THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT is falling all over itself to surrender to the music and film industries and disconnect its citizens from the Internet without trial. […]
La Quadrature du Net, a French digital rights group, continues to protest the changes. It says that the new judicial procedure is properly restricted to only a few categories of simple litigation such as traffic regulation.
It fails to guarantee the right to a fair trial. It does not include any contradictory debate or public hearing. The ruling is made without any prior judicial investigation.
It also outlaws the « open WiFi defense », under which an accused file-sharer could simply make clear that anyone could have used his or her Internet connection. Under the new law, all Internet users must keep their broadband connections « secure » and are fully responsible for whatever happens over them. […]
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1533695/france-surrenders-music-film-industries