June 10 - 2:30pm EDT   France's Constitutional Council today ruled against the country's recently approved three-strike law. The Council rejected the measure on constitutional grounds and says that the law, known as Création et Internet, violated the Declaration of 1789, which insists that all are innocent until proven guilty. Measures in the new law would automatically disconnect users on the third accusation of illegal file sharing and put the burden on customers to prove their own innocence. [full story]

May 12 - 2:35pm EDT   The French National Assembly today approved a modified version of the three-strikes law meant to combat online piracy. Following an earlier rejection of an initial version, the government body voted 296-233 in favor of the bill, which would send two warnings to users caught allegedly trading illegally copied media and require that Internet providers disconnect users after a third offense. [full story]

April 9 - 9:55am EDT   France's National Assembly on Thursday voted down a proposed law that would have required Internet providers cut off subscribers after three detected instances of pirating music or videos. The decision was made through an unusual 21-15 vote after the majority of the Assembly's 577 representatives avoided the session. The French administration hasn't commented on the rejection other than to say a modified version is due within a few weeks. [full story]

March 2 - 11:30am EST   The recent budget cuts that have the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) cutting its staff are more pronounced than initially expected, says a Friday Hypebot report. Due to an increased number of people purchasing digital songs online, the RIAA's role of suing individuals for illegal file sharing is reduced, with the music labels that fund the organization cutting the budget significantly. [full story]

January 28 - 9:30am EST   Both AT&T and Comcast should be the first Internet providers to give in to the RIAA's monitoring program, according to sources speaking with CNET. Three separate contacts allege that the respective DSL and cable providers have tentatively agreed to forward warnings when the RIAA believes its songs are being shared illegally and would volunteer to punish repeated offenders. These could include user-specific traffic throttling and even suspension or a permanent disconnection after multiple alleged infractions. [full story]

January 20 - 4:15pm EST   A study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs has just concluded that the net economic effects of file sharing for music, movies and games are positive. The resulting 142-page report, put together by research company TNO, doesn't narrow the results to strictly illegal content but argues that, as consumers save money on unnecessary purchases and spend it on more wanted content, they save much more in wasted spending than music production companies lose. [full story]

April 10 - 1:45pm EDT   The European Parliament has voted to abolish a plan to permanently ban illegal filesharers, writes IDG News. Under the rules of the plan, those caught sharing copyrighted music, video and other material would have been prevented from even connecting to the Internet for unspecified amounts of time, possibly permanently. "The vote shows that MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) want to strike a balance between the interests of rights holders and those of consumers, and that big measures like cutting off Internet access shouldn't be used," according to EP spokeswoman Malene Folke Chaucheprat. [full story]

March 31 - 2:10pm EDT   Virgin Media today said it will be the first Internet provider to experiment with actively combat pirated content distributed across its network. The UK broadband firm has agreed to a test project that will scan for illegal copies of music and other media across the service. The monitoring will follow a three-strike rule that will see users receive a letter for a first violation; a second violation will result in a temporary suspension of Internet access, while a third will force the customer to cancel their service altogether. [full story]

February 22 - 2:10pm EST   Internet service providers in the UK may have no choice but to impose anti-piracy scans on their networks if they cannot agree to a solution voluntarily, the country's government said today. A strategy document released by British officials warns that the companies must agree with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) as well as other music and movie producer associations to develop an anti-piracy agreement that will curb illegal sharing at the carrier level rather than targeting individual users. Without a private agreement, the government may have to impose its own rules mandating such a change in April 2009 to protect the UK's creative ... [full story]

February 13 - 2:55pm EST   A recent Danish court decision against an ISP violates EU law, a Swedish judge has declared. Cecilia Renfors, a government investigator being asked to propose new file-sharing legislation, says that Denmark was in error when it told Tele2 to prevent customers from reaching The Pirate Bay, a site well-known for aiding piracy through hosting BitTorrent trackers. The site's owners are in fact facing copyright infringement accusations from a group including Fox, EMI, Sony BMG and Universal. [full story]

February 5 - 12:25pm EST   The most popular search engine in China may be facing legal sanctions over music piracy, says Agence France-Presse. Three of the four major labels -- Warner, Universal and Sony BMG -- have filed a request in a Beijing court, asking that Baidu pull down links to illegal music. Specifically, the labels allege that Baidu is indexing illegal hosting sites, while simultaneously profiting from advertising. Music trade group IFPI claims that piracy in China has dramatically hurt its own profits, with over 99 percent of tracks in the country said to be distributed illegally. [full story]

January 24 - 1:45pm EST   Direct-download music sales saw one of its most significant increases yet in 2007 but is being "choked" by piracy, says a new report from the IFPI. The international music association notes that sales of music online grew by 40 percent last year to produce about $2.9 billion in sales and was large enough to account for a significant portion of some countries' entire music sales. Internet sales now represent about 15 percent of all music sold in the world and account for 15 percent in the US specifically, according to the IFPI. Single-track downloads comprised a large part of the success and grew by 53 percent to 1.7 billion individual songs. [full story]

January 11 - 3:20pm EST   Major label EMI may be leaving the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), reports say. Its executives are further said to be engaged in talks with Warner, Universal and Sony BMG, in an attempt to alter the priorities and structure are several trade groups, including the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). EMI sent a letter to IFPI officials for that very reason, claiming that it would abandon its membership unless the organization conformed to EMI's interests. Funding to the IFPI could be cut off by March 31st. [full story]

November 29 - 11:40am EST   Music label EMI could weaken the anti-piracy campaigns of both the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the near future by reducing its financial help with both organizations, claims an anonymous insider speaking to Reuters. A recent acquisition of EMI by the private equity firm Terra Firma is known to have triggered a financial review that would reduce the millions of dollars that the label supplies to both groups. [full story]