Hadopi faces budget cut

France’s Hadopi commission, the body tasked with implementing the country’s controversial anti-piracy regime, has had its budget cut from €11 million to €9 million, Hadopi president Marie-Françoise Marais has confirmed.

The Hadopi, which was tasked by the previous French government with tackling illegal filesharing by issuing warning notices and ultimately fining and cutting off the internet connections of persistent offenders, has been criticised by the current culture and communication minister, Aurélie Fillipetti, as being expensive and ineffective. Marais defended the body’s record when she delivered its annual report yesterday.