The attempt by the Spanish government to arm itself with special powers for closing down web sites is still proceeding. This is despite the impressive success in the Spanish blogosphere of the manifesto that was launched in protest against the proposed new law. Just 24 hours after the manifesto was issued the culture ministry had already convened a meeting with some of those behind it, and then prime minister Zapatero stepped in with an assurance that no web site would be closed down without judicial intervention. The original proposal would have left the decision solely to a committee appointed by the ministry.
So far, however, the changes to the legislation in response to the critics are minor and it is clear that the government is still seeking to avoid any comprehensive judicial review of their decisions. The current version will present the proposal to close a site to a judge only for a ruling on whether closure breaches "fundamental rights". The judge only has four days in which to respond on this issue. This detail is little short of amazing, there are supposedly "fast-track" courts in Madrid which are currently giving dates for the year 2013 to ordinary citizens with a grievance to pursue, yet when the entertainment industry wants to shut down a site the judge has to give it maximum priority! Truly a two-tier system.
The government is also being very coy about the composition of the committee that will decide whether a website is engaging in piracy. No details of who will be on it are going to be released before the legislation is passed, leading to suspicions that it will be packed with industry representatives. The latest response from opponents of the plan is explained in the web page Red SOStenible. The government's plans form part of the new Ley de Economia Sostenible which was supposed to be the flagship legislation that would set out a new model for the Spanish economy. It will be ironic if it becomes most remembered for being nothing more than a tool used to defend an outdated model for an industry that still doesn't know how to cope with the internet.
10 comments:
So you still want to stop me earning an honest crust by selling what I produce. They said just the same about patents you know.
This legislation has nothing to do with defending your rights, it's all about the entertainment industry holding onto their (giant) cut of the proceeds. It's like terrorism, much of what is done in the name of anti-terrorism actually has little to do with preventing it.
Can you name six individual musicians (composers or performers) or authors, with commercially marketed works, who agree with you? I don't mean ones who have for some reason chosen to waive their rights. I mean people who claim their rights and disagree with what the government is doing.
I can't name 6 who are in favour of the government's plans or 6 that are against. I do think that it's not necessarily the case that musicians who oppose piracy of their work necessarily approve of what the government is doing. The opposition to the law is not based around an attempt to prevent people earning a living from what they produce.
Sure, there's are a couple artists at the top of the foodchain that have made out like bandits, but the vast majority of musicians and authors need day jobs to get by.
If the point of these laws is to encourage creativity, the record of copyrights and patents for doing this are questionable.
The current flurishing of China (essentially an intellectual property-free zone) and the creation of Hollywood (created to escape the Edison's overly restrictive Motion Picture Patents Company) are two counter-examples that spring to mind.
Well I wouldn't disagree that many authors or musicians need day jobs to get by, my argument is that this legislation is not designed to protect them. It's fundamentally a product of those who have already earned super profits and who want to maintain that position. Nobody has yet explained why it's so necessary to avoid any sort of accountable process in the closure of websites and allowing it to be done by a ministerial committee is a process that invites abuse of power. That's why I make the comparison with anti-terrorist legislation that ends up being used against people who are not terrorists. We don't normally leave "justice" in the hands of the perceived victims, and for very good historical reasons.
Hi, Graeme, I've just discovered your blog. I'm an American who's lived in Madrid for a number of years. Looks good...
I agree with your position on the draconian measures of the Ministry of Culture against "pirate" blogs. Forgive me for not having read more of your posts, but are you familiar with the blog of Enrique Dans? I'm not sure how much of his politics I agree with, but his daily message (crusade) is that everything is changing, HAS changed, and the various media (and really, all of us)will have to come up with a new business plan to survive.
http://www.enriquedans.com/
And La Ministra, to my eye, is one the slimiest characters ever to be named by Moncloa (and I was here in the PP days of Aznar and Alvarez-Cascos. Talk about sleaze). I shouldn't be so naive as to say this after 20 years here, but where are the investigative journalists in this country? She's got more conflict of interest that can be believed...
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your comment, Enrique Dans is someone whose name I've seen a lot but I haven't read his web page yet - I'll take a look. It's a shame to see the culture ministry just become a front for industry interests, it's supposed to be about so much more. To be honest, I thought the criticisms of Sinde when she got appointed were a bit over the top but since then I've changed my mind. She just seems to regard internet as a problem.
Since every machine on the internet is technically both a client and server, it's not hard to see how this law could be used to shut down pretty much any computer connected to the internet in Spain. Trying to enforce this on foreign hosters should be entertaining.
The judical bypass is worring, since as long as any enforcement goes through the normal justice system, I wouldn't be hugely worried since pretty much everyone in Spain is in constant violation of any number of laws.
I think the question of what happens if the offending site is a foreign one has been asked - and the answer seems to be that internet service providers will be expected to block such sites. They can ask the Chinese government for advice on that one. I'm sure we'd all like our own fast track system for resolving our grievances, there's no reason why the entertainment industry should have a special system of their own.
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