Various sources over the last few days have been reporting on the French Governments latest tactic to battle the pirates, Internet ones that is. They plan to tax online advertising, this is why it has been called the 'Google tax'. The money collected will go towards dealing with pirated copyrighted material like music.

One such method is to offer young people money for buying music, a 'carte musique'. This is to persuade them to download tracks legally. This article on LePoint.fr, Sarkozy propose une "carte musique" jeune contre le piratage has some details but it still seems a little sketchy. After all the 'carte' will have to be accepted by websites who offer downloads. Will they all want to take part, freely?

But this is a small step towards the French Government taking control of what you do on the Internet.

I know this sounds like a big sweeping statement but you need to see this in a global context, it's not just Sarkozy getting in to huff about things, Government's around the world are all looking in to piracy and many taking the wrong paths to tackle it. Most of them are taking action because of the film and music industry putting on pressure. Those who use the Internet are not being consulted and corporations are now having more influence than ever.

Australia is looking to block sites that their Government deems unsuitable for there population. The list of sites is secret and Internet Service Providers will be required to filter access according to the list. Cost to be born by the ISP.

New Zealand will be introducing it's own version of the 'three strikes law'. Heavy fines and having your access removed for around 6 months are the penalties if you are found to be downloading copyrighted material. Like the French version (Hadopi), there is little recourse for those who are found guilty.

The UK will be introducing a bill, spearheaded by Peter Mandelson, to control Internet users freedom. The 'Digital Economy Bill' will force ISP's to police their customers, this will cost the ISP's around £500 million to implement. I believe the bill has been watered down a bit recently but in essence, the British Government doesn't trust you to behave yourself when downloading. In fact little proof will be required to have you in front of a judge (if it goes that far, but you still may be penalised).

If this does not worry you then it should. China has been filtering the Internet for years, controlling the flow of information to the population. This article on ReadWriteWeb by Fabrice Epelboin shows what is actually behind the Google Tax and where things may be heading.

Contacts have been established between the French UMP party and the Chinese Communist Party to talk about "Democracy and Internet access"

The article also discusses DPI, that is deep packet inspection. Information flows around the Internet in packets, think of it as envelopes containing small amounts of data from something larger like an email message or a web page. Once all the packets arrive safely at their destination, they can be arranged to create the web page or message. DPI allows for each envelope to be opened, examined and to determine what the data is part of, where it came from and where it is going. This happens with out your knowledge, you will have no choice.

The French Government has said it won't use it but many like China do. With DPI, you privacy is eroded and your online freedoms become less.

The next year or so will be very important for Internet freedom. Many countries are watching the French Government to see how they deal with piracy and I guess what they can get away with. Remember that Hadopi was voted on three times (and lost), had public opinion against and an EU court ruling but it still came in to force in January this year.

I choose to live in France and abide by it's laws, does this mean I have to accept the loss of my freedom of speech on the Internet?