Top French court declares internet access a basic human right!

[Yazman]

I am extremely happy about this, especially for the precedent it sets - the exact OPPOSITE of what Sarkozy and the government's corporate lackeys wanted to set!

Source: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6478542.ece

Click the link for the full article, here's a snippet from the source:

France's highest court has inflicted an embarrassing blow to President Sarkozy by cutting the heart out of a law that was supposed to put France in the forefront of the fight against piracy on the internet.

The Constitutional Council declared access to the internet to be a basic human right, directly opposing the key points of Mr Sarkozy's law, passed in April, which created the first internet police agency in the democratic world.

The strongly-worded decision means that Mr Sarkozy's scheme has backfired and inadvertently boosted those who defend the free-for-all culture of the web.

Mr Sarkozy and Christine Albanel, his Culture Minister, forced the law through parliament despite misgivings from many of the President's centre-right MPs. It was rejected in its first passage through Parliament.

[Il Medico]

This is great. Suck it Sarkozy! On the internet, only Stromfront and their kin, should be fascist dicks. Good job French courts!

[piet11111]

this is great because this would probably mean that internet throttling is also illegal and as a pirate that seriously makes me happy as would probably be the download limits.

i envy the french for yet another reason.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Excellent news. I hope that it sets a precedent.

Just how many French people use the internet, though?

[MarxSchmarx]

This is a great development, but can anybody summarize the logic behind the decision?

[piet11111]

the dutch government is also trying to start building a legal framework to prosecute those that download illegally. :thumbdown:

[BloodyBandage]

hard to put the jeanie back in the bottle...but remember when it was the "Wild West" and now everything is governed...internet is still young and more open, but with more efforts like this (if they don't get shot down) could lead to it becoming policed.

[Rascolnikova]

Just how many French people use the internet, though?

Why is this in question? I would imagine it's about the same as any other western European country. .

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Why is this in question? I would imagine it's about the same as any other western European country. .

Well, I don't know, that's why I'm asking. I'm not going to make any assumptions, since I hardly ever see people on the internet that I know to be French; for all I know they could be keeping to their own corner of the internet (IE French internet users mostly visit French websites), drowned out by the Anglophone roar, or maybe I've simply been unlucky in the meeting-French-people-on-the-internet department.

[Rascolnikova]

Well, I don't know, that's why I'm asking. I'm not going to make any assumptions, since I hardly ever see people on the internet that I know to be French; for all I know they could be keeping to their own corner of the internet (IE French internet users mostly visit French websites), drowned out by the Anglophone roar, or maybe I've simply been unlucky in the meeting-French-people-on-the-internet department.

I've never noticed a shortage, either of French users or of French sites.

[Yazman]

China has more internet users than any other country. There's FUCKLOADS of Filipinos too.

There really is a lot of stuff we here on the english-speaking 'net don't really see.

[Misanthrope]

Wonderful. An unregulated, uncontrollable, information source is a basic human right :thumbup1: