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Free P2P In France?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the viva-la-parliament dept.

cyberbian writes to tell us that earlier in the week the French Parliament voted to allow free sharing of music and movies on the Internet. This ruling puts them in direct conflict with both the Media companies and the rest of the French government. From the article: " If the amendment survives, France would be the first country to legalize so called peer-to-peer downloading, said Jean-Baptiste Soufron, legal counsel to the Association of Audionautes, a French group that defends people accused of improperly sharing music files. The law would be a blow to media companies that increasingly use the courts worldwide to sue people for downloading or sharing music and movie files. Entertainment companies such as Walt Disney Co., Viacom Inc. and News Corp.'s Fox say free downloading of unauthorized copies of TV shows and movies before they are released on DVD will cost them $5 billion in revenue this year."

4 of 190 comments (clear)

  1. How very ironic! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This was the DADVSI bill that was supposed to turn free software into crime.

    You have to admire an independent parliament!

  2. Re:What about Canada? by eMartin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sorry pasted the wrong bit into the link.

    http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5182641.html

  3. Re:What about Canada? by JonN · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Oeer-to-peer is only partially legal in Canada. The government has deemed that downloading music in Canada is perfectly legal, as it is for personal use. However the issue lies in uploading music, which is illegal. More information in this article

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  4. So stop withholding the product by mikeswi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "...free downloading of unauthorized copies of TV shows and movies before they are released on DVD will cost them $5 billion in revenue this year."





    Poor babies. If they don't want me downloading movies before they are released to DVD (officially), then they need to release the damn things sooner.




    I buy a lot of DVDs. I have a small shelf, four levels, full of DVDs, with a box filled with more DVDs right next to it. I despise movie theaters. I'm not going to one, except in very rare cases. But I will see the movie, regardless.




    I can't wait for that company Morgan Freeman has founded to start operating. Downloads of movies released at the same time they are released to the theaters.




    The MPAA and RIAA needs to accept the fact that they cannot ignore the internet or the consumer. They don't want to work with the internet, because they fear piracy. So either they won't release anything on the internet or they wrap it in obnoxious DRM and at low quality. And in doing that, they are directly responsible for most of the file trading. If the INDUCE Act ever becomes law, they will be its biggest offenders.

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