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French President Busted For Copyright Violation
An anonymous reader writes "ZeroPaid has an interesting take on the story of Nicolas Sarkozy being accused of copyright infringement. The irony, of course, is Sarkozy's pushing of a 3-strikes law — disconnecting from the Internet those accused of file sharing — in France and across the EU. The French president had apparently offered to settle the copyright infringement accusation for one Euro, but the band rejected the offer, calling it an insult. The article notes that each year since 2006, a high-profile anti-piracy entity has been on the wrong end of a copyright infringement notice. In 2008, Sony BMG was sued for software piracy. In 2007, anti-piracy outfit BASCAP received a cease and desist order related to pirated software. And in 2006, the MPAA was accused of pirating 'This Film is Not Yet Rated'."
Do as I say.
Not as I do.
MABASPLOOM!
Smart move, idiots. Alienate the guy who's pushing your agenda. What can possibly go wrong?
Are these guys smoking something or are they just retarded?
The irony. The ever so delicious irony.
It's like the RIAA got sued for copyright infringement for downloading their own music or something. Except TOTALLY DIFFERENT.
is MGMT, for what it's worth. When the band decided to sue, Sarkozy's party offered a "symbolic euro" for compensation.
~~~ Paf. Le chien.
Jai in ur offiÃe, coupyin ur warez
(PS.don't special chars like compose-comma-c work here on /.???)
Okay, so the UMP is getting booted off the internet now, right?
Er...right?
It's amazing that most people simply accept that Hypocrisy is the norm. That's sad.
The copyright organizations call for "zero tolerance" and are then caught themselves.
The congressmen who rail against finding teenagers attractive are caught lusting after them.
Preachers who rail on homosexuals are caught fucking gay prostitutes.
Vigilantes who claim to catch online predators are found to be employing young teens in their exploits and having child pornography on their computers.
Educators who rail against drugs and demand for instant lockup of drug offenders... are found to be drug users themselves...
These are all real stories.
Instead of stepping back and recognizing that their viewpoints may be of questionable value and that they may have made errors in judgment... they just ignore their mistakes and continue in their hypocritical ways.
And the world is a worse place for it.
If you are a "little person" the Democrats say "it is patrictic to pay taxes" (-Biden)
But if you are a Democrat big shot, you have no need to pay taxes until you get nominated for a Cabinet post.
The worst thing about this is the much touted "3 strikes policy". Even if the president gets busted infringing on copyright 3 times, do you really think his internet access will be terminated?
"Oh sorry, that law wasn't intended for Important People, such as The President, who need the internet for REAL purposes."
One law for them, one law for everybody else.
Our entire civilization is being screwed up the ass SO BADLY by these people, and there's nothing we can do.
Fuck you frenchy, I hope you and your fat wife drown in a vat of wine.
This = LOL ^_______^
"I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist"
He'll just start mooching off his neighbor's wifi.
Todos mis movimientos están friamente calculados
Cinq... quatre... trois... deux...
If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
Here in Chile, the president of the SCD (Society of Author Rights) was caught with pirated software, in a powerpoint lecture about... you guessed it... PIRACY! (they are triying to copy the spanish law, taxing the internet connection for the "lost of revenues")
http://www.elnortero.cl/admin/render/noticia/18164
An our congress try to pass a 3-strikes law for ISPs... with a word document created by a SCD lawyer with a pirated copy of windows ("UE, The Houze"). There are even commemorative t-shirts!
http://url.ie/10xd
http://www.elfrancotirador.cl/2009/01/15/ponte-la-camiseta-con-el-acceso-a-cultura/
There are RIAAs scammers in every country.
Not like this is the first time something like this happened. Wasn't there one story where the family of an executive officer of the RIAA was accused of this and he pushed the company to let them off with a warning?
How do you kill that which has no life?
The french president Nicolas Sarkozy is not directly sued for this copyright infringement. His own party (UMP) used the song during a meeting, and didn't reported it to the french RIAA (SACEM) for artist compensation, wich generally is pretty low.
The UMP party is sued for this, but not the french president, who was not in charge for the organization of this meeting, and has presidential immunity.
But's that's pretty funny anyway.
We need to enforce these laws against the children of music/movie executives and politicians and the wealthy.
Then the laws will be changed quickly.
But most of those groups think they are immune to the same treatment as the rest of humanity.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
the title says he's been "busted" the summary says he's only been "accused". do they pay you to be an editor? i certainly hope not.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
He does all of his serious crimes on secure lines.
FUCK artists, and FUCK their rights. I join Slashdot in mocking this hypocrisy, and I look forward to even more pro-piracy articles this week. I live for these stories--every day, I get to make myself feel less guilty for pirating the shit out of everything. After all, it's because of their "obsolete business model!" It's just "free advertising!" Somebody else will pay those artists, through concert tickets or t-shirts or something. I don't really think about it.
