France Has a New Anti-Piracy System

France revealed a new system to punish those illegally downloading music and video. A person who downloads an illegal file will receive a warning from their Internet service provider. A moderator decides when these warnings are necessary. If the customer disregards the warning, they risk account suspension.

Reuters (via the New York Times) reports:

“We run the risk of witnessing a genuine destruction of culture,” President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech endorsing the deal.

He added that the Internet must not become a high-tech Wild West, “a lawless zone where outlaws can pillage works with abandon or, worse, trade in them in total impunity. And on whose backs? On artist’s backs.”

Sarkozy’s description invokes images of raiders ransacking museums, torching priceless works to ashes. Since when is downloading music pillaging it with abandon? We download music so that we can enjoy it. While the monetary value of music decreases when it is illegally traded, the artistic value does not. We’re not ruthlessly destroying music, we’re actually furthering its distribution. And while I understand it isn’t legal, I don’t believe we’re tampering with it as an art form. To say illegal downloading is the equivalent of pillaging is, needless to say, a gross overstatement.

Sarkozy’s plan is a step backwards. Nowadays, many artists understand that music is illegally traded. Some don’t even mind. The more a song is traded the more exposure it receives. Other musicians like Radiohead and Saul Williams provide album downloads for free. Their lead has encouraged other artists to do the same, as well as pursue new revenue streams. A harsher attempt to halt illegal downloading might stifle this process.

The system, however, does have some beneficial requirements. Reuters continues:

“The deal also creates obligations for film and music companies to make their works available online more quickly and to remove technical barriers like those that make music tracks unreadable on certain platforms.”

The system’s downsides, however, still outweigh its perks. The French government has no right to restrict Internet privileges. The Internet is a marketplace for discussion. To curb access prevents citizens from reading the news online (news often critical of government), researching any given topic, corresponding via email or instant messaging, or participating in discussions on message boards. Just think – if Sarkozy strikes your Internet privileges (for downloading art!), you have no forum to complain that it’s unfair. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime.