Critics of government-mandated filtering schemes contend that such programs first focus on "child pornography" because it's such an unobjectionable target for censorship—but once the program is in place, it's much easier to extend it to more controversial areas, such as copyright protection. At least the French have the decency to admit that this is what's happening.
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The censorship is ostensibly designed to block child porn sites on the Internet, but French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already made it clear that he would like to see ISPs play a far greater role in clamping down on the Internet. In a January speech (French PDF) in which Sarkozy styled himself a "patron" of the French arts, he praised the new "three strikes" law his administration championed (and passed into law last year).
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Under Sarkozy, France is moving to a more proactive enforcement model that removes or blocks content at the source, rather than being content to go after lawbreakers. As a consequence, however, France will now have one of the toughest censorship regimes of any robust democracy in the Western hemisphere—though Australia is giving France a good run for its money on the worldwide stage.
Journalists in neighboring countries have been quick to pounce. Germany's Der Spiegel wondered if France was becoming the "Big Brother of Europe" and notes that LOPPSI2 will give "the state unprecedented control over the Internet." The paper also suggests that the government is pushing the law because elections are coming up soon, and Sarkozy hopes that "fear of criminals will convince voters to come to the polling booths."
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