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French lawmakers debate merits of `downloading tax'

French lawmakers on Thursday debated a proposal that would introduce a de facto download tax to legalize the copying of movie and music files from the Internet, after an embarrassed government was forced to resubmit the idea for a vote.

The proposal, an amendment to a bill before the assembly, has ignited a fierce debate over copyright between supporters of a monthly licence fee allowing them to download material, and critics who claim it would open the way to large-scale piracy.

At the same time, the government has been caught in a procedural mess that obliged Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres to reintroduce the article containing the "download tax" late on Wednesday just two days after ordering it withdrawn from the general bill.

"I want the debate to continue. I'm prepared to go right to the end of the debate," he told lawmakers, promising that the government would not railroad through the measure past fierce opposition.

The contentious article is part of a bill before parliament that is meant to define French digital copyright law and bring it into line with an EU-wide directive issued five years ago.

Drafted by the government, the main bill essentially outlaws downloading and the copying of commercial DVDs and CDs -- except for very limited private use -- and establishes fines and prison sentences as punishment for offenders.

An estimated eight to 10 million people in France -- nearly 17 percent of the population -- already download copyrighted files without making any sort of payment.

The government hastily suspended the initial examination of the bill in December last year, when a small group of ruling party and opposition MPs managed to attach the amendment that would legalize downloading for a fee.

The amendment calls for the general licence fee to be added to monthly subscription charges Internet users pay companies to access the Web. The sum, expected to be around US$9.50 to US$14, would go to a centralized fund to pay artists' royalties.

Villepin's government is, in fact, deeply hostile to the download tax, which it fears will open the way to rampant piracy. After withdrawing the bill, it lightened the fines in an attempt to mollify consumer advocates and then on Tuesday resubmitted the text to parliament -- minus the download fee provision.

But on Wednesday, the government apparently found that it had overstepped its constitutional powers by excising the article, and as a result the measure was reintroduced.

Villepin is now banking on the governing UMP's majority in the lower house and the Senate to ultimately quash the downloading amendment that it could not -- for procedural reasons -- remove on its own.

Despite the humiliation dealt to the government by the process, observers predict the bill will eventually become law without legalizing downloading.

The measure is due to go to a vote next Wednesday.
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