Law to keep email addresses for life

INTERNET users should have a legal right to keep their old email address when they switch provider, under new plans being debated in parliament.

Two MPs want to force ISPs to automatically forward ex-customers' emails to their new account elsewhere - in the same way that someone switching mobile operator can keep the same phone number.

For example, a customer who decides to ditch Orange for Free would still receive messages sent to their old @orange.fr address. The service would be free for the first six months and could then be renewed for a "reasonable" fee.

Laure de la Raudière (Eure-et-Loir) and Jean Dionis (Lot-et-Garonne) have put forward the proposal as part of a wide-ranging "digital inclusion bill".

They say giving users an email address linked to their web connection - instead of a web service like Hotmail or Gmail - is a tactic used by providers to lock customers in, because of the hassle of changing address and telling everyone about it.

According to Le Point, Orange automatically deletes an email account when a customer leaves, but will keep it open indefinitely for free if asked.

Free says its email accounts are independent from the web connection and are not deleted when someone cancels their package, but Bouygues closes its email accounts immediately.

The proposed digital inclusion law includes measures designed to guarantee high speed internet and digital TV for all.

It also proposes better controls over how users' private web and mobile data is stored and used.

A vote in the National Assembly is expected later this month or in early December.

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