Why providers pirate the anti-piracy law and the piece
The anti-pezzotto law wanted by Serie A and the TV broadcasters continues to cause discussion. Here's how and why
Everyone wants it, everyone is clamoring for it from the legislator. But there is disagreement on how to implement it. It is the anti-piracy law, better known as the anti-pezzotto legislation, wanted above all by Dazn, Sky and Serie A to stem those crafty people who with various tricks (from the Pezzotto to connecting to illegal sites) manage to watch the matches without paying any subscription.
THE ANTI-PEZZOTTO LAW CREATES WEEDS
The nerves have been on edge for months. For Luigi De Siervo, piracy would be facilitated by an alleged tolerance of telecommunications operators: “We have the sad distinction of being the country with the highest piracy rate in the world. And this – the CEO of Serie A said at the beginning of 2023 – happened in the silence of politics and the authorities. Telecom companies themselves do not have an interest in effectively combating piracy. Telcos benefited from high traffic volumes, easily attributable to match times. And they did not provide the minimum collaboration that we would have expected from those who live in a market that must be legal."
From the opposite side Massimo Sarmi replied: "We are amazed by the declarations of the leaders of the Serie A League on telecommunications operators which we reject in full – the comment of the president of Asstel -. It should be remembered that since 2013, thanks to the initiative of the Communications Regulatory Authority and the active collaboration of operators, Italy has equipped itself with tools that allow it to intervene to block the illicit transmission of content. This activity has been carried out actively for approximately 10 years without any compensation for the costs incurred".
THE PROVIDERS DON'T FIT
But even after the intervention of the legislator, the impasse certainly cannot be said to be overcome. It is above all the providers who are complaining, forced by the anti-pezzotto law to intervene at their own expense by disabling access to illicit content.
In fact, the legislation would not take into account that undergrowth of SMEs , which Assoprovider identifies as 2,000 small and medium-sized TLC companies that will be "wiped out" from the market as the anti-pecker law: "will put more than 10,000 jobs at risk" . The trade association is not at all happy with being left holding the bag as it "forces providers – says Assoprovider -, at their own expense, to intervene promptly by disabling access to illicit content".
THE BURDEN LOWS ON TLC SMEs
Gianbattista Frontera , president of Assoprovider, explained at each location: “Small and medium-sized companies in the TLC sector have on average around four employees. To guarantee the service required by the new law, within the expected timescales, each company should create a sort of internal task force, active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, thus hiring on average another three or four people. This is an investment that can reach 300 thousand euros per year: unsustainable for independent providers."
IS THE ANTI PEZZOTTO RULE EFFECTIVE?
Furthermore, the rule may not be effective. “VPN services are very popular today, which allow you to bypass any impediments to accessing an IP address at a national level, but it is not possible to block the Internet at the “borders”. Therefore there is a risk of bringing companies in the sector to their knees, without obtaining appreciable results", the providers' association states, criticizing a measure that was already old or, worse, without knowing the matter it regulates.
THE APPEAL TO THE TAR
The association that brings together representatives of companies in the electronic communications sector throughout Italy has thus decided to appeal to the TAR to contest the changes to the Regulation on copyright and the prerequisites of the same rule, i.e. Law 93 of 14 July 2023 on anti-piracy, which came into force on August 8th.
Generally speaking, the association disputes that the provisions on copyright require providers to assume the role of "internet policemen", with all the costs that this entails. A role which, according to the appellant, should belong to ordinary public institutions, such as the police force and the judiciary.
Assoprovider's choice comes after the decision to challenge the amendments, signed by AGCOM, to the Regulation on copyright published on 31 July 2023. The association would like to point out that "it considers the protection of copyright sacrosanct and that his protests and legal actions have nothing to do with the real protection of artists and performers, whom he regards with sympathy and respect".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia-on-demand/perche-i-provider-pirateggiano-la-legge-anti-pirateria-e-pezzotto/ on Wed, 18 Oct 2023 09:30:13 +0000.