French Three-Strikes Law Ruled Unconstitutional

An anonymous reader was one of several to write with this news: "The French 'Conseil Constitutionnel' just ruled that the recently voted 'Hadopi' law, which enforces a 'three strikes and you're out' system, is actually unconstitutional [article in French; here's an English-language article at Ars]. They mainly make two points: 1) They argue that removing Internet access is equivalent to hindering a person's freedom of speech, and as such can only be decided by appointed judges. This removes all punitive power from the administrative body supposed to enforce the three-strikes rule; all it can do now is warn you that 'they're watching you.' 2) When illegal filesharing is detected, users have to prove their innocence. This is obviously contrary to the constitutional principle of presumption of innocence."

Comments

Re:Good News For Once

[TheGratefulNet]

lets hope that (the world) takes this further and embraces the right to encrypted speech as well as free speech.

you know what I'm referring to. those that listen in, just because they're too bored or unable to find the real 'bad guys'.

if internet access is a 'right' then the ability to communicate without some 3rd party listening in should also be a right.