VZCZCXRO5082
PP RUEHPOD
DE RUEHRO #1486/01 1871435
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 061435Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 2504
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 8787
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 2657
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8519
INFO RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 001486 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EB A/S SULLIVAN, EB/TPP/IPE JOELLEN URBAN, CANDY 
GREEN, JENNIFER BOGER 
STATE PASS USTR FOR JAMES SANFORD, PAUL BURKHEAD, RACHEL 
BAE, JENNIFER CHOE GROVES, VICTORIA ESPINEL, STAN MCCOY, 
CHRISTOPHER WILSON 
DOC PASS USPTO AND LOCSTEP 
DOJ FOR DAAG LAURA PARSKY 
DHS PASS ICE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EINV KIPR IT
SUBJECT: ITALY IPR: EMBASSY HOSTED VIDEO WEBCHAT UNITES 
UNIONS AND LARGE INDUSTRY IN CALL FOR ENHANCED IPR 
PROTECTION 
 
REF: A. ROME 1217 
 
     ¶B. ROME 337 
     ¶C. 06 ROME 3334 
 
ROME 00001486  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Embassy Rome recently hosted a live on-line 
conversation on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) between a 
top representative from Italy's largest labor union and 
another from its preeminent industry association--a first. 
Over the course of an hour, both presenters emphasized the 
damage that IPR piracy does to Italian labor and business. 
The industry rep noted that piracy distorts competition, 
cripples small business, and presents hazard and quality 
problems to consumers. The union rep fervently denounced 
piracy/counterfeiting, flagging legitimate job losses in both 
manufacturing and sales. Strikingly, the union representative 
even questioned Italian industry's commitment to IPR 
protection.  Both agreed that the expectation of compensation 
drives creativity and innovation and called for better 
enforcement of existing IPR law. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  On June 15, a top representative from CGIL (Italy's 
largest and most leftist labor union with over five million 
members) and another from Confindustria (Italy's large 
industry association) discussed IPR live via Embassy Rome's 
website.  Often on opposite sides of issues, this was an 
unprecedented collaboration.  Both speakers supported 
effective protection for IPR in Italy, and emphasized the 
value IPR holds for Italian business, labor, and society. 
This event continued Mission Italy's efforts to enhance IPR's 
public profile and secure political support for enhanced 
enforcement of IPR laws. 
 
¶3.  This on-line webchat is part of a web-based public 
affairs program known as "Face to Face," which is an integral 
part of Ambassador Spogli's Partnership for Growth 
initiative.  In this forum, web viewers pose questions 
directly to presenters on-line via e-mails to the Embassy's 
website, which the presenters answer in real time.  This 
webchat aimed to reach an audience of labor union members and 
business people, who had been notified by their respective 
organizations about the event.  In this way the Embassy was 
able to communicate the detrimental impact piracy has on both 
industry and the job market in a convenient, cost-effective 
manner.  Over 200 work stations tuned into the Embassy 
website for the discussion, which stretched existing capacity 
of our internet connection.  After the event, we learned that 
a number of other viewers were not able to access the webchat 
because our bandwidth would not support it.  However, we also 
understand that actual viewership was larger than indicated 
by band-width capacity, given that unions provided general 
access to members at many offices.  The presentation is now 
archived on our website, available for new viewers to watch 
the recorded version. 
 
¶4.  The webchat speakers were Valeria Fedeli, Secretary 
General of FILTEA, CGIL's Textile Union, and one of Italy's 
30 most influential women (according to a recent poll 
conducted by Italy's largest circulation daily Il Corriere 
della Sera), and Marco Felisati, coordinator of 
Confindustria's anti-piracy committee.  In a lively 1-hour 
plus conversation, both underscored the damage that piracy 
and counterfeiting do to Italian labor and business, and the 
benefits that IPR protection and awareness offer Italian 
society. 
 
¶5.  Felisati noted that intellectual piracy distorts 
competition and makes it very difficult for small and medium 
sized companies to stay in business.  He described the 
substandard quality that characterizes most 
pirated/counterfeited goods, and pointed to the potential 
health and safety hazards caused by counterfeit products. 
Felisati noted that in Italy, not only the sale, but also the 
purchase of counterfeit goods, is illegal.  He called for 
effective and realistic sanctions (Note: Current fines 
 
ROME 00001486  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
available to law enforcement personnel are very high, leading 
to a reluctance to impose them.) against purchasers of 
counterfeit products as a way to reduce the phenomenon, as 
well as adequate prosecution of Italy's already extant IPR 
laws. Felisati's discussion was articulate, well-argued, and 
fully supported effective IPR protection. 
 
¶6.  CGIL's Fedeli has become a firm, if initially unexpected, 
ally in the Embassy's efforts to advocate improved IPR 
protection in Italy (refs A and B).  In this discussion she 
was possibly more vehement than Felisati, calling for strong 
recognition of the value of IPR, and better protection of 
IPR.  She took issue with illegal street vending of 
counterfeit products in particular, holding that it can no 
longer be tolerated--not only because of the significant 
impact on jobs in the legal economy.  She also noted a heavy 
social cost of piracy, maintaining that vendors are often 
illegal immigrants who are manipulated by organized crime and 
deprived of many basic employment and social benefits. 
 
¶7.  Both Fedeli and Felisati highlighted the principle that 
just compensation for creativity and innovation is a 
necessary incentive for entrepreneurs and innovators, who are 
crucial to Italy's economic growth and job creation.  They 
called for promotion of a culture that places greater value 
on IPR, and expressed strong support for "IPR education" 
programs starting in schools and becoming integral part of 
university curricula. 
 
¶8.  In the only confrontational moment, Fedeli argued that 
Confindustria associates do not support IPR well enough.  She 
stated that businesses must work more effectively to 
disseminate information about the perils of piracy, and must 
collaborate more effectively with GOI and labor unions to 
reduce the level of piracy and counterfeiting in Italy. 
 
¶9. COMMENT: Often confrontational on many economic issues, 
these two representatives of large industry and Italy's 
largest union are collaborating on IPR protection. Fedeli's 
and Felisati's involvement in this on-line webchat 
accomplished several objectives:  it provided another 
occasion to call for enhanced IPR protection in a new 
context, and allowed us to reach a significant number of 
viewers using already available resources.  Further, by 
featuring a union leader, we were able to reach a part of 
Italian society not ordinarily interested in or in favor of 
IPR issues (union members). We view union buy-in and an 
energized industry association, combined with recent 
encouraging GOI actions to raise the level of public 
discourse on IPR (ref C), as real breakthroughs in the effort 
to get Italy to take IPR seriously. END COMMENT. 
BORG