Digital Economy Act

September 15, 2004

Source:

http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=ECOX0200175L

Official Journal No. 143 of June 22, 2004, page 11168

Text No. 2

LAWS

Law No. 2004-575 of June 21, 2004, for Trust in the Digital Economy (1)

NOR: ECOX0200175L

The National Assembly and the Senate
have adopted,

Having regard to the decision of the Constitutional Council No. 2004-496 DC of June 10, 2004;

The President of the Republic
promulgates the law whose text follows:

TITLE I

ON ONLINE COMMUNICATION FREEDOM

Chapter I

Online Public Communication

Article 1

I. - Article 1 of Law No. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on the freedom of communication is reworded as follows:

"Art. 1. - Online public communication is free.

"The exercise of this freedom may only be restricted to the extent necessary, on one hand, to respect human dignity, the freedom and property of others, the pluralistic nature of expression of thought and opinion, and, on the other hand, to safeguard public order, national defense requirements, public service obligations, inherent technical constraints of communication means, as well as the necessity for audiovisual services to promote audiovisual production.

"Audiovisual services include services of audiovisual communication as defined in Article 2, as well as all services making audiovisual, cinematic, or sound works available to the public or to a specific segment of the public, regardless of the technical means used for such availability."

II. - Article 2 of the aforementioned Law No. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 is reworded as follows:

"Art. 2. - Electronic communications refer to the transmission, emission, or reception of signs, signals, writings, images, or sounds via electromagnetic means.

"Online public communication refers to any provision to the public or to specific groups of the public, through an electronic communication method, of signs, signals, writings, images, sounds, or messages of any kind that do not have the character of private correspondence.

"Audiovisual communication refers to any public communication of radio or television services, regardless of the method of public access, as well as any online public communication of services other than radio and television, and not falling under the definition of online public communication as set forth in Article 1 of Law No. 2004-575 of June 21, 2004, for Trust in the Digital Economy.

(In other words, reaffirmation of a monopoly)

"A television service is any public electronic communication service intended to be simultaneously received by the entire public or by a specific segment of the public, and whose main program consists of a sequence of ordered broadcasts containing images and sounds.

(Same remark)

"A radio service is any public electronic communication service intended to be simultaneously received by the entire public or by a specific segment of the public, and whose main program consists of a sequence of ordered broadcasts containing sounds."

III. - Following Article 3 of the aforementioned Law No. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986, Article 3-1 is inserted as follows:

"Art. 3-1. - The High Council for Audiovisual (CSA), an independent authority, ensures the exercise of freedom of audiovisual communication in radio and television via any electronic communication method, under the conditions defined by this law.

"It ensures equal treatment; it guarantees the independence and impartiality of public radio and television; it oversees the promotion of fair competition and non-discriminatory relationships between service publishers and distributors; it monitors the quality and diversity of programming, the development of national audiovisual production and creation, and the defense and promotion of the French language and culture. It may make proposals for improving program quality.

"The Council may issue recommendations to radio and television service publishers and distributors, as well as to publishers of services mentioned in Article 30-5, regarding compliance with the principles set forth in this law. These recommendations are published in the Official Journal of the French Republic."

(The unchecked powers granted to the nine "wise men" of the CSA, appointed by the current government, have already been discussed on this website)

IV. - As stated in Article 1 of Law No. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986 on the freedom of communication, online public communication is free.

(Provided one conforms to the "media-approved" standards)

"Online public communication refers to any transmission, upon individual request, of digital data that does not have the character of private correspondence, through an electronic communication method enabling reciprocal information exchange between sender and receiver.

(This part of the text is ambiguous. Does a person requesting a file from another person who operates a website, via email, constitute an 'individual request'?).

"Electronic mail refers to any message, in the form of text, voice, sound, or image, sent through a public communication network, stored on the network's server or in the recipient's terminal equipment, until the recipient retrieves it."

Article 2

I. - In Articles 93, 93-2, and 93-3 of Law No. 82-652 of July 29, 1982 on audiovisual communication, the words "audiovisual communication" are replaced with the words "online public communication."

II. - In Article 23 of the Law of July 29, 1881 on press freedom, the words "audiovisual communication" are replaced with the words "online public communication."

III. - In Articles 131-10, 131-35, and 131-39 of the Penal Code, the words "audiovisual communication" are replaced with the words "online public communication."

IV. - In Articles 177-1 and 212-1 of the Code of...