Is France a student activist’s hell?

I just had the most amazing discussion with a French law student on the FreeCulture.org IRC channel (#freeculture on freenode.net).  From what he’s telling me, I’m really glad I’m not trying to be an activist in France, because it seems that this is impossible there!  Is what he’s saying true?  Is he overstating the case at all?  It’s really scary!

My IRC conversation with Jean-Baptiste Soufron