REUTERS/PHILIPPE WOJAZER Little brother Sarkozy is watching us
I tried very hard not to intrude on this blog with my views about the latest bullshit the French government is sponsoring, but things have become so ubuesque, to use Ionesco's word, that I have to speak my mind.
This story is basically the battle of creationism vs Darwinism. Or, as the French government is calling it, the law that will safeguard the artists' royalties by preventing P2P illegal downloads. Currently debated in the senate, this law is built around a new concept, "la réponse graduée" (graduated response) that would be enacted when music and movies majors would suspect someone of such downloads.
Detected by his IP address, the hacker would first receive a mail warning him of future repercussions if he continues with his illegal activities. Then, he would receive a letter with the same warnings, and finally would be banned of his internet access for up to one year.
Never mind that the Conseil d'Etat, the highest administrative court of the country, the CNIL (an independent commission that has authority over individual liberties thus liberties related to numeric files and listings) and the ARCEP (another independent commission that regulates all communications - web and phone) all expressed deep concerns about various aspects of the text.
The government is determined to push congress to pass this law. Never mind that in these tough economic times, a night at the movies will cost a family of 4 at least 40€, that any new CD is at least 20€ or that a DVD is 25€.
Does anyone really believe that the law will do anything to boost the music or movies sales [1]? Seriously [2]?
Never mind, furthermore, that both the European Commission and the European Parliament explicitly forbade this law regarding the suspension of the internet access. French Mantova president Nicolas Sarkozy and hunchbacked jester Christine Albanel (ministre de la Culture) have reenacted a long-forgotten concept: the French Empire, run by a small tiny tiny man: Napoléon.
Can someone please remind me what the word democracy stands for?
Further readings:
This story is basically the battle of creationism vs Darwinism. Or, as the French government is calling it, the law that will safeguard the artists' royalties by preventing P2P illegal downloads. Currently debated in the senate, this law is built around a new concept, "la réponse graduée" (graduated response) that would be enacted when music and movies majors would suspect someone of such downloads.
Detected by his IP address, the hacker would first receive a mail warning him of future repercussions if he continues with his illegal activities. Then, he would receive a letter with the same warnings, and finally would be banned of his internet access for up to one year.
Never mind that the Conseil d'Etat, the highest administrative court of the country, the CNIL (an independent commission that has authority over individual liberties thus liberties related to numeric files and listings) and the ARCEP (another independent commission that regulates all communications - web and phone) all expressed deep concerns about various aspects of the text.
The government is determined to push congress to pass this law. Never mind that in these tough economic times, a night at the movies will cost a family of 4 at least 40€, that any new CD is at least 20€ or that a DVD is 25€.
Does anyone really believe that the law will do anything to boost the music or movies sales [1]? Seriously [2]?
Never mind, furthermore, that both the European Commission and the European Parliament explicitly forbade this law regarding the suspension of the internet access. French Mantova president Nicolas Sarkozy and hunchbacked jester Christine Albanel (ministre de la Culture) have reenacted a long-forgotten concept: the French Empire, run by a small tiny tiny man: Napoléon.
Can someone please remind me what the word democracy stands for?
Further readings:
- Nov.14, Le Monde: La loi antipiratage déjà sérieusement minée " Le Parlement européen vient d'adopter un amendement qui prévoit qu'aucune restriction aux droits et libertés des internautes ne peut être imposée sans décision judiciaire préalable. (...) Par ailleurs, un rapport de la Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) remet en cause la constitutionnalité du texte. (...) Advestigo transmettra aux sociétés de perception et de répartition des droits d'auteurs (SPRD) les adresses IP censées permettre de retrouver les contrevenants. Dans un premier temps, 10 000 fichiers musicaux seront mis sous surveillance."
- Nov.7 , Le Monde: Un rapport non diffusé relance les critiques sur la loi anti-piratage
- the European Parliament voted the Telecoms Package and refused Sarkozy's request to withdraw Amendment 138
- the government propaganda website: J'aime les artistes
- the latest attempt of Sarkozy to shut down the freedom of speech - L'affaire de la poupée vaudou, from Le Monde
[1] It's a good time to be a TV-executive, obviously
[2] The government is saying sanctions will force the music and movies industries to expand their Vod offer - currently almost nonexistent in this country. Another naive idea blinded by dogma.
[2] The government is saying sanctions will force the music and movies industries to expand their Vod offer - currently almost nonexistent in this country. Another naive idea blinded by dogma.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment