FC: More on Italy requiring news sites to register, pay fees

[Declan McCullagh <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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