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ISP Set For Court Hearing To Fend Off Anti-Piracy Demands

An anti-piracy group which acts in the interests of the movie industry has asked a court to force an ISP to take measures to reduce online piracy. Federazione Anti-Pirateria Audiovisiva wants Telecom Italia to report file-sharers to the authorities, block some well known torrent sites and work with them in the future to fight piracy. Telecom Italia has refused.

After failing to bring online piracy under control by threatening and suing individuals, the international music and movie industries have turned to a fresh set of targets. For the foreseeable future they will set their lawyers on Internet service providers instead, hoping that they can be threatened or sued into achieving what they failed to achieve in a decade.

In Italy, Fapav (Federazione Anti-Pirateria Audiovisiva) is currently embarking on one such mission. It has gone to the Civil Court of Rome asking it to compel Italy’s largest ISP, Telecom Italia, to take unprecedented action to deal with subscribers the anti-piracy group claims are infringing their members’ copyrights.

Fapav has several demands. It wants Telecom Italia to monitor their users and eventually report those who file-share to the authorities, block a whole host of sites (including The Pirate Bay, 1337x and isoHunt) and collaborate with them in the future to fight piracy. If it does not comply, Fapav wants the ISP to pay 10,000 euros per day by default.

Fapav insists that Telecom Italia has not done enough to stop its users from file-sharing and point to their own monitoring research which indicates that “hundreds of thousands” of the ISP’s subscribers had downloaded around 1.6 million copies of copyright movies.

Telecom Italia is refusing to comply and in turn has accused Fapav of breaching the privacy of its subscribers by spying on them, referencing an earlier case where German record label Peppermint Jam spied on Internet users via Swiss monitoring firm Logistep in order to extract money from them.

The label was ordered to stop by the authorities who deemed the activities to be illegal.

Paolo Nuti, President of ISP association AIIP, told Repubblica that Fapav were trying to force ISPs to become “sheriffs of the Internet” while taking responsibility for the activities of their subscribers. He went on to criticize the anti-piracy group’s unauthorized monitoring, stating that in his view Fapav had not only violated the norms of privacy but also committed a crime punishable by up to six years in prison.

The positions of both sides will be tested next week. The hearing will take place before the Civil Court of Rome on February 10th.

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  • http://www.eZee.se www.eZee.se

    Good luck Telecom Italia, fight the scumbags every millimeter of the way.. till they are off the cliff.

  • Pilgrimman

    #1

    Agreed!

  • Renea

    Totally with you on this one. To police the net = no freedom. http://www.sharereactor.com

  • Shadow

    Lets go Telecom Italia!

  • Yarick

    Well the implications of a ruling such as this could be more far reaching than anyone could imagine. If FAPAV wins this, such a ruling could be applied to phone companies to monitor everyone who uses their services on the basis that most planned crimes between two people can be planned or coordinated over the phone.

    Italy’s judicial system really has to think about what could happen if they let FAPAV win.

  • Paolo

    Italian Authority for Privacy announced it will enter the trial against FAPAV, suspecting illegal and criminal behaviour for privacy breach.

    FAPAV declared to know even to which sites the spied users connected to. If it’s true, FAPAV position would be even worse than Logistep/Peppermint.

  • MWMroll

    if the antipiracy group success all it will be is one step closer to what china is doing to their citizens. It’ll start with a few sites, then these agencies will realize they can threaten ISPs to restrict anything else that these people deem illegal or offensive.

  • Pizza

    Fapav?

    Fap fap fap

    Fapav has no chance to win.
    At first they said they harvested (illegaly) houndreds of IP claiming thay had proof of copyright infringement via bittorrent, emule an also megaupload/rapidshare. A couple of days later thay said that they had ONLY the first 3 numbers of IPs, so no privacy was violated.

    But.. what can you do if you only have the first 3 number and not the full IP address?! NOTHING!

    Either way they DID broke the privacy laws (how can you monitor megaupload instead!?!) or they have nothing in their hands.

    They will be slammed hard and i hope fined for:
    1) violations of privacy norms
    or..
    2) harassement, because they have nothing to show (incomplete IP is useless)

  • Unauthorized Content Consumer

    Well if it works in the US…it should work in Italy.

