Policy Observatory

Sir Tim Berners-Lee called for the Internet to be recognised as a basic human right. Sir Tim noted that in our increasingly unequal world, the Web has the potential to be a great equalizer, but only “if we hardwire the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, affordable access and net neutrality into the rules of the game.”

The 2014-15 edition of the Web Foundation’s annual Web Index examines key Web issues — including privacy, censorship, gender-based violence, equality and, for the first time ever, net neutrality — across 86 countries. The findings from this year’s Index point to a Web that is becoming less free and more unequal.

On March 31, 2015, the Italian Authority AGCOM published the results of one year implementation of the IPR regulation: 209 requests received, of which 207 concerning web sites and 2 concerning the audiovisual media. The AGCM processed 134 dossiers: 57% in ordinary procedures and 43% in urgent procedure (requiring a decision within 12 working days). 42% of the requests concerned audiovisual products; 23% photographs;14% audio products; and 12% editorial works. Very few requests concerned literary works, software and videogames. About 55% of the dossiers ended with the spontaneous removal of the contested content, while 35% of the procedures regarding strong violation of the regulation ended with the DNS block. The actions against piracy carried out by Italian authorities and in particular by the Guardia di Finanza allowed to block the activities of 15 illegal platforms in the sector of music industry. On April 29, 19 online kiosks have been closed by the Guardia di Finanza, in the framework of the operation “Black Press Review”.  According to the AGCOM these data show the efficacy of the IPR regulation. A contrary view is expressed by some lawyers, who argue that IPR regulation is lacking efficacy, since the blocked websites are likely to be soon replaced by new ones, and voices believe that the AGCOM regulation is de-facto encouraging piracy.

On September 9, 2015, the Ministry of Culture had a meeting with representatives of the Coalición de Creadores (an association publishing piracy studies) in order to study together with the industry what new copyright measures can be put in place.

More statistics and how the new Spanish Intellectual Property Law was implemented are available in Spanish here.