Summarized -- Download Piaf, Go To Jail

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: December 21, 2005 10:59:45 PM EST
To: Dave <dave () farber net>, Dewayne Hendricks  
<dewayne () warpspeed com>, cyberia <CYBERIA-L () LISTSERV AOL COM>
Subject: Download Piaf, Go To Jail

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,69905,00.html?tw=wn_story_top5
Internet downloaders could face jail sentences and software makers  
may be required to add anti-copying technology to products  
distributed in France under draft legislation that's expected to go  
to a vote this week.

The so-called emergency legislation would require software makers to  
include digital-rights management, or DRM, software in their  
products, according to a draft (.pdf) of the proposed legislation  
seen by Wired News.

...French legislators are also calling for three-year jail sentences  
and fines of 300,000 euros for illegally copying music, video or any  
other copyright-protected files.

...But forcing all software makers to conform to special DRM rules  
for France alone is likely unworkable, said Urs Gasser, professor of  
law at the University of St.

...The lower house of France's national assembly is scheduled to vote  
as early as Thursday on the legislation, which has been proposed as a  
way to bring France into compliance with a pending European  
Commission copyright directive.

...The language of the proposal reflects lobbying pressure from  
French media giant Vivendi Universal and other recording industry  
interests, said Loic Dachary, founder of the eucd.info watch group  
and treasurer of The Free Software Foundation in France.

"Vivendi Universal, the Business Software Alliance and the Société  
des Auteurs et des Compositeurs de Musique actually drafted these  
texts that the legislators are using," Dachary said.

The industry considers the imposition of strong, proactive measures  
on software makers necessary to thwart pirates, especially in Europe  
where more than one in three copies of software in use is unlicensed,  
said Gaëlle Prigent-Protasov, a vice president of software maker  
Aladdin.

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