clipped from: news.bbc.co.uk   
France unveils anti-piracy plan
French web users caught pirating movies or music could soon be thrown offline.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, AFP
Sarkozy: "A decisive moment for the future of a civilised internet"

The anti-piracy body comes out of a deal agreed by France's music and movie makers and its net firms.

Net firms will monitor what their customers are doing and pass on information about persistent pirates to the new independent body. Those identified will get a warning and then be threatened with either being cut off or suspended if they do not stop illegal file-sharing.

"This is the single most important initiative to help win the war on online piracy that we have seen so far," it said in a statement.

French consumer group UFC Que Choisir was more cautious.
It said the agreement was "very tough, potentially destructive of freedom, anti-economic and against digital history".