The French parliament on Tuesday voted to approve the world's strictest anti-piracy laws. The bill calls for a new police agency to monitor illegal downloading of copyright material, warning violators twice before banning them from the internet for one year. While banned, violators would still pay their internet provider.

The French parliament on Tuesday voted to approve the world's strictest anti-piracy laws. The bill calls for a new police agency to monitor illegal downloading of copyright material, warning violators twice before banning them from the internet for one year. While banned, violators would still pay their internet provider.

The vote is a victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has championed the law and for months battled the opposition Socialists on the issue. A leading French media retailer drafted the legislation, which is believed to have been pushed by Mr Sarkozy's wife, model-turned-singer Carla Bruni.

Judicial decision
The French decision sets up a potential battle with the European Union, which is drafting new telecommunications regulations of its own. The EU parliament argues that only the judiciary should have the power to cut off a person's internet. If the EU maintains this position, the French law could soon be in violation of EU legislation.

There is agreement among governing bodies around the world that something needs to be done about online copyright violations, said Brussels-based lawyer Dirk van Liedekerke. The question is how and by who.

"Opinions may differ in what respect you should intervene, but it comes down to a question of who you will allow to police this and enforce this rule - who is going to make the decision whether or not to take action against a private individual, possibly putting a private individual on a blacklist.

"There obviously are legal traditions and if you follow human rights' principles, then you come to a situation where you say, ‘Let's leave these decision to the judiciary and not to someone else to start policing the system.'"

The film industry is faltering due to illegal downloadsOpen society
The EU parliament may soon include a strong voice opposing laws such as that passed by France; the Swedish Pirate Party is on the ballot in the EU elections and expects to win a seat. The Pirate Party was founded after a landmark court case in Sweden against The Pirate Bay, an online portal for illegal downloads. Pirate Party leader Rick Falkvinge called the French law a Big-Brother style civil rights violation.

"It is just insane. It is probably the most repressive law in Europe at this point. We're talking about big corporations being able to shut off citizens from internet, meaning they can't study, they can't work, they can't even apply for work, they can't have contact with the authorities, they can't contact their friends - they're in total social isolation after three accusations from corporations. There is not even a judge or a trial involved. This is not due process of law, this is repression at its very worst."

Falkvinge said copyright laws can not be enforced without severe privacy and rights violations.

"You can't stop file-sharing without having a Big Brother society, and that's just not worth it. We don't say you should abolish copyright - copyright needs to reduced. It needs to cover commercial activities only, it needs to get out of honest people's bedrooms."

Example to follow
The media industry welcomes the French law. The traditional business model of the music and film industries is broken now that songs, films, television shows and more are freely available online. While many artists say the internet helps them gain recognition and spread their work, others say illegal downloads are depriving them of a livelihood.

John Kennedy, CEO of global media lobby IFPI, said the media industry are in dire straits and hailed the decision as an example to follow.

"In France the government has understood better than any other country the crisis which is looming if firm action is not taken to address the problem. The new French law takes the right approach and sets an example to the rest of the world. It will introduce sensible, proportionate measures that will have a real impact on piracy while respecting ordinary, legitimate internet users."