In the first blow to the new bill fighting illegal downloads, passed last month by the French National Assembly, the French Constitutional Council rejected a key provision that would have given a newly-created government agency the authority to cut off Internet access to repeated offenders.

The country's highest court said that "free access to public communication services online" was a human right that only a judge should have the power to disconnect.

The “Création et Internet” bill has been published in the Journal officiel (Official Records) amputated of the controversial provision. Only a judicial court will have the authority to cut off the Internet service of an offending downloader. HADOPI (Haute autorité pour la diffusion des oeuvres et la protection des droits de l'internet) can only now issue warnings.

Under the law, HADOPI was empowered to shut down as the ultimate sanction – for two months to one year – the internet access of a broadband subscriber caught illegally downloading copyrighted content if the user refuses to comply to an initial email warning then to a registered letter enjoining to stop – the so-called “graduated riposte.”

The bill passed last month was tougher that an initial draft. It reintroduces the “double strike.” The user whose Internet connection has been suspended has to continue paying his broadband contract for the duration of the sanction. Furthermore, the amnesty initially offered to those caught illegally downloading before the law comes into force, has been rescinded.

The legislation was hotly opposed by the rival Socialists as well as free speech advocates who claim that it kills freedoms by denying accused Internet pirates the right to challenge the charges against them. Others fear it will pave the way for Big Brother-style intrusions by the government into citizens' private lives.

Story filed 15.06.09