Posted on 12/22/2005 1:36:15 PM PST by indcons
PARIS, Dec. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- France lower house of parliament on Thursday voted to legalise music and movies download on Internet, running counter to moves in most other Western countries, where such downloads are illegal in order to protect copyright.
The measure, introduced as two amendments to a government bill designed to toughen digital copyright protection, deems that downloading copyrighted files is legal as long as it is for private use only and the internet users pays a general fee for royalty payments.
The French government has called for a second vote in the National Assembly.
French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said later Thursday that he was determined to go back on the vote.
French former Culture Minister Jack Lang of the opposition Socialist Party said Thursday that it was necessary to give the time for reflection over the law bill concerning copyright on internet.
The measure in any case would have to pass the Senate and again the lower house before it becomes law.
Some French entertainers, though, protested the parliamentary vote, fearing their livelihoods would be threatened if it became law.
Groups representing companies in the cinema and music industries issued a joint statement decrying what they described as "the expropriation of authors' rights on the Internet" and calling for the government to intervene.
Interesting. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
Eh, not enough people want Frog music, so no harm to their music industry.
But hey, we have made the theft of property by local governments legal through Supreme Court fiat, so we are no better.
In the end, such laws matter less than jaywalking (and thousands of other) laws do in the United States. Who gets caught and punished? Downloading will continue one way or another.
iCheese
frogCasting
It is already legal to download music.
If you don't believe me, go to:
http://music.download.com
"Mixed emotions, huh? Like seeing your mother-in-law driving your brand new Caddie off a cliff. Hate France so much, can't admit when they do something right?"
LMAO....you got that right!!
Great, Just as long as I can get Prussian Blue for free.
WEnt to that site and searched for a few tracks...looks like only unknown artists' music is for free on that site. They provide only samples of known artists.
They should legalize having a pair.........
Wouldn't governments still have to compensate people for taking their property?
""Wouldn't governments still have to compensate people for taking their property?""
What? How absurd. You are referring to reality.
Sorry. I'll try not to do that in the future.:)
That's not the issue in dispute. It's whether 'downloading music' is legal or illegal. What is on the site IS music, and it is legal to download it.
And a lot of it is actually quite good. More and more artists will be doing this, sucking the life out of the official 'music industry' until it withers away.
deems that downloading copyrighted files is legal as long as it is for private use only and the internet users pays a general fee for royalty payments.
How do you suppose that will happen?
By imposing a universal fee on all internet use! Governments love this sort of thing, like the fee placed on all blank audio and video tape that we buy, whether it's used to duplicate copyright material or not.
On the net use, once one hidden fee is attached, it's all over.
Guess what the level of the internet use tax will be in 10 years...
Excellent points.....never crossed my mind. You're absolutely right.
Tax? God, NO! When was the last time you examined your telephone bill? Your cable bill? What's another nickel or two a month? You and I won't notice, as we haven't before.
It's the WORLD Wide Web.. how will they keep people from outside France from downloading?
It's similar to certain sites (*cough*Pirate's Bay*cough*) where they get away with downloading virtually anything from popular games to the latest movies because the country (Sweden) where the website is based has different laws. The site thumbs it's nose at the RIAA etc.
But it ain't just Swede's downloading from there...
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