Respond to warnings (professional contract holders)

Are you a professional sharing an Internet connection as part of your job? Discover the right questions to ask yourself:

• Who are the users authorized to connect to my Internet network?
• How do users connect to my network (Wi-Fi, wired)?
• What measures have been put in place to restrict access to my network to authorized users only?
• What measures have been put in place to prevent the use of my Internet access for counterfeit purposes?
• Have I made my users aware of the correct way to use the Internet connection I provide?
• What solutions and tools are available to me to prevent further breaches?

The following resources are available to help you tailor the tools you need to your organization and your requirements:

• The practical guide for professionals: this guide provides a reminder of the rules of use and inventories all the measures to be taken;
• Prevention messages to be displayed at your facility in a public place accessible to all users;
• The awareness-raising message to be integrated into a captive portal: if you have set up a captive portal, i.e. a scheme for authenticating users wishing to connect to the Internet, you can use this awareness-raising message. You can download and install it on your Internet access portal to raise awareness among your users; it will appear when the user accesses your portal;
• Specific clause to be included in an IT charter and signed by your employees, collaborators or partners;
• Website page: uninstalling peer-to-peer software
• Practical info: box settings

• Practical information for diffusion

You can find a set of practical information sheets to help you better protect your network and raise awareness among your users, by clicking here.

• Awareness-raising operations

As part of its mission to promote media literacy, information literacy and digital citizenship, Arcom runs awareness-raising campaigns, particularly for artificial persons providing public Internet access. If you would like us to help you set up awareness-raising initiatives (e.g., creation of communication content, organization of training sessions, webinars, etc.), please contact Arcom at departement.emi-sensibilisation@arcom.fr.

At any time during the graduated response proceedings, you can contact Arcom to make your observations, to be assisted by our services or, more generally, to ask us your questions.

• To contact us simply, quickly and free of charge, with the guarantee of a faster response, use one of our forms* provided for this purpose:
  • If you have received a 1st or 2nd warning, go to the "I have received a warning" form.
  • If you have received a letter notifying you that the facts are liable to prosecution (Notification - 3rd phase of the proceedings), go to the "I have received a notification letter" form.
    
• By post (quoting the file number indicated on the warnings received):

Arcom, for the attention of the member of the Authority in charge of the works protection mission - Confidentiel "réponse graduée" - Tour Mirabeau, 39-43 quai André-Citroën, 75739 PARIS CEDEX 15.

• By telephone:

From Monday to Friday, from 9am to 12:30pm and from 1:30pm to 5pm, you can obtain general information on the graduated response proceedings and on the measures to be taken, from our telephone advisors by dialing 09.69.32.90.90 (toll-free).

* The information collected via these forms is intended exclusively for Arcom's authorized and sworn agents, and will be processed in accordance with the law and decree no. 2010-236 of March 5, 2010. In accordance with the French Data Protection Act of January 6, 1978, you have the right to access and rectify your personal data. The procedure for exercising this right is specified on the form.

As a professional, are you subject to the same obligations as private individuals, even though your issues are not the same?

A professional organization with an Internet contract is subject, through its legal representative, to the same obligation as an individual, namely to ensure that its connections are not used for counterfeiting.

The graduated response proceedings do not distinguish between contract holders who are natural persons and those who are artificial persons. However, Arcom is aware that securing a business connection, which is often made available to several users, is more complex to implement than for a private individual whose connection is only used for domestic purposes. That's why Arcom offers specific support to professionals who make their connections available to the public.

Are you responsible for the actions of people who connect to your Internet access as part of your professional activity (customers / visitors / residents / tenants / employees / members / collaborators...)?

Under the terms of article L. 336-3 of the French intellectual property code, the Internet access holder is obliged to ensure that his or her access is not used, by himself or herself or a third party, to reproduce, represent, make available or communicate to the public copyrighted works. He or she is therefore solely responsible for any such use.

If you have an Internet contract, even if your access is shared with the public, you remain liable for the offence of gross negligence.

Why secure your Internet connection?

Securing your Internet connection is designed to prevent unauthorized use of copyrighted works.

If you share your Internet connection(s) with a large number of users, you remain responsible for the use made of these shared connections. A professional organization needs to protect its connections and put in place a combination of measures, together with effective awareness-raising among users, to prevent works from being made available on the Internet without the authorization of rights holders.

Your offices (or other entities) were shut down at the time of the incident. How is this possible?

It's possible that one of your connections isn't secure enough.

It is also possible that peer-to-peer software - the name of which appears in the warning - was installed on a computer connected to the line and that this device remained activated on a computer connected to the Internet. The date and time indicated correspond to the time of file sharing, not the time of downloading. The time indicated in the warning is GMT. To obtain Paris time, add 1 hour in winter and 2 hours in summer.

Are there any free technical security tools?

Yes, some tools of this type are offered by the free software community and are free of charge. Your Internet service provider may also offer this type of solution.

What risks do you run as a professional?

In the event of gross negligence, subscribers are liable to a fifth-class offence of up to 7,500 euros for artificial persons and 1,500 euros for natural persons.

If you have any further questions about the graduated response proceedings, please visit our FAQ page.