Hey French Government: Less is Never More.

I just read on Ars Technica that the French Cabinet is smiling upon a law requiring ISPs to police their networks and identify people who illegally distribute copyrighted content. The likelihood is that this rule will be implemented in January.

A portion of the Ars Technica post reads:

The plan, announced last November by President Nicolas Sarkozy, will yank the Internet access of those caught sharing copyrighted content via P2P after they've been caught three times (the first two times would involve warnings at various levels). Their access would be cut off for up to a year, which lawmakers hope will be enough to dissuade other would-be downloaders from hopping on the pirate ship. "It takes a preventive and educational approach," France's Culture Minister, Christine Albanel, told the Times Online.

Two comments:

1. I am generally not a cheerleader for ISPs, but HOW ON EARTH is it the job of an Internet Service Provider to provide police protection? This is the responsibility of the state, not an ISP.

2. Why does the recording industry continue to believe that less will somehow be more? In other words, that RESTRICTING the distribution of content will somehow help them make more money. It’s backwards. Think about it in the context of TV. Low ratings mean cancellation, not the gravy train. There should be a positive relationship between audience size and revenue – and there is in any sensible revenue model. The music biz should be taking the lead of the video industry which is rapidly growing distribution of recorded video content while ensuring it is always paired with revenue producing ads. I understand that the industry would rather sell us content as they did with CDs. But them days is gone, and tilting at piracy windmills is an absurd business strategy.

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