It was passed by both France’s assembly and senate last month, but now the country’s Constitutional Court has ruled illegal a proposed law that would create an agency to warn, warn again and then disconnect anyone found illegally downloading content.
Under France’s Declaration of Rights of 1789, the court ruled the Creation Et L’Internet bill contravened citizens’ right to free speech and presumption of innocence whilst the proposed Hadopi agency didn’t have legal authority, The Reg reports. That seems to head off a grand legal struggle with the European Union, whose MEPs had steadfastly refused to let go of an amendment to a telecoms bill that would compel such agencies to get court approval before any disconnections.
Forrester music analyst Mark Mulligan writes: “This isn