[Foundation-l] keep watching the Italian government

Sat Oct 20 07:58:14 UTC 2007

Gianluigi Gamba wrote:
> Hi everybody,
> 
> the Italian government has advanced a proposal for a law that - if
> approved by the Parliament - will oblige all the "publishing
> productions", regardless of the media they use for their diffusion,
> therefore web-based ones included, to be registered into the "registro
> degli operatori della comunicazione" (ROC) - "register of the operator
> of the communications" (such a register nowadays seem to exist in very
> few contries in the world).
> Registration is virtually free of charge, but it requires someone (not
> yet clear whether a citizen, a professional or an organization - not
> yet clear whether Italian citizen of not) to take legal responsability
> for the contents.
> 
> The current text of law proposal includes among the "publishing
> productions" (together with on-line newpapers and other media) also
> the personal blogs(!) and non-profit experiences like the Italian
> editions of the Wikimedia projects.
> 
> "Per attività editoriale si intende ogni attività diretta alla
> realizzazione e distribuzione di prodotti editoriali, nonché alla
> relativa raccolta pubblicitaria. L'esercizio dell'attività editoriale
> può essere svolto anche in forma non imprenditoriale per finalità non
> lucrative".
> 
> "With publishing activity is meant every activity aimed to produce and
> diffuse publishing productions and to the relevant advertising
> activities. A publishing activity can be done also under
> non-enterpreneurial forms with no lucrative aim".
> 
> Wikimedia projects are in a borderline situation: they are WMF's own
> and therefore the law of the US applies, nevertheless their Italian
> edition are meant for an Italian audience (yes, not only on the soil
> of the Italian Republic).
> 
> If this law proposal becomes a law and Italian authorities ask for the
> registration, we might risk the Italian versions of the Wikimedia
> projects to be made unavailable for the Italian citizens.
> It's clearly impossible for the Italian version of the Wikimedia
> projects to find a person who can bear the legal responsibility for
> all the contents.
> No one would guarantee personally about Wikimedia projects contents,
> and if someone would be so crazy to do that, such person would have
> the last word on every Wiki* article. That's absolutely incompatible
> with the nature of the Wikimedia projects.
> 
> For those of you who can read Italian, you can find some details here
> http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2092327
> and an on-line petition for dumping this law proposal here
> http://www.petitiononline.com/noDDL/petition.html
> 
> I wonder whether WMF and the Wiki* communities can somehow make
> pressure and help spreading this news around the globe.
> 
> Hoping for the law proposal to be dumped or changed, or for the law
> not applied to Wikimedia projects (although such a law would very
> seriously impact on the freedom of speech in Italy), I thank you all
> for your attention.
> 
> G. (aka Paginazero)
> 
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Waou. When I read such propositions for law, I always wonder who the 
governments are asking advice from. Did the consellors ever get to use 
the net before issuing such a recommandation ?

It strikes me as being one of these numerous laws which will be "non 
applied" by most (because impossible to apply), but which will bug many 
italian businesses.

Ant