Despite pressure from businesses, a Senate vote has brought France within months of enforcing a controversial copyright law that would have wide-ranging effects on those selling or listening to digital music.


The sweeping law, passed by the Senate late Wednesday, also has repercussions for software companies, media owners and others that produce copyright-protected works, as well as consumers who copy such material.

"France has adopted an entirely new and unique approach to managing digital music and films that could be a model for other countries to follow," said Jonathan Arber, an analyst in London at Ovum, a consulting firm. "Everyone will be watching the impact six months down the line to see whether consumers or companies have benefited."

Government officials said Thursday that differences between the Senate and National Assembly versions of the bill would be worked out in a committee before the legislation became law, a process that was likely to take several months.


Both versions reduce the penalties for piracy to the equivalent of a traffic offense, require software companies to provide the government with details about the inner workings of their programs, and create an agency with jurisdiction over important digital copyright issues.

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