The big corporations and the lawmakers are the bad guys here, not me! Artists are my slaves, and they don't deserve shit for their work. As I said, FUCK artists, and FUCK their rights. I'm not doing anything wrong.
I know Nicolas Sarkozy being an omnipresent president and all, but it's not like he personally chose the song, right? It's actually some people among his political party (the UMP) that decided to play the song in two meetings.
Otherwise, the result is the same: the political party from which Nicolas Sarkozy is has been busted for copyright infringement. It's a further proof that copyright laws are being way too tentacular. Can't they just see it?
They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security. --Ben Franklin
true dat
That's French for Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
We can clearly see he firmly understands the importance of free and equal access to culture and opinions. We can also see in what direction he's going to go. By demonstrating his unwillingness to comply with this copyright bullshit, he's standing up for the rights of the everyday citizen against the NOTORIOUSLY POWERFUL COPYRIGHT-UP-THE-YINGYANG CORPORATIONS. Hats off to "Monsieur le Président".
May Sarkozy get the worst possible treatment allowable under law. I hope he gets all his computer (and other electronic devices) seized and thoroughly examined.
Not out of any hate of Sarkozy, or any need for vengeance for the wrongs committed by the RIAA against innocent people.
The purpose is this: I believe that those in power should be feel the impact of their decisions.
You want greater surveillance? Fine, we'll start around your house. You want to wage a war? Fine, any of your eligible children get "volunteered" for army service. You want to give the police power to search people without a warrant? Fine, you'll get searched daily both near your home and near your workplace.
Then, maybe, just maybe, people would think twice. They tend to when there's something at stake for them.
This is really an extensions of Schneier's idea about security: the one in charge will make the decision that matches their own agenda. We the people have to make it a part of the agenda of the people in power to make sure their decisions are sane. I've proposed a way.
May this makes Sarkozy's life really shitty for a while.
Well, you got that wrong then. It were the French that introduced the concept of presumption of innocence in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and later structured the way laws are written down in the Napoleonic Code
Of course, The Enlightenment was the source for these ideals as well as the inspiration for the the US Declaration of Independence and the constitution...
This had a major influence on European law making since Napoleon occupied most of it...
eerriiike one!
All people are equal, just some are more equal than others. Somehow this story reminds me of this statement again and how true it is. :-/
Now infringing on copyright in the fair use realm is one thing, infringing on copyright to gain financial or professional benefits is something I object! Trying to settle for 1 Euro is indeed rediculous! :-
I remember seeing him come onto the stage at a Republican convention in the 1980's, to the sounds of the Monty python theme tune. I loved it!
I was waiting for the big foot to come out of the sky and squash him, but it didn't.
In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they're not.
And say "do you want anesthetic, paedo?".
Should really drive it home.
Say, "I know what I'm talking about. I do it myself and I cannot stop".
1) No two-faced hypocrisy
2) Extra credit for getting one off the streets
3) Double credit for getting one out of power
4) Unable now to do what they couldn't stop themselves from doing
5) Showing that they will walk the walk
Sarkozy compares himself to Obama a lot. It's beyond ridiculous. Especially considering the fact that he LOVED Bush, and that he is about as inspiring as him in his speeches. His vocabulary is ~1000 words at most. He's hit quickly hit 35% popularity (although he's bounced back up a bit).
And this proves a major prejudice about non-Americans: Most of you immediately assume that anyone on the internet who makes an idiotic or misinformed comment is American.
The population of the United States (304 M) and anglophone Canada (25 M excl. Quebec) is more than thrice that of the UK (61 M), Ireland (4 M), Australia (21 M), and New Zealand (4 M) put together. So given a random native English speaker who uses no Indianisms, you'd be right more often than not to guess that he or she is from North America.
Besides, Slashdot is in the United States.
If you don't care about someone or something, you don't care if they do bad things. It's only when you want them or expect them or believe they can do better that you can start to hate.
Love and hate are two sides of the same coin. The coin is called "caring".
In the last election this fall, the Conservative party was accused of using clips of a song in a commercial without paying for it. This is the same party that was poised to introduce new copyright legislation that would have brought in similar rules to the DMCA. The song was the O'Jay's 1974 For the Love of Money.
There's got to be some double-plus irony prize for that one, and it wasn't the only instance of lax attention to copyright.
He has not been sued, that's what zeropaid made up - the original article says they bad has threatened to sue if they don't get their money.
If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
The possibility for justice to endorse lengthy remand periods was one reason why the Napoleonic Code was criticized for de facto presumption of guilt, particularly in common law countries.
It's not merely Wikipedia where this opinion is expressed. McKillop notes that
It is sometimes suggested, particularly by those from a common law system, that there is no presumption of innocence in the French criminal justice system, but rather a presumption of guilt. This is an understandable reaction by those observing French hearings, particularly in the lower courts, and if aware of the considerably higher conviction rates at hearings in France as opposed to trials in common law countries.
