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France cracks down on illegal downloads
Music industry praises anti-piracy laws…

By Reuters

Published: Monday 26 November 2007

Internet users in France who frequently download music or films illegally risk losing web access under a new anti-piracy system.

The three-way pact among internet service providers, the government and owners of film and music rights is a boon to the music industry, which has been calling for such measures to stop illicit downloads eating into its sales.

Under the agreement - drawn up by a commission headed by the chief executive of FNAC, one of France's biggest music and film retailers - service providers will issue warning messages to customers downloading files illegally.

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If users ignore those messages, their accounts could be suspended or closed altogether.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech endorsing the deal: "We run the risk of witnessing a genuine destruction of culture."

He added: "The internet must not become a high-tech Far West, a lawless zone where outlaws can pillage works with abandon or, worse, trade in them in total impunity. And on whose backs? On artists' backs."

An independent authority will be set up and put in charge of deciding when to issue users with "electronic warning messages". The authority will be supervised by a judge.

The deal also creates obligations for film and music companies who pledge to make their works available online more quickly, and to remove technical barriers such as those that make music tracks unreadable on certain platforms.

John Kennedy, head of the industry's trade body IFPI, said: "This is the single most important initiative to help win the war on online piracy that we have seen so far."

He said in a statement: "President Sarkozy has shown leadership and vision. He has recognised the importance that the creative industries play in contemporary western economies."

French consumers' groups and politicians, however, have said the deal, which was signed by several companies on Friday, is too restrictive.

Sarkozy said it would take time for the effects of the new system to become clear but it would achieve its aims.

He said: "If it works, we will carry on the same way. If it does not work well enough, we will take the measures to obtain results."