After a fairly sizable battle in French parliament, France’s new anti-piracy law is being put into play in this brand new year. According to the BBC, illegal downloaders under the law will be sent a warning email at first offense, then a letter, and if they continue, they could end up with a fine or lose their Internet access altogether. People against this new law refer to it as a draconian approach to an issue they believe is not going to be stopped by anti-piracy regulation in the first place.

What does this mean to you?

Looks like the French are going to get a taste of what it’s like to break IP law in the US. The biggest difference between the two is that you will have the powers that be fining you into bankruptcy in the US, while France will give you a number of chances to stop before dropping the big hammer on them. In both cases, it will do little to curb online piracy.