France to Track Pirates Down on P2P Networks

Yesterday, the State Council announced that the CNIL administration could not prevent the use of tracking systems to identify pirates on P2P networks. The story is a bit complicated for non-French readers, so I will try to give some background. Since 2005, the CNIL (National commission for preserving human rights in the IT world) refused to let Music Majors and other Artist and copyright owner’s representatives and associations to force ISP to install tracking systems to identify users sharing illegal copies of music tracks via the net, and mostly targeting PEP networks. The CNIL was claiming that such tracking systems were not secured enough to prevent their use for any further purpose, while it could also breach into human rights. Music Majors and other associations were asking the State Council to study the legal aspect of this conflict. Yesterday's decision simply force both sides to start negotiating about a way to avoid sharing of illegal copies on the P2P networks, with potentially the use of tracking systems even though they would have to be high secured and controlled otherwise the same Council might consider them breaching the French rights.
While this could appear as a victory for Music Majors might simply be a small victory for an already lost war. While Majors try to convince nation legal authorities that their financial results are so badly impacted by illegal copies shared over the internet; it is also a way for them for not acknowledging their inability to adapt to the new way music is being used/listen by consumers. So, why a small victory? Because the CNIL might agree for tracking systems, but requires so much control and secure steps that it will be almost impossible to use them. But this is one the French side, and one should not forget the text recently adopted by the European Parliament and aiming to harmonize criminal sanctions for the infringement of intellectual property rights in the EU. Indeed, sanctions should apply only to infringements leading to commercial profits, and should exclude piracy committed by private users for personal and non-profit usage. In other words, even though tracking systems in France would identify French users as pirates for sharing illegal copies of music tracks, one would have to prove that they obtain a financial interest from it.
The current mess with Majors pushing for legal actions is the result of the same Majors which introduced DRMs to prevent illegal music sharing, the same DRMs which do allow users to listen the music, purchased legally, the way they want. Maybe Music Majors should seriously reconsider their business model before their offers does not fit with consumer's wishes. This does not imply that piracy on P2P network should not be fought.
At the end, the best solution would probably be what Apple and EMI are trying to do: DRM-free music tracks, giving the opportunity for users to listen the music the way they want, on their iPod, on their cards, etc...