Every now and then, a controversial issue triggers a flood of online discourse. For our Noise Filter feature, the WHIR pans the raging rivers of opinion for shining nuggets of useful commentary.
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The Italian government has announced plans to extend TV-broadcasting regulations to websites that host videos, which would hold YouTube (www.youtube.com) accountable for all content uploaded to their site. This controversial new draft decree breaks with the European Union’s general policy on service transmission, and has sparked much debate within the Internet community.
Drafted by Italy’s deputy minister of communications, Paolo Romani, the decree would require all web publishers showing videos to obtain a license from the authorities just like TV broadcasters. This would force YouTube and similar sites to require a license and also be held to the same rules and regulations as traditional broadcasters in order to operate legally in Italy.
The proposed legislation has sparked outrage in the online community because it not only threatens existing media sites and adds significant barriers to entry other user-generated content services in Italy, but particularly because of the conflict of interest introduced. By some estimates, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi controls 90 percent of the Italian national media, and not-for-profit Reporters Without Borders has noted that, “The conflict of interests involving prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his vast media empire was still not resolved and continued to threaten news diversity.”
Of course, it can be said that the Internet is just another business sector, which needs regulation. And it can be argued that YouTube and similar hosting sites have done too little to protect copyrighted works, and the Italian government is the first Western government to take such a serious stance by holding hosts to traditional standards. Industry organizations are adamant that illegal dissemination of copyrighted material directly cuts into the revenue of media producers, thereby limiting the possibility for their creative expression.
Regardless of how it will be received, the decree, if passed as soon as this month could impose fines of up to 150,000 euros for copyright infringement. More crucial is its toll on free expression in Italy, which some suggest, will be the greatest price paid.
Reporters Without Borders (www.rsf.org) is concerned about the proposed government decree’s impact on freedom of expression, and it is calling on the constitutional court to reject it.
“We condemn the government’s choice of a decree, albeit one issued on parliament’s authority, rather than a bill submitted to parliament for debate and democratic control of the kind that is necessary in all states that respect human rights and free expression.
“On the grounds of protecting copyright, including the copyright of TV stations owned by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the government is giving itself direct control over online video sites, whose continuing existence would depend on a licence issued by a government minister and not by a judge.
“The decree would subject the exercise of freedom of expression to a system of prior authorisation on the grounds of preventing possible future copyright violations.”
Italy’s decree would conflict with the EU’s previous position on Internet services outlined in Directive 2000/31/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2000, section 40.
“Both existing and emerging disparities in Member States’ legislation and case-law concerning liability of service providers acting as intermediaries prevent the smooth functioning of the internal market, in particular by impairing the development of cross-border services and producing distortions of competition; service providers have a duty to act, under certain circumstances, with a view to preventing or stopping illegal activities; this Directive should constitute the appropriate basis for the development of rapid and reliable procedures for removing and disabling access to illegal information; such mechanisms could be developed on the basis of voluntary agreements between all parties concerned and should be encouraged by Member States; it is in the interest of all parties involved in the provision of information society services to adopt and implement such procedures; the provisions of this Directive relating to liability should not preclude the development and effective operation, by the different interested parties, of technical systems of protection and identification and of technical surveillance instruments made possible by digital technology within the limits laid down by Directives 95/46/EC and 97/66/EC.”
Trade group the European Digital Media Association (www.europeandigitalmedia.org), whose members include Google, Yahoo, Amazon EU and Microsoft, has already voiced its disapproval of Italy’s proposed regulations. In a letter to to Deputy Minister Paolo Romani, EDiMA wrote the following:
“The AVMS Directive updates the regulatory framework for TV and “television-like” services (e.g. Video on Demand services) and explicitly excludes broader information society services1. The obligations implied in the Italian draft decree, however, would capture user-generated and user-uploaded video and would have the effect of extending broadcasting regulation to these services, including rules on editorial responsibility. This would threaten the viability of and introduce significant barriers to entry for this sort of service in Italy.”
Carlo Carnevale Maffe, an Internet economist at Milan’s Bocconi University, told Yahoo News that the Internet must be regulated like any other business sector or else monopolies will form, giving such enterprises more and more power.
“I cannot consider YouTube as a benefactor of mankind. I must consider YouTube as a company. Google and the Internet live without regulation worldwide. This is impossible and we need to clear what are the limits of this new platform. We need to upgrade the legal platform to make sure the Internet is not blocked from innovation, but to give fair competition to the Internet.”
