Study of French “three strikes” piracy law finds no deterrent effect

A recently published study of 2,000 French Internet users found that the widely-publicized "three strikes" law hasn't had much effect on how pirates get their content.

"Our econometric results indicate that the Hadopi [three strikes] law has not deterred individuals from engaging in digital piracy and that it did not reduce the intensity of illegal activity of those who did engage in piracy," report the four co-authors, economists at the University of Delaware and the University of Rennes. It's not all bad news for the recording industry, though: the authors cite another 2014 study which found that iTunes has seen a 20-25 percent increase in sales of French music just prior to implementation of the law. However, the authors attribute the increased sales to "public educational efforts," not to the deterrent effect of the law.