Internet law vote put back a week

A VOTE on the proposed law to tackle piracy on the internet has been put back by one week.

The vote was due to take place this afternoon, however president of the Assembly Bernard Accoyer said that due to the number of amendments put forward it was “likely to occupy MPs until Thursday” and has been put back until Tuesday, May 12.

The long-running proposition of the loi Hadopi returned to the National Assembly last week after a surprise rejection just before the parliamentary break, blamed on the small number of MPs present.

This morning 160 amendments out of the 214 put forward still remained to be debated.

The internet piracy law has been under parliamentary scrutiny for almost a year.

Sarkozy had said he hoped the law would finally be adopted by May 14, however the postponement of this afternoon’s vote means it will miss this deadline.

The government is racing against the European Union, whose MEPs have voted to make an internet connection a right – something that cannot be cut off without a judicial process.

The EU Council of Minister needs to consider the idea and may still quash it.