Can France hold it's nerve this time?

I was going to wait till tomorrow for my next post (things to be doing don't you know), I just came across this on Digg.

According to France24.com:

French lawmakers on Thursday adopted the most contested provision of a tough new anti-piracy bill that would punish illegal downloaders by cutting off their Internet access.

I've blogged about this before, but now it seems like its definitely coming in. In layman's terms, it will work like the infamous American law, '3 strikes and your out,' where any Internet user caught downloaded content illegally more then twice will have their connections terminated for a period between one month and a year.

While I admit that punishments for this offense are needed (though I believe they already exist, just need to be enforced. Theft is theft.), this punishment, while seemingly sensical in these times, in the coming years, will be much harder to enforce. As we move closer towards the 'Internet of Things', and the lines between what is Internet access and what is television, advertising, your washing machine, become more blurred, this law will be seen to be increasingly harsh. And then of course, there are the technical concerns, for instance, for households with multiple users, wireless networks, etc

.You can take our porn and music, but please France, not our web-enabled fridge with food serving suggestions.

Its an interesting route to take. We'll just have to wait and see how well or unwell the first wave of offenders are dealt with.