Italy One Step from Becoming the Internet Inquisition
Italy is one of the European countries where copyright holders have had their way…all the way. Next to the French, and, more recently, UK copyright laws, the Italian legislation concerning the intellectual property is among the most severe one by imposing what is called ‘the three strikes’ rule on file-sharing aficionados. This means anyone accused of copyright infringement will be warned three times to quit the illegal downloading or uploading before being disconnected from the Internet.
However, just when we thought the narrow-mindedness and absurdity has reached its full potential with this issue, some politicians prove us wrong.
A post at TechDirt alerts us about a scary analysis of a proposed copyright law in the aforementioned country that makes you go ‘Wha’?!!’
The new law would apparently allow for the internet users to have their connection cut off based on a single accusation (which, more than this, doesn’t necessarily has to be made by a copyright holder). Take a look at this list made to the liking of the entertainment industry and which successfully defies the current EU law.
1) citizens, outside of any judicial proceeding and without the right to appeal to the judicial authority, may be banned to access the Internet if ANYONE (a rightholder or an ordinary citizen) notifies a provider about alleged infringement of copyright or trademark or patent (“one strike” disconnections);
2) Internet service providers must comply to the blacklisting of citizens who are *suspected* of copyright or trademark or patent infringements (“proscription lists” to ban citizens from any access to the Net);
3) an Internet service provider must use preventive filters against services that infringe copyright, trademark or patents;
4) an Internet service provider must not promote or advertise, and must use preventive filters against, services that do not directly violate copyright, trademark or patents, but that *may* lead citizens to *think* that infringing services exist;
5) a provider or a hosting provider which does not use effective filters will be charged with civil liability.