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French ISP Refuses To Send Out Infringement Notices
An anonymous reader writes "Last month it was clear that French ISPs were not at all happy about the whole three strikes Hadopi process in France. Now that the 'notice' process has started, with Hadopi sending out notices to 10,000 people per day, it's hit a bit of a stumbling block. The French ISP named 'Free' has apparently figured out a bit of a loophole that allows it to not send out notices and protect its subscribers. Specifically, the law requires ISPs to reveal user info to Hadopi, but it does not require them to alert their users. But, the law does say that only users who are alerted by their ISP can be taken to court to be disconnected. In other words, even if Free is handing over user info, so long as it doesn't alert its users (which the law does not mandate), then those users cannot be kicked off the internet via Hadopi."
A quick comment, French news are actually mentioning that only a few hundred people were notified. So at the moment we are far away from the 10000 number that was put forward by the right holders.
Some people here in france began using anonymous VPN connections like iPredator or Relakks.
Laws like this are going to push people over to TOR, or Freenet or whatever other new piece of software that guarantees anonymity. The internet pandoras box has been opened for the recording industry. All the king's horses and all the king's men won't fix this.
IPredator works better than I expected. I thought it would be slow as molasses running uphill in winter, but not only is the pipe as fast as my own connection, but guess what you find right at the exit point: plenty of other sharers, making it all appear like you had a direct line to your neighbors. Speed is always maxed out when I us it (purely for testing of course).
Posting Anon because I fall under that stupid law mentioned above. Cannot wait for the SACEM (French RIAA) and similar to croak and die in their own vomit.
Free has often been of the right side of the tracks as a provider: they allowed VOIP at a time when others banned it; they give you static IPs if you ask; they were the first to do TV over ADSL, etc... I'm glad to see them show some spine here, even if it's only to get them some new customers, and even if it won't last.
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Then Hadopi will last a total of three days, the internets will be clean, honest and law abding, and France will once again become the world's foremost content-producing powerhouse.
ROFLMAO.
Rezt of ze world means USA and UK, no?
Most of the "rest of the world" relative to the aforementioned precedent culprits including France uses the napoleonic law system. This system mandates a strict separation of legislative, judicial and administrative powers. In that system the letter of the law is followed strictly and the courts do not go on inventive sentencing and precedent creation spree which practically replaces functions of the legislative branch. Similarly, the parliament cannot suspend, amend, correct and violate fundamental rights the way the UK does on a casual basis under the pretext that "the parliament is sovereign and cannot be bound". And so on.
The law will be returned to parliament, amended and "normal service" will resume shortly. However prior to that the courts will not "replace the pariliament" and engage in "inventive sentencing" the way they do in the UK and the USA.
It is actually more "common sense" than USA and UK because it does not feed endless litigation and appeals of anything regardless how small all the way to the supreme court. It makes the law "stick".
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
The only country that comes to mind where anything close to the majority of the population were guilty of murder is Rwanda. And you'll notice that Gacaca courts promote reconciliation and often give significantly reduced sentences. So, although murder didn't become legal, the penalty got a lot lower when around 40% of the population was involved in doing it.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
The loophole they're using is not actually a loophole. It's been repeatedly affirmed by the courts that when the gov't has to pay private companies when it passes laws requiring them to do work for them, if what is required of them is not part of their business. Example: wiretaps. Since they're not getting paid, they argue they don't have to do it. It's not just they're not getting paid yet, but the executive order outlining how they should get paid and how it should be calculated hasn't been passed yet. And there are precedents according to which that means this part of the law isn't applicable because of it.
Not all of the US operates that way. The state of Louisiana uses napoleonic law. It's probably the only sensible thing about our state.