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Surprises

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Dec 22nd 2005 9:58am





France's Extremely Brief Experiment With Legalized File Sharing

from the how-long-will-this-last? dept

Talk about an about face! Yesterday, we noted that France was considering a bill that would put file sharers in jail for three years, despite their courts saying personal file sharing was legal and musicians begging the industry to stop suing their fans. Late last night, we added a short update to that post, noting a story coming out that France had actually gone the other way (surprising just about everyone) and passed a nearly completely opposite amendment that said private, non-commercial file sharing was just fine (supporting the earlier court ruling). Today, more details are coming out, and it sounds like this move won't last very long. Amusingly, the apoplectic recording industry representative says: "The deputies used this vote to show their independence from the government, but they don't know what they are doing." First of all, we were under the impression that the French Parliament was the government -- and it seems pretty clear that they do know what they're doing, which is trying to send a message that the overreaching efforts of the industry are a problem. Of course, there's very little likelihood that this amendment stands. The actual vote was done late at night, with just a small number of the members of Parliament present. It's quite likely that the debate will be reopened today, and the amendment ditched -- and then we'll be back to talking about prison time for music fans.

13 Comments | Leave a Comment..


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Reader Comments (rss)

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  1.  

    Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Brewski, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 10:10am

    Allez emprisonner. Allez directement emprisonner. Ne passez pas "Vont". Ne rassemblez pas $200. (Thanks, babelfish!)

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    ZOMG CENSORED, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 10:49am

    ...babelfish is wrong just to let you know.

    "Allez y au prison. Allez y directement au prison. Ne passez pas "Allez". Ne collectionez pas 1,105.47 Francs"

    :D

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Frenchie, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 12:15pm

    Not surprising that once again Mike is talking out of his ass. There are some very good articles at http://www.tf1.fr/news but that will imply that any of you went to school to learn another language. Meanwhile I did not see the legislative effort of the Bush administration to vote on peer to peer. By the way: 'Allez EN prison, allez directement EN prison, ne passez pas par la case depart, et mets toi le AU cul.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Boondoka, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 1:03pm

    Of all the languages to learn, why the hell would I choose french?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 1:26pm

    who want a faggot like you to learn french anyway

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    ZOMG CENSORED, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 1:38pm

    Allez EN prison, allez directement EN prison, ne passez pas par la case depart, et mets toi le AU cul.

    I see I'm not the only one who failed grammar in school... :D

    Actually here's the monopoly translation directly from the card:

    "Allez en prison. Ne franchissez pas la case départ. Ne touchez pas 20,000 F"

    ------

    With that aside. This was also posted on /. with plenty of supportive information for both sides of the coin. Personally, I think it's good, but it won't make it because of how the French government works.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Boondoka, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 1:40pm

    My my my, such hostility! Why? Why do you even care? Hmm... Once again the anonymity of the web gives another spineless dreg the ability to grow balls and swing them about as if they were overflowing with superfluous knowledge for mankind.

    (I recognize the irony that I too partake of this institution.)

    The point being, it doesn't matter what the french do; it never has. Why pay attention to a society that can't even come to grips with their own social minority problems?

    What the french decide to do in regards to this case are meaningless for the rest of the world.

    Perhaps other people’s opinions are too much for you to handle though…

    Would you care to make another hostile comment?

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    ZOMG CENSORED, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 1:51pm

    Precedence is why people care, if one country does it, chances are it can get the ball rolling with a "Hey, if they did it, so should we" mentality.

    Oh... and for hostility's sake:

    "Go away or I will taunt you a second time, you daffy English ka-nig-its" :)

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 1:57pm

    "Why pay attention to a society that can't even come to grips with their own social minority problems?"

    Seriously, you are a freaking idiot.

    dylan
    (not the other anon, that guy is an idiot too.)

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    DJ-Panic, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 3:27pm

    "Why pay attention to a society that can't even come to grips with their own social minority problems?"

    ummm, we can't either.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  

    Two precisions

    identicon
    Jean, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 5:26pm

    - In French, "the government" means "the cabinet", so the National Assembly is not the government. And it definitely has the right to go against the government, which seems a big shock for the person quoted.
    - They will talk about this issue in january, but for now, the "majority leader" has refused to re-examine the amendment right away, which was another blow for the Minister. It is not clear how this will end.

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Anonymous Coward, Dec 22nd, 2005 @ 7:31pm

    hah awesome quote

    "we are french; where do you think i got this outrageous accent?"

    "whot are you doing in england then?"

    "Minda your own bizness you silly king!"

    i'll stop now...

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  

    Re: Let them eat cake?

    identicon
    Binsky, Dec 23rd, 2005 @ 1:47am

    That was the only correct reply to this minor flaming...A Python quote! (or at least it reminded me of the search for the grail)

    Thanks for the laugh! :D

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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