[WSJ] Sarkozy’s Web-Piracy Fight Dealt Blow

Posted on


France’s highest legal authority struck down a key provision of a controversial law that would have cut off Internet access to people who repeatedly download copyrighted content illegally.

The decision is a setback for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who argued that the law was crucial to protecting artistic creation in the digital era. It was a victory for activists and Socialist politicians who bitterly opposed the law as an invasion of privacy. […]

Jérémie Zimmerman, an activist who had opposed the law, called the decision « a great victory for citizens » and said that without the provision cutting off Internet access, the law was just a « big tax-sponsored spam machine. »

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124465744855102879.html