France, Three-Strikes Internet Law Ineffective 20 Jul 2010 The Electronic Times The French ‘Three-Strikes’ internet law, which gives ISPs there the power to block access to the internet for anyone accused three times of illegal file-sharing, has been put into effect for 6 months, but not a single warning has taken place so far. This caused reconsideration of the law. On 19 July, New York Times pointed out that not a single warning has been sent out and that not a single broadband connection has been cut. At a news conference in June, the president of the agency, Marie-Francoise Marais, said it was ‘technically and legally ready’ to take action. The first warnings would be sent out ‘before long,’ she added. But she did not give a date, and news reports have shown growing unease about the legislation. Even some lawmakers in Mr. Sarkozy’s party have expressed doubts. Jean-Claude Larue, the head of a trade group representing video game publishers, questioned the cost of tracking pirating works, after officials of the new agency said they planned to pursue only the most prolific pirates, rather than all violators. He told the magazine L’Express that monitoring 100 games would cost more than $517,000 a year. He explained that ‘that’s a lot, and we want to be sure that Hadopi will deal with all the cases,’ referring to the French acronym for the new agency.