France Passes Internet Piracy Law

France yesterday passed a very tough "Creativity and Internet" intellectual property piracy law that is more stringent than the EU's own code, and may contradict it in some respects. The French law gives illegal downloaders three warnings and then can pull the Internet plug for up to a year. The law was expected to pass, but was voted down recently in a sparsely attended session of the French Parliament. The Socialist party says it will appeal, according to media reports.