This is why politicians and technology don't mix

Remember the 3-strikes HADOPI law that France tried to pass back in the spring? The one that was defeated due to it being unconstitutional? Well, the French government didn't give up. They passed a slightly altered version of the law that would go easy on children caught downloading copyrighted material and stipulates that internet users with a Wi-Fi connection must prevent unauthorized users from accessing it.

OK, first of all, you cannot without reasonable doubt tie an IP address to a person or even a physical address because it is easy to spoof internet protocols. Of course, the entertainment industry know this, so they've succeeded in fooling yet another government that 'proof' isn't needed to prosecute someone for illegal file sharing.

Second, how does a court prove who in a household did the downloading? "Oh! That must have been my 5 year old. He doesn't know any better. Are you going to charge my 5 year old?" Yeah, that's going to work out just fine.

Third, the stipulation that internet users with a Wi-Fi connection must properly secure them is foolhardy. Anyone who knows anything about wi-fi security will tell you that a determined hacker will penetrate a wi-fi network even with the latest in (consumer grade) protection measures enabled. Worse, most home wi-fi users have no clue about the security status of their network let alone if any unauthorized access is taking place.

So I have a message to the governments of the world. You are engaged in the kind of game that is akin to a con artist trying to convince a financial neophyte that investing in a pyramid scheme is a sure thing. Politicians don't truly understand technology, yet they feel quite entitled to define technology law, with only the assistance of the most selfish and greediest of lobbies.

I hope the citizens of these countries wake up.