Entangled In Amendments, HADOPI 2 Hits Summer Break

The French National Assembly vote on a bill to protect literary and artistic intellectual property rights online has been pushed back to September, according to a source at the Assembly.

The bill passed the French Senate on 8 July (IPW, IP Burble, 9 July 2009). If passed into law, it would give the newly created high-level authority for the protection of artistic works on the internet (HADOPI) a judicial response to potential [clarification: alleged] infringers, through a judge. The suspension of internet services as punishment for alleged infringement was stripped out of the first HADOPI law by the French Constitutional Council.

The new bill has been saddled with 894 amendments submitted by Assembly members, which has lengthened the process of examination, rendering unattainable the formal vote planned for 24 July, according to the source. The Conference of Presidents, whose function it is to organise the National Assembly public sessions, decided to delay the vote.

The bill will be discussed and amendments reviewed until 24 July, and the vote should occur at the extraordinary session of the National Assembly in mid-September.