Tech Shout!

At a hearing held by the Commission for Cultural Affairs and Commission for Economic Affairs’, an investigation into the French file sharing law that was passed late 2005 making peer-to-peer networks legal will be put forward. France’s Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres will appear at the hearing.

The law would legitimise the sharing of music and films as long as a flat fee of several euros per month is paid. Even with the assurance of some compensation for file swappers’ activities, the record industry says such a plan would undo years of work to fight piracy.

The application has received the support of consumer groups in France, but French entertainment companies like Vivendi Universal have strongly opposed the law. The industry has even called on French pop stars to endorse their stance publicly.

The back and forth between supporters and detractors of the law began in December when the French government proposed new sanctions of 300,000 euros and a three-year jail term for those found guilty of file sharing.

Parliament countered shortly thereafter, adding revisions to legalise file sharing as long as users paid a fee to the French government. However, legal analysts say that even if the law is eventually passed, it could violate European Union regulations on copyright and may be invalid anyway.

Opponents of the law say that a flat-rate fee would also challenge the growing legal digital music business in France, and would not create enough revenue to compensate the record companies and their artists.