slim
03-08-2006, 02:55 PM
No joke .....*L* .............I can see some folks over here salivating over this idea.
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18376390%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
France Moves On 'Download Fee'
By: AFP Correspondents in Paris, MARCH 07, 2006
AN initiative by French MPs to introduce a "download fee" that would allow consumers to legally source whatever music or films they want from the internet is facing heavy government opposition.
Parliamentarians are to debate whether to keep the fee idea, or replace it with a government bill that would toughen copyright laws for digital media, including the internet, CDs and DVDs.
The bill, to be put to a vote March 14, essentially follows the lead of other countries that explicitly make unpaid downloading of commercial works illegal.
French MPs created a storm in the online world in December when they voted to legalise peer-to-peer file-sharing through a scheme in which Internet users could opt to pay a small fee each month for as many downloads as they wanted.
The money from the fee would go to pay artists' royalties, while letting most of the estimated eight-to-12 million French residents who currently download music and films illegally off the hook.
But that decision - made during a late-night session debating the original version of the digital copyright bill - stunned the government and drew an angry campaign of protest from famous French singers, such as veteran rocker Johnny Hallyday.
The government withdrew the original bill, thus stopping the MPs' vote making its way through the legislative process, and amended it slightly to lighten fines for illegal downloading and to allow people to make private copies of DVDs and CDs.
That rejigged text, resubmitted this week, provides for a maximum fine of €38 for first-time offenders building up their music collection at home, though much higher penalties including prison time for organised gangs selling downloaded content or hackers showing others how to get around copyright protection remained.
Still, it is far from certain that the parliamentarians are going to drop their download fee idea and adopt the revised bill being resubmitted this week.
In the first vote, MPs from the ruling centre-right UMP party joined with opposition counterparts to pass the measure through two identical amendments, earning strong approval from consumer groups.
One UMP parliamentarian, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, issued a statement calling for the government to freeze its bill until a parliamentary commission on the subject could be created to solicit opinions from all interested parties.
"The Internet revolution can not and must not be knocked aside in haste," he said, warning that the freedom currently enjoyed by web-users was under attack from big companies looking to ensure their profitability.
Looking at the download fee idea, he argued, was "completely envisageable".
Slim
http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,18376390%5E15322%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html
France Moves On 'Download Fee'
By: AFP Correspondents in Paris, MARCH 07, 2006
AN initiative by French MPs to introduce a "download fee" that would allow consumers to legally source whatever music or films they want from the internet is facing heavy government opposition.
Parliamentarians are to debate whether to keep the fee idea, or replace it with a government bill that would toughen copyright laws for digital media, including the internet, CDs and DVDs.
The bill, to be put to a vote March 14, essentially follows the lead of other countries that explicitly make unpaid downloading of commercial works illegal.
French MPs created a storm in the online world in December when they voted to legalise peer-to-peer file-sharing through a scheme in which Internet users could opt to pay a small fee each month for as many downloads as they wanted.
The money from the fee would go to pay artists' royalties, while letting most of the estimated eight-to-12 million French residents who currently download music and films illegally off the hook.
But that decision - made during a late-night session debating the original version of the digital copyright bill - stunned the government and drew an angry campaign of protest from famous French singers, such as veteran rocker Johnny Hallyday.
The government withdrew the original bill, thus stopping the MPs' vote making its way through the legislative process, and amended it slightly to lighten fines for illegal downloading and to allow people to make private copies of DVDs and CDs.
That rejigged text, resubmitted this week, provides for a maximum fine of €38 for first-time offenders building up their music collection at home, though much higher penalties including prison time for organised gangs selling downloaded content or hackers showing others how to get around copyright protection remained.
Still, it is far from certain that the parliamentarians are going to drop their download fee idea and adopt the revised bill being resubmitted this week.
In the first vote, MPs from the ruling centre-right UMP party joined with opposition counterparts to pass the measure through two identical amendments, earning strong approval from consumer groups.
One UMP parliamentarian, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, issued a statement calling for the government to freeze its bill until a parliamentary commission on the subject could be created to solicit opinions from all interested parties.
"The Internet revolution can not and must not be knocked aside in haste," he said, warning that the freedom currently enjoyed by web-users was under attack from big companies looking to ensure their profitability.
Looking at the download fee idea, he argued, was "completely envisageable".
Slim