    Here you go…
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-10444879-261.html

    and the ever classic one…
    http://www.betanews.com/article/RIAA-Sues-Deceased-Grandmother/1107532260

  • Mark

    the world really is going to shit -_- money & power has corrupt us all

  • gorehound

    Fight the assholes !!!

    In support stop buying any new music or films from corporate assholes.buy all their stuff used.do not feed the pig anymore.

  • Bullzeye
  • Admiral FapBar

    Let the Fapping commence!

    More ISPs need to join the Fap circle.

  • Reasoned Mind

    @Yarick, #5,
    If 99% of all telephone calls were shown to be used to plan and execute unlawful activity, the phone company would be pressed into surveillance for phone calls, too. And should be.

    http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2010/01/bittorrent-census-about-99-of-files-copyright-infringing.ars

  • A Reasonable Mind

    @14

    You can idealize all you want, but in reality that would never happen. You are also wrong when analyzing the normative issue of whether it should or should not be “pressed into surveillance.” The telecommunications industry is an extension of a person’s right to speech, and such warrant-less surveillance would be a breach of a person’s privacy rights.

    Go Telecom Italia for standing up for the basic rights of a human. Go free speech, free expression, and privacy.

  • duane

    Why do ISPs even allow a coordinated legal attack on their business?

    ISPs must fight this, and should take the offensive — they need to sue these anti-piracy groups back.

  • Ditto

    I have to agree with Reasoned Mind. We all should just give everything we have to corporations who have little or nothing to do with the creative process, who just feed off whomever they can, and who pay lobbyists whatever it takes to control the governments of their choosing. As a mindless supporter of these institutions of our time, I can only hope that they milk all of us to the point where we are all just living in cardboard boxes and working 14 hours a day to help maintain the extravagant lifestyles of our parasitic elites. As for filesharing, if we engage in this, we are failing in our social responsibility to maximize the wealth of the few, while increasing the resources of the masses at the expense of the elites.

    Corporations rule! Go Corps! Ignorance is Reason! Slavery is Freedom! Reasoned Mind is Wise! Kneel before your God!

  • Reasoned Mind

    @ Ditto.

    Somebody finally gets it. ;-)

  • Unauthorized Content Consumer

    @15 Feb 02, 2010 at 01:00 by A Reasonable Mind

    I suppose suing a grandmother, dead grandmother or a homeless person is exactly the types of protections you want for corporations.

    You’re a troll; plain and simple.

  • Tigger

    I bet Federazione Anti-Pirateria Audiovisiva crapped themselves when Telecom Italia didnt just roll over =)

    Lol @ #17 Ditto!
    I suspect some sarcasm in your post =P

  • Alina

    Ron Paul on Obama seeking to assassinate “US citizens” he labels terrorists http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9784

    Wow the US Gov’t is fked up. Better use those vpn’s.

  • Brandon

    Do you think that IPS’s are going to just terminate thousands of their users just because some goon squad wants them too?

  • Alina

    Enemies Of Free Speech Call For Internet Licensing

    Death of the web moves closer as UN calls for policing cyberspace
    http://www.prisonplanet.com/enemies-of-free-speech-call-for-internet-licensing.html

  • Reasoned Mind

    Thanks for the link, Alina. I remember last week when I posted iris scans or fingerprints as a means to get online and everyone hooted that I must be crazy.

    Keep acting unlawfully on the internet and see where it takes us.
    :-)

  • I’m crazy.

    I dont downlod music. I have never done that, but…. I’ve just bought about 3 or 4 CDs in my life.
    Maybe I´m crazy, but music does not turn me in. I dont care.
    People who likes music are the ones that download, and the ones that would buy this stuff.
    Go RIAA, go fight your customers and kill them all. The next step would be lobying to approve laws forcing people (the ones that doesnt download) to spend some % of their income to buy music.

  • Obedient

    It is amazing that groups like FAPAV, who believes every single internet user is a thief, wants to illegally squeeze money from anyone using any sort of illegal methods it can think of(such as spying).
    If any of us was caught spying on our neighbors we would be prosecuted, fined, and sentenced to prison!! So, why is it that the MAFIAA, FAPAV, et-all get away with it?? Could corruption be the answer?

