Illustration by S. Kambayashi

HOLLYWOOD's bible, Variety magazine, always refers to France as Gaul, a “land of wine, baguettes and amour”. But America's media industry may soon start taking France more seriously. The French government is trying to pass a harsh new law that would cut off internet access for people who download pirated music and films. Media bosses reckon other countries might follow suit.

France's proposed law would create a new government agency called HADOPI to police the internet on behalf of copyright owners. It would force internet-service providers (ISPs) to reveal the identities of users downloading copyrighted material, and would send them two warnings: the first by e-mail, the second by registered letter. If users continued to download such material, the ISP would cut off their broadband access for up to a year and put them on a blacklist to stop them subscribing elsewhere.

HADOPI was due to start sending out warnings in July. But on April 9th, in a surprise vote, the lower house of France's parliament rejected the law. Only 15 members of President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, which wrote the bill, turned up for the final vote, which is usually just a matter of procedure—both houses of parliament had already approved the law's main elements. At the last moment a group of Socialist members rushed in to oppose it, resulting in a 21-15 defeat. According to Libération, a French newspaper, the Socialists had hidden behind heavy curtains in the entrance to the parliamentary chamber.

Opponents of the law hope this defeat might be enough to kill it. The low turnout by the UMP, they argue, suggests that many in Mr Sarkozy's own party are afraid of backing a measure that is highly unpopular, particularly among young people. Music and film companies, meanwhile, are confident that the law will eventually pass. Mr Sarkozy is determined to push it through parliament later this month. He first met his wife, Carla Bruni, a musician who has supported the law, at a presentation of a report on internet piracy by Denis Olivennes, former boss of Fnac, a retailer. Mr Olivennes's report led directly to the HADOPI law.

Even if it is adopted, argues Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet, the head of ACSEL, a group representing French internet firms, the new law will be ineffective. Downloaders will sign up for anonymised and encrypted internet connections, he suggests, and will download content from people outside France, who are beyond the reach of the law.

Germany, worried about privacy, recently decided against adopting a similar law. But Italy's government has said that it might copy the French. Britain is thought to be moving towards something similar; last year it declared its intention to reduce illegal file-sharing by 70-80% in the next two or three years. Best keep an eye on goings-on in Gaul.