WASHINGTON D.C. - Today, the French Constitutional Council approved, with minor changes, legislation that would create, in France, a graduated-response program that would enable copyright owners to halt illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing without suing individual consumers. The following statement can be attributed to Thomas Sydnor, Senior Fellow at The Progress & Freedom Foundation:

"This is another step forward for common sense and the rule of law on the Internet."

"In America today, if a caregiver for my children used one of my home computers for illegal file-sharing, copyright owners would have to file a federal lawsuit and spend thousands of dollars—which they would then have to recover from me—just to alert me to the problem."

"As a consumer, I would far prefer the successive warnings that French law would now provide to the sudden financial devastation of the John-Doe lawsuit that American law would now require.  I thus urge American internet-service providers and copyright owners to work together to provide American consumers with similar relief."

The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.