In a shock turnaround, the French government has moved from its Yuletide ‘rip a CD and become a hardened criminal’ stance (we paraphrase slightly, but not by as much as you might think) to throwing open the gates for nationwide copying (approximately £5 a month), giving French downloaders the legal right to P2P anything and everything they like for personal use.

Industry response has been explosive, with everyone from Johnny Hallyday to EMI condemning the idea, to French ministers promising to return in a month to flip the scales back in favour of the entertainment industry. IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industries, has warned that the supposed remuneration will not in fact happen, effectively legalising piracy. The minister responsible for the new act prefers to think of it as "bringing the law in line with reality".

Given the complete lack of evidence to prove a solid link between illicit downloads and a fall in CD sales, and indeed the success of iTunes and a growth in sales worldwide, we’re on his side on this one. It’s about time lawmakers tried something different, rather than wasting time on DRM and ludicrous sentences (most recently, the American RIAA suing a woman who doesn’t own a computer – clearly a triumph for consumer rights); and more pressingly, it’s about time the industry had to take some of the risk in rewriting the law. Last time we checked, it’s not government’s job to protect their interests at the cost of everyone else.