Loi sur la liberté de communication :
Communiqué de presse de l'EuroISPA (27 mars 2000)

 

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NOOSE OF RED TAPE TIGHTENS AROUND FRENCH INTERNET INDUSTRY

A new French proposal requiring all individual subscribers with
websites to register their personal details with their hosting
providers has been passed during the second reading of a new law in
the lower house of the French Parliament. The bill does not properly
specify that it is only meant to deal with web pages and currently
also covers activities such as participation in chat rooms, online
message boards, mailing lists, etc.

While in theory ISPs will not be required to police the new system,
there is nothing in the bill to limit liability of ISPs for policing,
nor any guarantee that ISP will not have policing duties imposed on
them in the future. EuroISPA President Cormac Callanan said, 'ISPs are
at the forefront of the fight against illegal content on the Web -
actively participating in the setting up of hotlines and 'notice and
takedown' procedures. Given the French ISP industry's exemplary record
in this regard, it is particularly disappointing that their government
appears bent on disadvantaging them in this way'.

Those who fail to do so, or who give incorrect details, risk up to six
months in prison or over 7,000 Euros in fines. French consumers using
hosting services abroad will not be required to undertake this
potentially cumbersome procedure.

'As a normal law-abiding French consumer, this law could push you to
use non-French hosting providers, chat rooms etc, in order to avoid
both the possible bureaucracy of this system and to avoid any
possibility of coming under a jurisdiction where incorrect
registration could land you in prison for six months,' added Mr
Callanan.

He added, "ISPs want maximum safety for all on the Internet and are
not opposed in principle to extra legislation such as this. However,
it is important that ISPs be involved in the development of new
regulations, in order to make it as effective as possible. Simply
making amendments in the second reading of draft legislation, as in
this case, is not the way to produce effective and balanced
legislation.

Ironically, this law may have exactly the opposite effect from its
perfectly honourable intentions. It could force French web authors
into foreign jurisdictions and make it impossible for French
plaintiffs and judges to obtain information on a French web author
without recourse to international judiciary cooperation.

The message to members of the French Parliament is simple. You should
work with ISPs to provide maximum protection for all French citizens,
not introduce a law which moves illegal content outside French
jurisdiction, hurting French industry in the process.

ENDS
Contact: Joe McNamee, Bte 3, 39 Rue Montoyer, Brussels. Tel: + 32 2 503 22
65. Fax: + 32 2 503 42 95. E-Mail: joe.mcnamee@village.uunet.be.

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