Was this some kind of self-deprecating meta-ironic remark, or did you really extrapolate to all Americans
Yes, he clearly extrapolated that "ALL Americans [x.]"
Not that "a depressingly large number of Americans [x.]", that couldn't be possibly what he meant.
You can't take the sky from me...
He was downloading plans for marine one, and the new U2 album.
I'm inclined to think that those who push for increased surveillance *really would not mind* if their entire lives were subject to public scrutiny. They're of the mindset that people shouldn't be able to get away with misdeeds simply by hiding behind some pesky rights...
The most likely result of subjecting politicians to this kind of treatment will be that they will subject *everyone* to the same draconian surveillance; "If I can do it, so can you..." Of course, there are people who, while doing nothing illegal, hold unpopular opinions, find themselves in ambiguous circumstances, or have "problems" the rest of society are loathe to understand. Those who shape their lives according to the model of popular conformity so as to get elected are the least able to understand the negative consequences of constant surveillance. Politicians live their entire lives under public scrutiny and constant surveillance, and as such may have a difficult time understanding the value of privacy to free societies.
The society for a thought-free internet welcomes you.
The band is fully within their rights to follow this up, however a huge blow against overly restrictive copyright may have been wasted by trying to play this by the book.
Rather than complaining "Do what he says, not what he does" they could have spun it as "Do what he does, not what he says".
The French President uses a song commercially without permission or payment. Excellent, that means it's okay for everyone to do so!
The French President gets caught in copyright violation, and offers to pay 1 Euro for the song (ie, offers to pay the equivalent of purchasing the song online). Excellent, that is effectively him saying the huge damages the record industry is making up for piracy are completely unrealistic, and should be limited to the actual value of the goods you downloaded.
If the band had spun this their way, they could have put the President in a hugely uncomfortable position (which the media would have lapped up hence giving them even more exposure) and struck a hugely public blow against the RIAA/French equivalent on multiple fronts.
The French president getting busted for copyright infringement is not ironic. It is simply hypocritical. Please use the word correctly, lest ye hasten the destruction of the English language as we know it.
I only speak a little bit of French, so I didn't realize that "internaute" was a word.
That is an excellent word.
This is a plea to all English speakers: quit using the word "netizen." It's lame, and "internaut" is about a billion times better.
That is all.
If the president does it, it's not illegal.
Your use of North America in response to "Americans" and your grouping of Canadians in with that seems to be implying that Canadians are Americans. Does this mean Mexicans are also Americans? If so, does this mean Canadians and Mexicans can now vote in US federal elections?
Your use of North America in response to "Americans" and your grouping of Canadians in with that seems to be implying that Canadians are Americans.
That doesn't change my point, which is that a supermajority of native English speakers in industrialized countries live in the United States. Even if I put anglophone Canada on the other side of the scale, the United States still has well over twice the combined population of anglophone Canada + UK + Ireland + Australia + NZ.
And a two sentence post is enough to prove that someone is a native English speaker? :)
May we live long and die out
It's the only place on the net where we can have a story about an indie band getting bent over a barrel by governments, and have the posts somehow morph into "God exists"... "No silly!" and no-one blinks an eye about it.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
Well. They all live in America. The fact that the USA took that term, and -- expecting that they are the only ones on the continent -- made it their own, does not change that.
Oh well... Wee all live an Americaaa... Americaaa, Americaaa... :P
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
I've been writing about this lately at my blog about this. Why would a president be able to pay for his commercial deeds with 1 euro symbolic, while the others get outragious fines?
How could one who creates the rules, break them so open and public, without the majority fighting back. How could you ever believe in one who breaks his own rules, pissing on the artists in symbolism?
--- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
Take only what you need from it.
If you belive that then you must also conclude you are ~13% dumber than GWB.
Come on. You can afford more. Just print more euro and pay them with those.
New Economic Perspectives
This is a good post. The GP won the internet.
"There is nothing nice about Steve Jobs and nothing evil about Bill Gates." - Chuck Peddle
Sometimes this is how public policy changes.
mod -1 obvious
... don't care about this kind of s..t. They also don't chose producers who care. They just sing and play (and make it "cry and sing").
http://www.markknopfler.com/recPolicy.html
That does not mean there is no work for programmers, what it means is that the days of doing one piece of programming and sit down for 100 years waiting for the royalties are over.
There are plenty of jobs for programmers doing customized work for clients, work that most likely will never be published. There is your incentive to keep programming: find where the real money is instead of keep looking for it by means of wishful thinking.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Orrin Hatch, the "pirates should have their computers destroyed" Senator, had pirated software on his website in 2003.
Ignorance killed the cat. Curiosity was framed.