France Assembly Defies EU, Passes Three Strikes Law

According to BBC News, the bill passed France's National Assembly -- the lower house of French Parliament -- by a vote of 296 to 233. The bill, known as HADOPI, now heads to the Senate for final approval, which is expected on Wednesday.

If passed, HADOPI would be enforced by a newly created state agency in France. The agency would send suspected illegal file-sharers a warning e-mail, followed by a written letter, and if their piracy continued and was found out for a third time, would cut off their Internet connection for a full year. Doing so, however, would violate the EU's measure, passed last week, which also included an amendment that stated, "Internet access is a fundamental right such as the freedom of expression and the freedom to access information."

HADOPI, which is a French acronym and in English is loosely translated as the "Creation and Internet Law," was voted down by the French Parliament last month. At the time, it had been widely expected to pass. The legislation is supported by President Nicolas Sarkozy.

HADOPI has plenty of opposition both in France and around the world, especially from privacy watchdogs that have described it as akin to Big Brother-esque state surveillance.

A socialist parliamentarian, Patrick Bloche, on Tuesday called it "dangerous, useless, inefficient, and very risky for us citizens," according to BBC News.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents movie and music-recording industry companies worldwide, has come out in support of HADOPI. The IFPI last month successfully prosecuted Swedish BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay for assisting copyright infringement.

IFPI Chairman John Kennedy, who during that trial called The Pirate Bay the No. 1 source of illegal downloading in the world, told BBC News that HADOPI was an "effective and proportionate way of tackling online copyright infringement and migrating users to a wide variety of legal music services in France."

The passage of HADOPI tees up a showdown between France and the EU, which, according to news sources, remains steadfast in its opposition to a three strikes rule for illegal downloaders.

In the United States, the role of Internet service providers in helping to fight digital pirates has also been a magnet for controversy.

In late March, reports emerged of involvement by three major ISPs -- AT&T, Cox and Comcast -- in a plan by the Recording Industry Association of America to root out suspected illegal downloaders. All three ISPs denied they had "partnered" with the RIAA, but did say at the time that they continued to warn suspected downloaders of potentially illegal activity.