The CEO of French broadband ISP Vivendi, Jean-Bernard Levy, has called on the UK to follow France's lead and clamp down on Internet piracy or risk damage to the economy. Ironically the current UK proposals are now technically tougher (over the top more like) than those adopted in France which, after an intervention from the country’s constitutional court, now guarantees "suspected" illegal file sharers a court hearing prior to disconnection.


However the opposing argument, at least one of them, is that 'development' is precisely what the media industry has not been doing; preferring instead to rely on old distribution models and forgoing the creation of new channels to combat illegal alternatives.

By now all of the various arguments have been well rehearsed, repeated and are now fully entrenched, though nearly everybody - except Rights Holders and Peter Mandelson - seems to agree that immediate disconnection without trial is not the correct way to proceed. At least France gives people a chance to defend themselves in court first.