Hadopi: 2 years jail for downloading music from the Internet

France is likely to obtain a law protecting the privacy right on the Internet. It became known that the French Senate has finally adopted the Internet piracy bill, which was previously rejected as unconstitutional one. 

It should be told that the law was previously adopted in May however blocked in a month by the court. Previously it was proposed to disconnect the users caught downloading music and video illegally. However the plan was rejected since some users could fall victims to those who stole their accounts to access the illegal products. The law pushed by the president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni was strongly supported by the representatives of music and film industry in France and worldwide who suffer great losses due to the activity of pirates. 

The new version of bill provides the punishment that differs a little bit from the original one. So, according to the revamped law the Hadopi, a special agency dealing with illegal downloading from the Internet, will look after the Internet users. When caught illegally downloading music or video an individual will get a warning. As soon as the number of warnings reaches 3 the HADOPI reps will report the offender to the judge. The judge will consider each case individually however decision making will take approximately 5 minutes per case. 

The punishment will vary and depend on the certain circumstances. According to the law there are 3 categories of punishment: 
• Fine: up to 300,000 euros;
• Internet disconnection;
• A 2 year jail sentence

As for the individual who allowed somebody to use their computer to make illicit donwloads, they could be found guilty of “negligence” and face 1,500 euro fine and one month disconnection.

Despite the fact that left-wing senators are still against the new law the French Senate has adopted it. In the next few weeks the law is to be considered by the National Assembly.