The French government has been accused of « Big Brother » tactics over an anti-piracy bill which aims to punish people who repeatedly illegally download music and films by cutting off their internet access for up to a year.
The proposed law […] will create a new state surveillance agency to monitor internet users online.
[…]
But although the senate has passed the bill, a heated row over civil liberties is expected as parliament debates the law this week. Christian Paul, a Socialist MP leading opposition to the law, said it would create a precedent for « massive surveillance » of the internet and society as a whole. « Criminalising a whole generation is a dead end, » he added, warning that crisis-hit record companies needed to look at their business plans instead. Socialists argue that the law, which focuses on file-sharing or download sites rather than new technologies of streaming, is inconsistent and already outdated.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/11/france-internet-anti-piracy