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  • Ninja

    Holy optic fibbers Batman! MAFIAA is failing hard in this one lol…

    If not you should Brace yourselves, world will turn into a bigger version of China.What was the name of that book where everything was controlled by the state (or greedy companies if you want)? 1984? And what about that “Brave New World” one?

    Ahem.

  • Anonymous

    Italy is much more present on ed2k than on bittorrent, both networks would certainly take a hit if they cracked down but T.I. should not bend to this kind of extortion!

  • hms-one

    Ohhh, you dont wanna mess,
    with the R I double A,
    they’ll sue you,
    if you burn that CD-R.

    I doesn’t matter if you’re a grandma,
    or a 7 year old girl,
    They’ll treat you like the evil, hardbitten, criminal scum you are!

    Everybody now…

  • pWned

    It’s okay to be like China! Bono said so, and he talked to the pope once!

  • Anonymous

    @McReasoned-Mind

    obvious troll is obvious…:/
    —
    also people please don’t feed the pig thats why it wont die thank you.

  • Lucky Man

    get out of the world, anti-piracy companies. we don’t need y’all anymore since you’re interested in soo much of money… hope u join with Satan in Hell…Money don’t keep you happiness…

  • Mr Jackson

    @Reasoned Mind
    please answer me this I beg of you

    I went to the local cinema to watch a film with my three daughters and before we get chance to go in they want to frisk my little girls ages 12 and 8 and 5 they wanted to check if they had any mobile devices hidden away.
    Now as a father I am not going to let this pass as I am a paying customer and I decided to walk away and in doing so several people did the same, the question is should me and my children be put through this type of harassment as paying people or should I stay at home and download the movie paid of course but I am unable to do so as the means are not there.
    I now refuse to ever go to another cinema again and all this is due to people like yourself who are demanding these laws put into place but offer no other alternative and you blame piracy for the so called money loss but yet I have seen the gaming industry is making more money than the movie/music combined did you ever think that today’s youth would rather play games than listen to music or watch movies and the way things are going it will be safer to play games and not be accused of things they have no evidence on.

  • pWned

    @33

    why even feed that troll?

    A reminder on how that industry ticks: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_CD_copy_protection_scandal

    They operate in pimp mode, ripping off artists and consumers alike. Why even address someone that aligns him/herself with these kinds of entities?

    They steal, plagiarize and defraud with impunity yet play victim to enhance their grip.

    You know what, MAFIAA, RIAA, BREIN and whatever your stupid little names are: Pay the 6 Billion to Artists you owe and quit business practices that criminally infringe on about every privacy law there is. Then hold still for another 10 years, then, and only maybe then are you in a position to point fingers.

    Everyone aligning themselves with someone as ruthless as these organizations publicly is nothing but a brainless pawn.

  • Beowulf

    Who needs my service?

  • pWned

    @35

    give ya my kingdom for it….lol

  • BIOS

    I agree with the idea of putting anti-piracy groups that try to pull this shit behind bars. There has got to be some way to push for legal action against these people. Or at least remove them from the internet.

    Anyone? I would actually like to do something about this because it frustrates the shit out of me. So does anyone know anything about a movement relating to this??

    I’d start one, but I’m more of a follower as I don’t know where to start and have no money :(

  • Steven Seagull

    Nice name for a pron site.

    I quite hope they go ahead – Let them hang themselves.

  • Anonymous

    #1

    Agreed!

    Reason is easily minded that they fail sooner or later. RIAA or anyone will fail if they cant remodel their business because MafRIAA style wont work.

  • yarrr

    I hope the FAPmen keep door to their homes open, send letters with open envelopes, do not close garage gate and bathe without closing the curtains… unless they have something ILLEGAL to hide!

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  • no2mafiaa

    Movie: DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google

    Sender Information:
    Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp (Avatar) http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=17366

  • duane

    @BIOS (#37)
    The movements you’re looking for are called Pirate Parties — political parties working to reform copyright and preserve the rights to privacy and free speech.

