Hadopi figures reveal limits
Anti-internet piracy body still refuses to publish number of warnings sent out, but latest study shows limited influence
THE anti-internet piracy body Hadopi has announced successes after six months of operation, but technology writers are criticizing the validity of its figures.
Hadopi was put in place to tackle internet piracy via a series of steps, beginning with an email asking users to stop, followed by a registered letter and eventually ending with the user's internet connection being cut off.
The scheme, which suffered several set backs in its legal formation, has been criticised because of the ease in which it is bypassed: users can mask their IP addresses (used as the basis of complaints to the Hadopi) and its focus on peer-to-peer sharing ignores the rise of online streaming sites which are increasingly used to show TV shows and films.
According to the Hadopi's latest study, one internet user in two believes the Hadopi, short for Haute Autorité pour la diffusion des œuvres et la protection des droits sur Internet, is a good thing.
The Hadopi has refused to reveal how many letters and emails have been sent out, but out of 1,500 people surveyed in the study, seven per cent said they had received warnings from the authority.
Of these 105 people, half of them said they had stopped as a result, 22% said they had cut back.
Both the president of Hadopi, Françoise Marais, and the Culture Secretary François Mitterrand who gave statements along with the latest survey, said that the primary aim of the body was to push the public towards legal downloads, not to punish them.
President Sarkozy has already described the implementation of Hadopi as an "error" at a speech on April 27 at the first meeting of the Conseil national du numérique.
