France Tries to Legalize File Sharing

The French Parliament voted Wednesday night to legalize file sharing of music and movie files, a move that is sure to anger the entertainment industry. The French government has also come out against the legislation, and vowed to fight it. If the bill survives, France would be the first country to legalize such P2P usage.

A law would also make it nearly impossible for media companies to sue file swapers within the country. However, the government can attempt to overturn the legislation by reopening it for debate, or getting it turned down by a no-vote in the upper house. The intent of the law, legislators say, is to allow the sharing of such files when they are used privately. Laws against the public use of copyrighted material would still stand.