Battleangel

Though there are plenty of snags of course.

NYT - A nearly empty midnight session of the French National Assembly voted to add amendments to an antipiracy law that would allow peer-to-peer sharing of films and music over the Internet, a move that would legalize here what is considered piracy nearly everywhere else in the world.

The amendments face a tough time later in the legislative process, since the government, which holds a majority of seats, said it opposed the move.

The small group of late-night lawmakers in the assembly, the lower house of Parliament, tacked on amendments that would establish a global license fee of 7 euros ($8.40) a month, according to the Dow Jones news service. That would permit Internet users to download unlimited digital music and films from the Internet for personal use. The funds would be distributed to copyright holders.

The amendments passed 30 to 28, in a vote for which only about 10 percent of the 577 members of the assembly were present.

For once, tardy and absent politicians actually make something good happen.
But it shows that somewhere, somehow, some at least dare to think outside of the box. There is a growing movement. Like the man said, “France invented property rights for artists in 1791″ and now it’s time for France to take a bold step again.

And again, sorry NYT and everyone else who hype the topic, it’s not called piracy. And it’s not theft. It’s called copyright infringement in legal terms. The real world calls it file sharing.

See also: U.S. vs. the world on file-sharing “Is the United States getting increasingly out of touch with the rest of the world where technology matters are concerned?”