote on 12/22/2005, 1:50 PM
" a province of France..."

Hehe. Not for a while actually.

Seriously, Canadian "rights" are quite limited... here's a quote from Michael Geist who is erudite AND readable, for an academic:

"Canada has an equivalent private copying system, though it solely applies to sound recordings and not video works. To see France consider extending its own system, however, provides some much needed context for the limited nature of Canada's private copying system. The Canadian system is clearly in need of reform, if only because the rights it grants are far too limited (ie. no copying onto a digital audio device such as an iPod) given the tens of millions collected each year. Reform could go two ways - either extend private copying as France appears to be considering so that it truly covers private uses or do away with private copying altogether by replacing it with a much-needed fair use provision in Canada."

His website is http://www.michaelgeist.ca/ for those interested in Internet and E-commerce Law.

Pierre