The French government revealed a newly-created anti-piracy body Friday that would have wide-ranging powers, including the ability to cut internet access to people caught illegally downloading movies or music.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the move — aimed at casual piracy and not large-scale piracy — was a "decisive moment for the future of a civilized internet."
Sarkozy said he feared the internet was becoming a "lawless zone where outlaws can pillage works with abandon or, worse, trade in them in total impunity. And on whose backs? On artists' backs."
Internet providers will monitor what their customers are doing and pass on information to the new body about web surfers who are consistently pirating material.
Those identified will get a warning threatening to cut off or suspend internet access if they do not stop illegal file-sharing.
The independent authority, to be supervised by a judge, was set up after a federal committee brokered a deal between internet firms, record companies, filmmakers and government.
As part of the deal, film producers agreed to speed up the transfer of movies to DVD and music companies said they would make tracks available online as soon as possible.
The anti-piracy effort was lauded by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the global interests of the music business, as "the single most important initiative to help win the war on online piracy that we have seen so far."
But the announcement got a tepid response from French consumer group UFC Que Choisir, which said the new move is "potentially destructive of freedom, anti-economic and against digital history."
After brokering a deal between record companies, film corporations, internet firms and itself, the French government has unveiled a new anti-piracy body formed to counter what President Nicolas Sarkozy has described as the growing use of the internet as a "lawless zone where outlaws can pillage works with abandon or, worse, trade in them in total impunity".

Internet service providers will be forced to monitor the activities of their clients, and will restrict access for users known to be partaking in file sharing of selected media. In some cases, ISPs will be instructed to either cut off internet access entirely or threaten to do so.

The French consumer group UFC Que Choisir criticised the deal as being "very tough, potentially destructive of freedom, anti-economic and against digital history".

Film companies have agreed to hasten the cinema-to-DVD process as part of their obligations under the deal, and record companies have indicated future support for the sale of Digital Rights Management-free media in their stores.

The body will be supervised by a judge.