Following the adoption of amendments proposed the bill to revise the law ratifying the anti-piracy decree (the so-called "Urbani Decree") has resumed its passage through the Senate, and now the measures to combat IT piracy are now fairer and more even-handed.

The extract from press release of the Minister for Innovation and Technologies follows here.

"While the new version of the law imposes severe penalties (imprisonment and fines) on those who illegally publish content on the Internet "for financial gain", it also permits those who illegally publish copyrighted material on the Internet for purposes other than financial gain to remove the conviction from their record once they have paid a fine. Accordingly, those who infringe copyright law through file-sharing on the Internet no longer risk imprisonment, but are liable to modest fines.

The new law also envisages the adoption of a code of conduct relating to particular issues, such as technologies for the protection of copyright, methods for preventative action against those who break specific laws, the promotion of new approaches to the commercial exploitation of e-Content, and the development of means for providing Internet users with accurate information.

The code will emerge from the collaborative initiatives that the Government has been promoting with operators in the relevant industries.

Rome, 25 January 2005"

Press release full version is available here.