Italy Approves Jail for P2P Users 533
funkdid writes "Italy has made transferring content via the Internet without the permission of the copyright holder a criminal offence.Those found guilty of the unauthorised distribution of copyright material now face a fine of between 154 and 1032 ($185-1240), a jail sentence of between six months and three years, the confiscation of their hardware and software, and the revelation of their misdeeds in Italy's two national newspapers, La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera."
we should expect this... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:over reaction (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Italian law? (Score:2, Informative)
Italy also has a notion of freedom of the press, although they call it "illa libertario della prensa." However, there is also something called the "obligation of the press" (illa obligadrio della prensa) in which all nationally-sanctioned newspapers are required to print certain materials. Much like legal notices and novenas in American newspapers, the Italian government has the power to influence the press. All of these announcements are clearly labeled and are almost never mentioned in the newspaper itself, but of course this P2P issue will easily become a page 1 news story of its own.
I welcome any other questions that you have about the Italian press.
Sincerely,
Seth Finklestein
Il Duche Della Cybersecuridata
Re:Italian bootlegs (Score:5, Informative)
Re:At least the trains will run on time. (Score:5, Informative)
My aren't you quick on the uptake [bbc.co.uk].
Re:Italian law? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Open-source music and movies? (Score:1, Informative)
Open Source movies? Here you go. [archive.org]
Re:Italian bootlegs (Score:1, Informative)
Berlusconi Background [economist.com]
Re:Newspapers (Score:5, Informative)
All of the Italian media is under direct government control, mostly because it is controlled by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who owns all the media. Criticism of the government, and criticism of Berlusconi in particular, by the media, is not tolerated.
Re:Italian law? (Score:3, Informative)
You're pretty naive, you know that?
Lunacy - cycle repeats in every country (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Enforce it. (Score:3, Informative)
The curfew lasted six months after that I think...
So if you are going to go through harsh enforcement the key is to go after the government members families... I'm sure at least some of them have teenage kids downloading music, TV shows, and movies...
Nephilium
In a society in which it is a mortal offense to be different from your neighbors your only escape is never to let them find out. -- Maureen Johnson in To Sail Beyond the Sunset
What is this, Fox News? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Publishing v. private communications (Score:1, Informative)
Re:At least the trains will run on time. (Score:4, Informative)
Prime minister please.
He's accused of corruption and has called a german politician a nazi or something like that. But he's more fasist I think then anyone in europe
Not just that; he's quite the media mogul:
1974: Telemilano
1980: Canale 5
1983: Italia 1
1984: Rete 4
1985: (movie theater chain), Milan AC soccer club
1990: publishing conglomerate Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A
Source: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/B/htmlB/berlusc
Tyrannical media control law? Just do the math.
Re:Enforce it. (Score:3, Informative)
This is from the DOJ website: "The right to vote is an important civil right in a democracy as well as a civil responsibility, and yet many persons who have been convicted of a crime do not know whether they are eligible to vote. For both federal and state elections, the right to vote is controlled by the law of the state in which you live. Some states restrict the right to vote for persons who have been convicted of a crime."
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/restorevote/res
Sorry to be OT but I wanted to correct this.
Re:Newspapers (Score:2, Informative)
If all the media is under direct control of Berlusconi, even the one that once he possessed, how is it possible that all the major newspapers are leftist and against the government agenda?
Abroad I had to ask explicitely to the press shop to order "Il Giornale", one of the two or three newspapers that do not criticize Berlusconi every day without sound arguments.
Sorry to say but all the story of press taken hostage from the government is false.
Try to read the italian newspapers, the one you find commonly abroad, and you'll see.
Re:Italian bootlegs (Score:1, Informative)
Wake up, Berlusconi or not, this could happen to any italian government. This comes after years of nonsense legalizing of the SIAE's (Italian Society of Authors and Editors, sorta a RIAA+MPAA of all the copyright sphere) every silly wish.
Just an example: the Alpine corps (Alpini) are famous not only for beign elite corps, also for keeping an orchestra and chorus that interprets the Italian anthem at chosen events. Well, they are now forced to PAY THE SIAE for the right of "public performance" of the national anthem!!!
Read some here (italian) [gazzettino.it]
and here (also italian) [cesarecampa.it]
or google for "alpini inno siae" [google.com]
PM Berlusconi controls 90% of the media (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Enforce it. (Score:3, Informative)
Forty-eight states currently have some form of restriction on the right of felons to vote. The exceptions are Maine and Vermont, which even permit inmates to vote. Thirty-three states disenfranchise felons who are on parole. Eight states deny felons the right to vote for life.
I had thought most states allowed felons to vote and only a few still denied it. Guess I was wrong.
Re:We draw lines with precedents (Score:2, Informative)
All forms of information- music, software, literature - should be free and available to the public. Humans possess an innate desire to understand the world around them. Any attempts to control any form of information goes against our very nature. We will inevitably find ways to explore these ideas regardless of how restrictive policies governing the distribution of information become. Never before, and never in the future, will there be a successful attempt at censorship. The only thing you are supporting is a tighter control of the information that you are able to receive. You are allowing people who have no respect for you - who are only looking out for their best interest - to make you a less informed less educated citizen.
Perhaps you are worried that the artists that work so hard to produce good music or books won't get paid for their contribution. Free flow of information, however, does not affect sales. People that can afford to purchase a quality album, out of respect for the artist, generally do, regardless of whether or not it is available for no cost elsewhere. A study at Harvard has shown that this is true, albeit the study did only analyze the effects of file-sharing on the music industry (not books or software). They tracked music downloads over a 17 week period and then compared the file transfer data to market statistics for the songs and albums that users were downloading. They found that:
"Downloads have an effect on sales which is statistically indistinguishable from zero, despite rather precise estimates - moreover, these estimates are of moderate economic significance and are inconsistent with claims that file-sharing is the primary reason for the recent decline in music sales,".
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2004/04.15/09
Re:Since this is Italy... (Score:0, Informative)