[FYI] (Fwd) FC: More on Italy requiring news sites to register, pay

["Axel H Horns" <horns@ipjur.com>]

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent:      	Thu, 12 Apr 2001 11:31:48 -0500
To:             	politech@politechbot.com
From:           	Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject:        	FC: More on Italy requiring news sites to register, pay fees
Send reply to:  	declan@well.com


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Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 03:32:22 -0500 (CDT)
From: Michael Brennen <mbrennen@fni.com>
To: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
Subject: Re: FC: Italy reportedly requires news sites to register, pay
 fees

Two general information sites, both in Italian:

http://www.interlex.it/       (IL for short)
http://punto-informatico.it/  (PI for short)

Two particularly interesting pages:

http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=35705
http://www.interlex.it/tlc/0162_4.htm

The statute: http://www.camera.it/parlam/leggi/01062l.htm

The law is a series of modifications to prior statutes dating back as
far as 1948;  without detailed knowledge of these older laws, which
are not linked from this new one, it is impossible to evaluate the
impact of many of the provisions.

This is my summary of the situation based on readings to date.
There is a great deal of conjecture and discussion going on, and
many are awaiting test cases to force judicial review of the law. I
welcome updates or correction from those in Italy that are closer to
the story.

The new law redefines web sites that publish information, thus
essentially all sites, as 'editorial content'.  As such they fall
under long established Italian law (1948) governing paper publishing,
which is now extended to electronic media as well. "Exclusively
corporate information, whether for public or private use," is
excluded.  Sites that carry recorded sounds, voices or film works are
also excluded.

Beginning April 5, 2001, any web site that publishes information
must carry the name and address of the editor and the physical
location of the publisher/server, both of which must be correct.
If information is published periodically, the site must register
with appropriate official agencies and pay the appropriate fees.
The number I've seen cited is around 1,000,000 lire (at 2100 lire to
the dollar, about USD 475.00.)

Anyone not meeting these requirements is considered part of the
'clandestine press'; the specific punishments that I found were
fines from 200,000 lire to 1,200,000 lire and up to two years in
prison.

It is not sufficient to have a server physically outside of Italy. The
new law applies to information that is sent to the server originating
from Italy or to information that is transmitted into Italy.  I could
not find the complete original Italian statement in the law of this
last provision of transmission into the country;  I only saw a passing
reference.

Certainly one of the major results is to subject online publishing to
the national journalists' union.  Translating a quote by Paulo
Serventi Longhi, the head of the union, as reported by PI:

"Thus ends, at least in Italy, the absurd anarchy that permits
anyone to publish online without standards and without restrictions,
and guarantees to the consumer minimum standards of quality in all
information content, for the first time including electronic media."

    -- Michael

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Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2001 11:27:24 -0400
Subject: Re: FC: Italy reportedly requires news sites to register, pay
fees From: "Wendy Leibowitz" <wendytech@earthlink.net> To:
declan@well.com

Declan, As I understand it, the press has long been regulated in Italy
in a way roughly similar to the way we were under the Crown. One
entity, Agcom, regulates all communication media. They set policy,
register the media, etc. in a way that would make Americans' hair
stand on end. I wrote about a DC lawyer who is advising the
Italians--James J. Halpert at Piper Marbury. My article, which is a
fluffy thing mostly about food, is at:
http://www.wendytech.com/articlesitaly.htm

Wendy R. Leibowitz
Legal Technology Columnist
1140 23rd St. NW
Washington, DC 20037
http://www.wendytech.com
202-293-1693
"We must study the future. After all, that's where we'll be spending
the rest of our lives."

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