The aim of the legislation is to place liability for what is published on a web site on the individual posting it, rather than on the company which hosts the site.
The Liberty of Communication Bill followed a case in 1999 which concerned a nude photo of model Estelle Halliday being posted on a free web site without her permission.
Philippe Chantepie, a technical advisor for the French Culture Ministry, said that, while the French legislation would make it easy to track down cybercriminals, its principle aim is to eradicate anonymity in web page publishing.
The biggest free web hosting company in France, Libertysurf.com, says the measure would cripple its business with additional maintenance costs and send users elsewhere where registering contact information is not a legal requirement.
There is no equivalent law in the UK or US.