VZCZCXRO9075
PP RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHRO #3334/01 3531642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 191642Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6765
INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 8108
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 2129
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 1995
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ROME 003334 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB A/S SULLIVAN, EB/TPP/IPE JOELLEN URBAN, 
CANDY GREEN, JENNIFER BOGER 
STATE PASS USTR FOR J SANFORD, J CHOE GROVES 
DOC PASS USPTO 
DOJ FOR DAAG LAURA PARSKY 
DHS PASS ICE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12356: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EINV KIPR IT
SUBJECT: Italy: Changing Public Attitudes Toward 
Intellectual Property (IPR) Rights and Boosting 
Prosecutions of IPR Violations 
 
Refs: A. ROME 2428, B. ROME 1858, C. 05 ROME 4046, D. 
05 ROME 1569 
 
-------- 
SUMMARY 
-------- 
 
¶1.  Italy has some of the better IPR protection laws 
in the EU, but enforcement is stunningly lackluster. 
Until 2005, Mission Italy focused a more than decade- 
long effort on improving enforcement, but we also 
began to consider how we might change Italians 
perceptions toward IPR as a way to support enforcement 
efforts.  This message reports our second annual 
conference on changing perceptions, where we believe 
we advanced our goal by 1) introducing concerns of 
organized labor; 2) encouraging follow-on projects 
among the stakeholders themselves; and 3) producing 
candid evaluations and self-criticisms of weaknesses 
in IPR protection efforts.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------ 
CURRENT IPR SITUATION IN ITALY 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2. Embassy public diplomacy outreach (reftels A, B, C, D) 
focused on the need to improve enforcement following the 
passage of a set of quite good IPR protection laws. Over 
more than a decade, the Mission organized over-subscribed 
conferences to bring together U.S. law enforcement and 
judicial officials and share best U.S. practices.  While 
enforcement improved, it was clear that IPR abuse more than 
kept pace.  In 2005 we began to discuss how we might change 
Italian public perception toward IPR to create Qa culture 
of IPR legality.Q  The conference in November 2006 in 
Florence was an attempt to take our efforts to change 
public perception a step further, and to encourage a 
culture of IPR legality. 
 
------------ 
THE WORKSHOP 
------------ 
 
¶3. The City of Florence co-hosted the two-day roundtable. 
Thirty-five experts from national and local governments, 
public sector agencies, industry, law enforcement, 
magistracy, trade-associations, and academia attended. U.S. 
participants were drawn from Embassy Rome and the three 
Consulates; USPTO; and Street Law, a U.S. NGO conducting 
IPR education programs in U.S. schools (Embassy Rome Public 
Affairs section of Embassy Rome sponsored Street LawQs 
participation). 
 
¶4. We also invited Confederazione Generale Italiana del 
Lavoro (CGIL), one of ItalyQs major labor unions.  Our 
invitation was strategic Q to convince union leadership of 
this most left-leaning of ItalyQs major unions Q that 
piracy and counterfeiting affect employment in Italy, and 
to ask union leadership to join the effort to educate union 
ranks, the greater public and political class on the need 
for better IPR protection.  We also pushed participants to 
toss their, at times, platitudinous remarks and to offer 
candid appraisals of the IPR situation. 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
Description: A Cultural Epidemic 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  All participants agreed that disregard for IPR is 
rampant throughout the culture.  They also faulted Italian 
efforts in IPR protection in various areas.  There was 
consensus that Italians perceive different levels of crime, 
with piracy and counterfeiting considered benign.  As a 
result, there is an attitude of leniency toward IPR 
offenders, particularly among young people, but also in 
society as a whole. Most also agreed that even the most 
 
ROME 00003334  002 OF 004 
 
 
educated Italians do not understand IPQs value to the 
economy, and the need to protect IPR to stimulate 
innovation and growth. 
 
¶6.  Participants claimed that some prominent Italian 
political figures, including Ministers, have openly 
declared they buy counterfeit and pirated goods, and that 
other Italian politiciansQ public statements demonstrating 
indifference to the issue have undermined IPR protection. 
The union representative observed that some major retailers 
knowingly sell pirated goods alongside legal products, so 
that much counterfeiting is actually generated by the legal 
economy.  The Florentine local police representative 
described illegal aliensQ flagrant open sales of 
counterfeit goods on Florence streets.  She called for 
tougher penalties, including rescinding alien resident 
status, for immigrants caught selling counterfeit goods. 
Finally, a number of participants pointed out that internet 
downloading presented problems of control that the 
representative of the Communications Authority called 
Qtechnically impossible or beyond current capacities. 
 
-------------------- --------------------------- 
Prescription: Increase Awareness and Enforcement 
-------------------- --------------------------- 
 
¶7.  A number of participants agreed that positive messages, 
with focus on the benefits society derives from adequate 
IPR protection would be effective.  Several participants 
expressed the need to educate the young on IPR values, 
since primary- and secondary-school aged children are 
consumers and shapers of culture.  Participants also agreed 
that they must redouble their efforts Q alone and together 
Q to change public perceptions toward IPR. 
 
