On France, Doctorow is wrong again. The Hadopi regime is doing what it was designed to do - deterring people from using illegal sites: 50% of users in France who have received a notice (or know of people close to them who have) have stopped consuming illegally. Furthermore, a total of 72% have either stopped or reduced illegal consumption.

Applying criminal sanctions to copyright infringement would be unprecedented in the industrialised world says Doctorow. Really? Actually, criminal sanctions have been a feature of UK copyright law since at least 1988 (see s107.1 of the original act).