The aim of the legislation is to place liability for what is
published on a web site on the individual posting it, rather than
on the company which hosts the site.
The Liberty of Communication Bill followed a case in 1999 which
concerned a nude photo of model Estelle Halliday being posted on a
free web site without her permission.
Philippe Chantepie, a technical advisor for the French Culture
Ministry, said that, while the French legislation would make it
easy to track down cybercriminals, its principle aim is to
eradicate anonymity in web page publishing.
The biggest free web hosting company in France, Libertysurf.com,
says the measure would cripple its business with additional
maintenance costs and send users elsewhere where registering
contact information is not a legal requirement.
There is no equivalent law in the UK or US.
