The French legislature today passed into law a second version of the ultra-controversial HADOPI "three strikes" law that targets illegal Internet file-swappers. The revised proposal does address the concerns of the "Sages" who sit on France's Constitutional Council who objected to the first version of the law, but it does little to mollify critics. Internet disconnections of up to a year can be ordered by a single judge in a "streamlined" proceeding, while Internet users who fail to "secure" their connections can also be punished if other people use those connections to exchange copyrighted material.

The National Assembly passed HADOPI 2 today by a margin of 285-225; the Senate has already passed the legislation.

After HADOPI 1 passed earlier this year, the Constitutional Council objected on the groups that such severe penalties had to be overseen by a judge, not merely the new HADOPI administrative authority. HADOPI 2 addresses these complaints by adopting a quick process overseen by one judge when disconnections become an issue.

La Quadrature du Net, a French digital rights group, continues to protest the changes. In their reading of the bill, HADOPI 2's new judicial procedure—"so far restricted to only a few categories of simple litigation such as traffic regulation—fails to guarantee the right to a fair trial. It does not include any contradictory debate or public hearing; the ruling is made without any prior judicial investigation."

HADOPI 2 also preserves an earlier attempt to outlaw the "open WiFi defense" under which an accused file-sharer simply makes clear that anyone could have used his connection. Under the new law, all Internet users must keep their connections "secure" and are responsible for what happens on them.

While the new judicial oversight may placate both the Constitutional Council and the European Parliament—groups that have each objected to a purely administrative process—opponents of the law plan another appeal to the Council on further constitutional grounds.