30 minutes to obscure the Corriere.it sites

Here comes the squeeze on illegal streaming. The Senate unanimously approved the bill containing “Provisions for the prevention and repression of the illicit dissemination of contents protected by copyright”, already voted by the Chamber in March. The text gives new powers to the Communications Regulatory Authority (Agcom) to block platforms that illegally broadcast live events, including sports, premieres of films and entertainment programmes.

Blackout within 30 minutes

In detail, a “prompt” intervention is expected, within 30 minutes to block the site that illegally transmits the content. Massimiliano Capitanio, Agcom Commissioner, affirms: «Anyone who surfs pirate sites, in addition to committing a crime, delivers bank, health, home automation data and much more to criminal associations. This aspect is particularly underestimated. With the law approved today by the Senate, Agcom will have additional resources and powers, it is a good page for our country”. Federico Bagnoli Rossi, president of Fapav, was also satisfied: «The speed in parliamentary work and the unanimity of the Chamber and Senate in approving the Bill are two aspects that highlight the common intention to act on a phenomenon that impacts the Italian economy . Therefore today we pay sincere thanks to all the political forces and to the Government for immediately understanding how central it is to have innovative tools for contrasting the criminal mentalities that lie behind audiovisual piracy”.

The support of the National Cybersecurity Agency

Among the innovations is also the support of the National Cybersecurity Agency to Agcom, so as to enhance the monitoring, identification and repression of the online criminal phenomenon, including Iptv, pirated sites and applications. Another element of interest is that camcording, the filming of private individuals with cameras, will finally be classified as a crime on a par with other forms of piracy. «The criminal phenomenon of piracy remains serious and, above all, still represents a serious threat to the audiovisual content industries, because if the incidence of offenses remains substantially stable among adults (at 42%), in 2022 there were around 345 million offences, a good 30 million more than the previous year» adds the president.

The next steps

The text will now have to be countersigned by the Head of State, subsequently published in the Official Gazette and, after fifteen days, will produce legal effects. At that point, once a specific regulation has been issued by Agcom, the new rules will become fully operational. «We look with greater confidence in the fight against piracy, especially with reference to sporting events. We can also say that we are more positive for the start of the next season of the Serie A and Serie B championships: we will have new tools to combat piracy, including that concerning first-run cinematographic and audiovisual contents which require timely intervention”. concludes Bagnoli Rossi.