The part of the HADOPI law that allowed for suspension of Internet access to a repeat infringer was revoked on 8 July 2013 by the French government because that penalty was considered to be disproportionate.
[2] Despite strong backing from President Nicolas Sarkozy, the bill was rejected by the French National Assembly on 9 April 2009.
There were complaints that the government's official website misrepresented the bill,[7] that the French Wikipedia pages on it were falsified by the Ministry of Culture on 14 February 2009.
[9] The law creates a government agency called Haute Autorité pour la Diffusion des Œuvres et la Protection des Droits sur Internet (HADOPI) (English: Supreme Authority for the Distribution and Protection of Intellectual Property on the Internet); replacing a previous agency, the ARMT (Regulation of Technical Measures Authority) created by the DADVSI law.
On receipt of a complaint from a copyright holder or representative, HADOPI may initiate a 'three-strike' procedure: The ISP is then required to monitor the subject's Internet connection.
In the event that the offender fails to comply during the year following the reception of the certified letter, and upon accusation of repeated offenses by the copyright holder, a representative, the ISP or HADOPI, the third step of the procedure is invoked.
Nevertheless, the fines against users found to be sharing unauthorized content remained standing ("up to EUR 1500 in cases of gross negligence"), and ISPs are still required to provide details to identify them.
It has been partially invalidated by the Constitutional Council of France's rejection of the principle of escalation,[22] and retains only the crime of copyright-infringement, punishable by up to 3 years' prison and a fine of up to €300,000.
After consulting representatives of the entertainment industry, Internet service providers and consumer associations, the Olivennes committee reported to the Minister on November 23.
[24] Owing to its controversial nature, the bill became a subject of intense campaigning in various media, which was redoubled after its parliamentary defeat on April 9, 2009.
That remained its position until the Telecoms Package was finally adopted with the so-called Freedom Provision (Directive 2009/140/EC, Article 1.3a).
The list has been challenged on several grounds: The leading French consumer association UFC Que Choisir has positioned itself against the law and set up a website to support opposition.
[28] Following an open letter in the newspaper Libération signed by Chantal Akerman, Christophe Honoré, Jean-Pierre Limosin, Zina Modiano, Gaël Morel, Victoria Abril, Catherine Deneuve, Louis Garrel, Yann Gonzalez, Clotilde Hesme, Chiara Mastroianni, Agathe Berman and Paulo Branco[29] which was published on April 7, 2009, and co-authored notably by Victoria Abril and Catherine Deneuve, an informal group has been constituted under the name Creation Public Internet.