The 'three strikes' anti-piracy measure, introduced under Nicolas Sarkozy, would have cut off users' access to the internet

A French anti-piracy law that would disconnect those suspected of copyright infringement has been overturned and replaced with a system of automatic fines, it has been announced in a official government report.

Mired in controversy, the "Hadopi law" succumbed to the pressure of the entertainment industry and would disconnect those suspected of piracy from the internet. Users were first sent two written warnings, in what was called a "graduated response", and if they did not reply their internet connection would be cut off on the final warning.

The report says that instead of simply disconnecting users, those suspected of copyright could be fined if they did not reply to warnings, with a relatively low fine (€60) to begin, and the size of the fine would increase depending on the number of infractions.

French anti-piracy will now their focus – instead of handing heavy punishments to individual users, the government is looking towards penalising "commercial piracy" and "sites that profit from pirated material", according to an official spokesperson.

The Hadopi law was introduced in 2009 by the then president, Nicolas Sarkozy, but suffered great controversy when France's highest court, the Constitutional Council, declared access to the internet a basic human right.

The government has spent millions on the agency that patrols the system and during its implementation, it only ever fined one individual €150, disconnecting their internet access for 15 days.

In 2009, Sarkozy defended the Hadopi law, insisting that the government should protect "lawlessness" in all parts of its territory, including in the online world:

"How can there be areas of lawlessness in areas of our society? How can one simultaneously claim that the economy is regulated but the internet is not so? How can we accept that the rules that apply to society as a whole are not binding on the internet?…

By defending copyright I do not just defend artistic creation, I also defend my idea of a free society where everyone's freedom is based on respect for the rights of others. I am also defending the future of our culture. It is the future of creation."