¶8.  During the official session and on the margins, several 
participants complained about an across the board amnesty 
the government granted this summer on a broad spectrum of 
crimes in Italy, including IPR violations.  This amnesty 
effectively wiped out a great majority of recent 
convictions on IPR violations and has discouraged 
prosecutors from taking further action on many pending IPR 
cases.  As an indication of the difficulty of securing 
government action in this area, the representative of the 
Italian Music Federation noted that the political class, 
including parliamentarians, need education on IPR basics, 
but also on ItalyQs current responsibilities under 
international agreements and EU directives. 
 
----------------- 
PROPOSED PROJECTS 
----------------- 
 
¶9.  Sixteen participants offered ideas for new, self-funded 
projects, which we present below.  Note that these 
proposals are still in an embryonic stage and thus somewhat 
general. 
 
Economic Development Ministry (Italian Patent and Trademark 
OfficeQIPTO) 
--------------------------- ------------------------------- 
 
-- Promote a culture of IPR legality to consumer groups. 
-- Develop IPTO website to include IPR education campaigns. 
-- Offer universities IPR protection for investment in 
research, innovation, and for university-private sector 
collaboration. 
-- Initiate discussions on IPR issues among opinion-makers 
in the media. 
 
Communications Authority 
------------------------ 
 
-- Conduct IPR awareness campaigns with online service 
providers. 
 
Federcomin (ItalyQs association of ICT industries) 
 
ROME 00003334  003 OF 004 
 
 
-------------------------- ----------------------- 
 
-- Launch a self-regulating IPR-protection code for 
internet service providers. 
 
Music Industry 
-------------- 
 
-- Launch education campaigns for journalists and 
politicians. 
 
Business Software Alliance (BSA, software industry 
association) 
-------------------------- ------------------------ 
 
-- Working with the financial police, educate business 
about white-collar software piracy. 
-- Formation of an QassociationQ of institutions concerned 
with IPR. 
 
 
High Commissioner for Anti-Counterfeiting 
---------------------------- ------------ 
 
-- Conduct a public information campaign on 
economic/criminal dangers of IPR piracy. 
-- Conduct a public information campaign to help consumers 
distinguish between legal and pirated products. 
-- Develop piracy statistics. 
 
CGILQUNION 
---------- 
 
-- Sensitize public on piracyQs impact on the job market. 
-- Request retailers/distributors sign a public statement 
verifying that their products comply with IPR laws. 
-- Secure cooperation among the three major national unions 
on an anti-piracy position. 
 
Anti-Mafia Directorate 
---------------------- 
 
-- Sensitize local judicial offices on the need to train 
magistrates on IPR legislation and enforcement. 
-- Initiate a train-the-trainer program for the 54 
magistrates with responsibility for developing magistrate 
training programs within ItalyQs 27 judicial districts. 
 
Communications Police 
--------------------- 
 
-- Sensitize the public on IPR violation risks, e.g., 
counterfeit drugs, downloading viruses. 
 
State Police Training Directorate 
--------------------------------- 
 
-- Include IPR enforcement sessions within police training 
programs. 
 
Innovation Ministry 
------------------- 
 
-- Develop IPR programs for teacher training. 
 
SocietaQ Italiana deglie Autori ed Editori (SIAE:  ItalyQs 
royalty payment society) 
---------------------------- ------------------------------ 
 
-- Broadcast IPR awareness programs during the day to reach 
younger viewers (with repeated airings). 
 
Italian Universities 
-------------------- 
 
-- Include IPR awareness courses as part of the mandatory 
curriculum. 
 
ROME 00003334  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
Confindustria (employersQ association) 
----------------------------- ------- 
 
-- Educate industry members about the value of IP. 
-- Create patenting consortia to foster collaborative 
research. 
 
Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italian (ANCIQItalian mayorQs 
association)/City of Florence 
-------------------------- -------------------------------- 
 
-- Form a working group of 10-12 principal Italian cities 
to develop local IPR communications campaigns to be 
replicated at a national level. 
 
---------- 
NEXT STEPS 
---------- 
 
¶10. We have encouraged conference attendees to work 
independently Q and collaborate together, as appropriate 
on individual projects listed above.  We see the EmbassyQs 
role as that of a catalyst to ensure projects advance.  We 
are now creating a closed internet site tracking all 
projects, with access limited to Mission Italy and Florence 
workshop participants, both to watch progress and to 
intervene, as necessary. 
 
¶11.  We already have already approached the Magistracy and 
police training directorate to collaborate on their 
projects to train magistrate trainers and police officers. 
We also are internally discussing strategies to address 
training politicians, including parliamentarians. 
 
¶12. Aside from our work to change public attitudes towards 
IPR, we continue to hammer home the importance of 
enforcement (we are preparing for our annual spring retreat 
with Italian law enforcement officials/magistrates) and 
public diplomacy outreach on IPR within the context of the 
AmbassadorQs Partnership for Growth, our broad effort aimed 
at increasing entrepreneurship and economic growth. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13. We believe bringing key operational-level players 
together and encouraging them to collaborate can have an 
impact on public tolerance of IPR theft.  We also believe 
our role in promoting IPR protection in Italy must focus 
the Italians on reversing policies and changing attitudes 
that discourage prosecution of IPR violations.  Further, we 
think that reaching out to ItalyQs unions Q and thus 
educating the rank and file on how IPR theft affects them 
and their families Q could have important consequences for 
our efforts, particularly if the left-of-center government 
begins to understand that IPR is not just a concern of 
business and center-right.  End comment. 
 
BORG