In the beginning of the month, Minister of Culture Aurelie Filippetti announced that Hadopi, the anti-pirating law introduced in France in 2009, will have its 2013 budget rethought when it comes up for discussion in 2013 – until then, it will be able to eat up its €11.1M annual budget for 2012. This announcement comes after she asked Pierre Lesclure, the former CEO of Canal+, the French equivalent of HBO, to report on the affect of the internet on the French culture (cinema, art, music, etc.).
This represents the first real action taken against Hadopi since the election of President Hollande, who had stated publicly during his campaign in an article on LeMonde that Hadopi needed to be rethought[FR]. Since then, the two ministers in charge of tackling this problem, Aurelie Filipetti and Minster of the Digital Economy Fleur Pellerin, have been barraded by journalists about the issue, to the point where Fleur Pellerin told off a journalist on live TV. The two female ministers have also been getting spotlight from British fashion magazines, alongside politician Yamina Benguigiui and Minister of Territorial Equality and Housing Cecile Duflot, for their a la mode politician attire.

Coming back to the announcement

According to Ars Technica, Lesculre will “look at the challenges of digital media with respect to French culture.” While Filipetti has assured that this report is of higher importance than just to determine the fate of Hadopi, journalists seem to only see the light at the end of the tunnel that is Hadopi.

“The suspension of Internet access seems to be a disproportionate penalty given the intended goal. But this will all be examined by the Lescure Commission. In the meantime, with respect to budgetary efforts, I’m going to ask that Hadopi’s funds be significantly reduced for the rest of 2012. I prefer to reduce the finances of [agencies] whose utility is not proven. In September, I will announce the details of these budgetary decisions.”