Crazy French copyright law translated to English

French copyfighter Jeremie Zimmermann sez,

Folks from La Quadrature du Net (big up to Peter K!) have translated the French HADOPI law [ed: the new French copyright law, rammed through by Sarko over howls of public protest], which includes the absurd "three strikes" scheme [ed: if you are accused of infringement three times, you lose your Internet access — no proof needed, no trial, no judge, no jury], bound to fail and utterly dangerous.

Curious archeo-legalists will enjoy its exotic stupidity, so impractical that everybody in France laughs at it with shame, including the members of Sarkozy's locked-down majority party who didn't dare to vote against it.

Pay particular attention to article 5 – subsection 3 where the "riposte graduee" is described, along with article 11 (obligation of "securing" one's internet access against it being used for counterfeiting, a complete technical nonsense that is the cornerstone of the whole thing).

Article 10 is also an incredible model of the worst you shall not write into the law if you want to prove that you understand what Internet is about, and how its growth and innovation worked so far:

"Art. L. 336-2. In the presence of infringement of a right of authorship or a similar right within the contents of a public on line communication service, the Superior Court, decreeing as required on the form of the hearing, may order at the request of the owners of protected works and objects, of the holders of their rights, of societies for the management of rights set forth in article L. 321-1 or professional organizations set forth in article L. 331-1, all measures needed to prevent or halt such damage to a right of authorship or a similar right, against any entity able to help remedy it. "

Enjoy it while it lasts, as it may soon be completely invalidated or neutralized by the Constitutional Court, or later on by the European courts… Yet Sarkozy's will of controlling the Internet doesn't seem to be stopped by such tiny details as constitutionality or rationality.

(please note that the translation is a work in progress that probably contains translation errors, with no legal value, and that only the original in French, blahblah, insert proper disclaimer here.)