In 2010, after years of bitter fighting, the French National Assembly passed “Hadopi,” the worst copyright law in history, which provided for disconnecting whole families from the Internet if their network connection was implicated in an accusation of copyright infringement.
Hadopi and its international analogs (most notoriously, New Zealand’s Bill 92A, which was passed as a rider to the emergency relief bill after the deadly Christchurch earthquake) were a non-negotiable position for the entertainment industry for several years. That is, they argued that unless the world’s governments gave them the power to disconnect people they accused of infringement, along with their families, from the Internet, that they would have no future.
Years later, the governments that capitulated to Big Content have spent millions and got nothing in return.
Last week, Green members of the National Assembly voted to strike Hadopi from its lawbooks. Enough members of the main parties were absent that the motion passed. It’s unlikely the motion will pass the senate, but the Greens have used the opportunity to call attention to the uselessness and expense of Hadopi.
In a nearly empty chamber, the French National Assembly voted to end the Hadopi institution and law in 2022, Next Inpact reports. What’s noteworthy is that only 7 of the 577 Members of Parliament were present at the vote, and the amendment passed with four in favor and three against.
The decision goes against the will of the sitting Government, which failed to have enough members present at the vote. While it’s being seen as quite an embarrassment, the amendment still has to pass the senate, which seems unlikely without Government support.
The ‘coup,’ orchestrated by the Green party has caused quite a media stir, not least because French President François Hollande called for the end of Hadopi before his election, a position he later retracted.
“Related Greens” MP Isabelle Attard says that it’s time to end the “schizophrenic” behavior of the Government on the matter. “A choice has to be made at some point. We can’t call out Hadopi as useless and, years later, still let it linger on,” she says.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ‘KILLS’ FRENCH THREE-STRIKES ANTI PIRACY LAW [Ernesto/Torrentfreak]