France could drop its three strikes anti-piracy law

One of Europe's proponents of the controversial three strikes anti-piracy law could be set to drop it, after an announcement by French culture minister Aurelie Filipetti described it as “too expensive to justify.”

Hadopi is both the name of the anti-piracy law itself and the organisation that is in charge of enforcing it. However, with claims that the budget could be severely reduced, that may not be the case for long.

“In financial terms, 12 million euros a year and 60 officers, it’s an expensive way to send a million e-mails,” the Minister said (via TorrentFreak). “As part of budgetary efforts, I will ask that funding of Hadopi is greatly reduced.”

While Filipetti didn't give too many details in her interview with the Nouvel Observateur about what cuts would be made and by how much, the details will come out in September when they are officially announced. She did however go on to say that the current system of disconnecting users that repeatedly infringe copyright was not a fair way to deal with the situation, stating that: “The suspension of internet access seems a disproportionate sanction against the end goal.”

Hadopi was initially introduced by President Sarkozy in May 2009, despite much opposition even leading to its rejection a month earlier by the French National Assembly.

KitGuru Says: It's good to see laws that can potential target innocents being looked into for their effectiveness. In reality the entertainment industry needs to learn to compete with piracy as if it were a rival company, instead of attacking the very people it wants to buy its products.

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