French Anti-Piracy Law Here?
At least one House lawmaker has raised the issue of whether the United States should adopt a law similar to one approved in France allowing a judge to block an individual's access to the Internet if the person is accused of being a serial Internet copyright infringer. Rep. Diane Watson, D-Calif., chairwoman of the House Oversight and Government Reform's Government Management, Organization and Procurement Subcommittee, asked a panel of U.S. government officials at a hearing Wednesday if "this is a potential legislative remedy to our own significant peer-to-peer file sharing problem."
Officials from both the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Justice Department appeared to reject the idea. PTO Commissioner for Patents Robert Stoll said he didn't think such a measure would be "palatable in the United States." Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein said he agreed with Stoll, saying "it's my view that technology is not the problem, it's the way it's used that creates the problem. This is no exception." He added that while the department is "increasingly concerned about online piracy," law enforcement officials are working aggressively to target those who post or sell pirated content online.
Britain is weighing a measure similar to the French law. The French law has been widely criticized by Internet free speech advocates and others and was initially struck down by France's high court but a new version passed this fall.
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piracy
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