  • Ben Ben

    No company will ever fight for your rights, if you want to keep your rights YOU have to fight for them. The companies only care about THEIR rights and THEIR money.
    The ISPs are probably already working on alternative ways of preventing people from committing copyright infringement, something that doesn’t involve them having to disconnect anyone and more importantly them loosing money.
    Do you honestly believe that we can just sit and wait for someone to show-up and fight for our rights? Good luck with that.
    If you think humanity can do better than this and want to try and change this situation and in the process make sure that the corrupt governments and corporate giants don’t continue to treat us like slaves there is a way.
    1)Acquire knowledge: Learn the facts to backup your arguments with. There are a lot of leaked corporate and government documents online, just start from somewhere and sooner or later you’ll find what you are looking for. The more you learn the more you understand of why we are in this mess that we are in right now.
    2)Share the knowledge: Never pass on an opportunity to share facts with anyone. Some people will engage in a discussion, others will laugh and dismiss what you say as a joke, others will get up and leave and others will start calling you names. People don’t react well to finding out that most of the things they know as truths are illusions placed in their lives by government propaganda and school and media indoctrination in an effort to separate humanity into two classes, the ruling elite and the rest of humanity who are to be their slaves. If you are afraid to be ridiculed and your ego still needs stroking then you most probably can’t help.
    You are not alone. We are all in this mess together.

  • BIOS

    @44
    Well that was fucking inspiring!

  • Mr Jackson

    @Reasoned Mind

    please look at post 33 and give me a reason to why this is happening i would love to read why you think me and my childern should be victims of been legal.

  • Trelew

    The problem is that corporations are lying through their teeth about internet file sharing. They say they are loosing money to it, a lie since they have been making more money than usual especially in a depressed world economy. They say they are protecting the rights of the creators, another lie considering that the money collected through “show” trials goes to lawyers and the corporate elite. Not one dime of court decisions every go the people that create the content. Also to note musicians are rallying to sue music corporations of over $6 billion (and climbing) for doing what they don’t want anyone on the internet to do.

    This is about power and greed of the corporate elite. They will win because they have corrupted governments and courts around the world. They will win because they have killed journalistic integrity and turned news media into a PR/ propaganda machine. This is the sad statement of our world today.

  • Rboy

    If Isp’s become internet cops the internet will become a boring place. Time to move on to something else. What do I need 50 zillion gigs of music for that I don’t really listen to that much? If the RIAA and MPAA push too hard they might for all intents and purposes shut down the internet. What a waste of a great resource!!

  • Ben Ben

    @46 Trelew
    There are 8-12 people who run the whole show. They have about 60 people who know what all of this is about and still follow their instructions. The rest, government officials, corporations, military are all told the goal is exactly what they[the rest] want: democracy, christianity, money, communism, environmental issues, freedom, overpopulation etc. Even soldiers, who are trained to follow orders blindly, would refuse to shoot knowing that they were being manipulated and controlled through lies, most of them at least.
    There are 6 and 1/2 billion of us. With all their money and all their power they wouldn’t be able to control 10,000 fed-up citizens of theirs, how are they to control 100,000 or a million? They can only impose military state once, all we have to do is say no and get to the streets. The only way for them to win is if we don’t fight.

  • United Hackers Association

    maybe italy needs some pies in the face

    OH wait in canada they want to make that a terrorist act
    there fore we have to ban ALL CAKES AND PIES WORLD WIDE

    think of the childrens deserts

  • Scooby

    I love hearing these more-common stories of the sue-U-4-$ firms turning to the ISPs and getting pushed back.

    ISP WIN!!!

  • bone bone

    really hope he goes to prison for 6 years… and get raped…. that will teach him to be show of how big of an ahole he is/has…

    kill him…

  • Think about it

    @ 14 Feb 02, 2010 at 00:43 by Reasoned Mind

    If you had bothered to read the study you would have found that it was not verified whether the files were being downloaded or if the content matched the description. Most likely half the files were malware placed there by MAFIAA.

  • Think about it

    @ 24 Feb 02, 2010 at 02:28 by Reasoned Mind

    Oh, I get it. Let liberal Hollywood use piracy as a scapegoat so they can stop the spread of right-wing ideas and Christianity. Even use Islamic extremism as a scapegoat, too.

    Well if ISPs monitor the users, who’ll monitor the corporations. Several corporations try to hack my computer everyday. Maybe we should start by banning them.

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