Piracy continues to be one of the biggest problems around the world. For this reason, it can be seen how the fight against piracy continues to introduce new sanctions and measures to put an end to it. One of the toughest countries in this regard is Italy, especially against pirated IPTV. In this region, users who enjoy this type of service are already exposed to fines and up to three years in prison. But will it come to Spain?
Italy does not give up its arm to pirate IPTV, so with its new law proposal it wants to further sink this type of pirate services which, according to data from the Ipsos-FAPAV study, represents a loss of 940 million euros for the Italian content industry . Initially, those who were in charge of its distribution began to be persecuted, but end users who have this TV service in their homes are also being persecuted and penalized.
The big question is what will happen to Spain, since for this to happen depends on the intervention of the judicial authority. And all because it could affect the fundamental rights established in art. 18 of the Spanish Constitution: “The law will limit the use of information technology to guarantee the honor and personal and family privacy of citizens and the full exercise of their rights.” But, without a doubt, it could be the example to follow for many countries in Europe.
Penalties for end users of IPTV
The Italian Senate is discussing the proposed law that intends to follow the line against piracy in his country, after getting its approval in the Chamber of Deputies in March of this year. In the absence of the Italian Senate ratifying this bill, the truth is that these restrictive measures for pirated IPTV, in addition to other illegal broadcasts, will also affect those who watch this type of pirated content at home.
Those who consume this type of service at home may face fines of 5,000 euros. And not only this, but they can also be exposed to up to three years in prison. In addition to this, with this bill you want to increase the sanctions for those providers who distribute content protected by copyright to other people.
It must be remembered that this country has spent years working against this type of pirate sites. In fact, it manages to block more than 3,200 pirated domains, just as telecom regulator AGCOM issues different blocking instructions to ISPs within a few days if they receive complaints from copyright holders.
The measures of the European Commission
To this we must add that, since May of this year, the European Commission has adopted a recommendation to combat online piracy of sports and other live events, be they concerts or even theatrical performances: that they be treated more quickly alerts related to live events in case of piracy, recommends that more affordable and attractive commercial offers be distributed, and that injunctive measures be taken to block live events.
However, from the Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) this action is considered insufficient: «Audiovisual Anti-Piracy Alliance (AAPA) expresses its disappointment and concern regarding the possibility that a review of the effectiveness of the Recommendation for up to 2.5 years”. However, Italy is one step ahead, especially if this bill to fight against pirated IPTV can be ratified.
