Online piracy bill passes French assembly

PARIS, April 3 (UPI) -- The French National Assembly has passed a controversial bill that creates a so-called three-strikes policy for Internet piracy violators, an official says.

A representative of the Internet freedom organization, La Quadrature du Net, said the bill's passage in the assembly was indicative of the "blind corporatism" in the French government, the EU Observer said Friday.

"The vote ... is a symbol of the technological ignorance of a government and a majority in the service of a blind corporatism. The industries that required the Hadopi are not close to being saved (by this law)," group representative Jeremie Zimmermann said following Thursday's vote.

The proposed legislation is known as the Hadopi law in reference to the High Authority for the Diffusion of Oeuvres and the Protection of Rights on the Internet, the Observer said.

Under the legislation, those suspected of Internet piracy will receive two separate warnings about their illegal activities before losing access to online services for up to a year.

The legislation has already passed through the Senate and its final text will be the focus of a meeting next Thursday, the Observer said.