Frenchman Fined For Pirating Pop

The initial person has been fined beneath France's new anti-piracy law.

Alain Prevost was fined 150 euros (121) for pirating two Rihanna marks even even though his spouse certified she downloaded the songs.

The excellent was levied on the 40-year-old since he paid is to web couple over that the songs were downloaded.

The French supervision group policing downloading in the nation is scheming cases against 14 other people it suspects of pirating cinema and music.

France operates a "three strikes" law that means suspected pirates obtain 3 warnings about their activity. If they disregard the warnings their net connection gets cut off and they can face serve justice action.

Prevost, of Belfort, in eastern France, was convicted since he certified in justice that the Rihanna songs had been downloaded by his spouse around the ISP account he paid for. In his justice testimony, Prevost, described as a local workman by French media, mentioned he was "incapable of downloading anything".

The box has been complex by two other factors, reported French tech headlines site Personal Computer Inpact. First, Prevost consummated his web account after he received the initial two warnings from the French agency, well known as Hadopi, that seeks out pirates in France. Secondly, he is divorcing his wife.

Prevost wrote to Hadopi revelation it to meeting his spouse about the downloads. However, it replied around email messages he could no longer receive.

For unwittingly ignoring Hadopi's messages, Prevost received a court order to revisit his local military hire where he wrote a matter repeating his affirm that he did not download the songs.

The military asked him to have the songs private from his Personal Computer by a local definite and he took documentary indication of this to justice when he received a court order from Hadopi.

Prevost told Personal Computer Inpact that he went to justice without a counsel to act for him, desiring that his truthfulness and co-operation would tally in his favour.

For violation the 3 strikes law, Prevost could have faced a excellent of up to 1,500 euros (1,200) and had his web connection cut off for a month. After creation his matter in court, the 300 euro (240) excellent the lawsuit sought was halved.

Marie-Francoise Marais, head of Hadopi, vocalization to local French journal Le Pays , mentioned the group "was primarily a assignment of education, not repression".