Now that Nicolas Sarkozy is no longer president of France, there’s some question about the future of the graduated response regime that was implemented during his tenure in the Elysee Palace through the HADOPI regulatory body.  Although it wasn’t exactly the leading campaign issue, government response to online copyright infringement did get highly politicized during the Sarkozy years, to the extent that his opponents built campaign platform planks around graduated response repeal.

As an American, I watched this take place across the ocean with a sense of bewilderment — not only that an arcane issue like Internet piracy would be discussed alongside larger issues like unemployment and the European debt crisis, but also at the seeming political inconsistencies and opportunism that characterized other candidates’ responses on both the left and right.

That’s why I am proud to say that we will have a very timely opportunity to hear from Eric Walter, General Secretary of HADOPI, share his thoughts on his organization and its future at the Copyright and Technology London 2012 conference coming up on June 19th.  France’s leadership on graduated response ensures that whatever happens with it under new president Francois Hollande will influence the rest of Europe and beyond.  Hollande’s socialist party campaigned on a promise to replace the graduated response system with a system of flat taxes and statutory license; yet M. Walter is still at HADOPI.

M. Walter  will provide the keynote speech at the conference and will then participate in a panel on “Policing Piracy” that will include speakers from all sides of this controversial issue.  There will be no better place to learn about the future of graduated response than at the King’s Fund in central London on June 19.

Please join us — register today!