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French Flip Flop Again On File Sharing
from the make-up-your-minds dept
Earlier this week, it looked like French politicians had given in to the recording industry and ditched their proposal to basically legalize file-sharing in France. However, it would appear that a public outcry has made the government reverse course once again and bring back an amendment with a global license that would allow file sharing. The article is a little short on some of the details, but it also notes the new amendment would strengthen copy protection technology (probably by making circumvention illegal), by basically saying that fair use is no excuse to break copy protection.
Reader Comments
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No Subject Given
Porn!
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Re: No Subject Given
Douchebag!
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Government
There appears to be all kinds of good and bad in this proposal. What surprised me the most, though, was the fact that "a public outcry" caused them to change course. Living in the USA, I'm not used to the government working for (or even listening to) the people. Maybe our government can take look across the Atlantic and see what they should be trying to do over here.
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Re: Government
Yea, it's pretty bad when one government that professes to be a socialist republic is more responsive to hearing outcries that freedom is violated than one that claims to be a freedoms-based constitutional republic.
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Re: Government
The current French government is right of centre (both the President and Parliament are conservative), although in the US its policies would probably still be thought of as fairly "liberal" (American sense --- in France "liberal" is a term of abuse to mean extreme supporter of the free-market).
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Re: Government
Extreme supporter of a free market? Liberal?
It's a funny world, isn't it? Extreme supporters (in theory) in the US would be called conservative, or at least republican.
Of course, theory gives way to their true ways, which is crony capitalism.. at least, for some of the party, but thankfully not all.
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Re: Government
Actually, a "public outcry" would cause a change in course... it just has to be an election year!
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Re: Government
ROFL!
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Re: Government
I thought it was an election year......
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Re: Government
Well the people burn cars there they just figure that since we are smart enough not to destroy our own things we're dumb enough to keep letting them rough us around. The just haven't yet realized that in the long run most Politicians who wind up in the mass majority's way get run over. Sometimes literally...
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Re: Government
Americans consider themselves an optimistic people, but they make some rather pessimistic assumptions in espousing the right to bear arms.
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Re: Government
The french will surrender to anything, including themselves. This isn't the poloticions listening, it's them wetting their pants at the sound of jack boots.
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legal protection
i think that the law is being pounded from both sides, making it more of a fair trade than it would come to be in the states. FTA, "The latest draft lightens the penalties for those caught pirating music or movies online" while at the same time "it also strengthens legal protection for anti-copy technologies known as DRMs, shielding them from challenges under French laws that grant consumers the right to make copies of music and film for private use." sounds pretty fair to me, from a each-side giving some viewpoint. the other viewpoint, however, is what are the ways in which the protection was strengthened?--and what will this new bill negate from the current fair use laws?
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Hopefully it will pass, and maybe the recording industry will see that they need to change there business model.
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DRM requirements
I read in another article on this topic that another part of the legislative reform is to require online music stores (ie. Apple and other Windows based stores) to ensure their DRM will work on all devices which would be an unbelievably nice change... wish we could have that in Australia - here all Windows based stores only allow 2 CDs to be burnt and 2 decives to be used for each purchase where as the Apple DIM allows for 5 computers to be used and unlimited CDs to be burnt... guess the Windows based stores would have to alter their DRM to allow greater uses or face market backlash
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