France’s Senate has passed a three strikes law would cut off Internet access for people who continue to download unlicensed music. From the Hollywood Reporter: France is on a collision course with the EU after the French Senate overwhelmingly voted for an Internet piracy law that directly contradicts European Parliament legislation. The Senate’s “three strikes” or “graduated response” [...]

Angola is asking a French court to stop an arms trafficking trail because the case would harm the national security of the country. From the AP (via IHT): A lawyer representing Angola, Francis Teitgen, argued that the investigation jeopardized the African country’s defense secrets and that letting this information emerge in a public trial would be an [...]

A group of high-profile members of French’s elite are heading to trial for trafficking arms to the African state of Angola. From the Financial Times: Thirteen members of France’s political establishment will go on trial on Monday over the sale in spite of an international arms embargo of millions of dollars in weapons to oil-rich Angola. Jacques Attali, [...]

Source:  Reuters, ” French firms target eBay in anti-counterfeit drive,” Boston Globe, August 18, 2006, and Union des Fabricants, “Damages and Penalties,“ (accessed: January 10, 2007).

eBay was fined $30,000 for selling counterfeit goods on its website. From AFP: Online auction giant eBay was convicted by a French court Wednesday of selling counterfeit goods and ordered to pay 20,000 euros (30,000 dollars) in damages to French luxury group Hermes. The court ruling, which marks a first in France, found eBay directly responsible for the [...]

Source: Francois Tillinac, ” Trafficking of African women is thriving,” IOL (South Africa), May 10, 2007,  (accessed: May 11, 2007).

Source: United States Department of State, ” 2006 Trafficking in Persons Report,” Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, June 5, 2006.

Source: John Laurenson, “Fake Designer Goods Cost France Dearly,” Deutsche Wells, March 21, 2005.

Source: Bloomberg, “Counterfeiters costing firms millions,” Taipei Times, January 28, 2005, (accessed: October 13, 2005).

France has just announced a new policy of cutting of Internet access for users who do not stop downloading pirated movies and music off of the Internet. From the BBC: French web users caught pirating movies or music could soon be thrown offline. Those illegally sharing files will face the loss of their net access thanks [...]