VZCZCXRO4832
RR RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHRO #0143/01 0371224
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061224Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1559
INFO RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 3421
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 9802
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 3594

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000143 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO EBB/TPP/IPE URBAN, WALLACE 
PASS TO USTR YANG, GROVES, WILSON 
COMMERCE PASS TO WILSON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV IT ECON ETRD KIPR
SUBJECT: ITALY WANTS G-8 TO TACKLE INTERNET "REGULATION" 
 
REF: A. 08 ROME 1337 
     ¶B. ROME 89 
 
 (U) 1. Summary: During its G-8 Presidency Italy wants to 
increase focus on Internet crime -- primarily on-line piracy, 
child pornography and identity theft.  Plans to deal with 
these issues have been given the general heading "Internet 
regulation."  While the term worries some, GOI contacts 
insist the goal is to deal with Internet crime and not to in 
any way suppress freedom of speech.  GOI officials hope to 
see the issue become part of a G-8 Summit discussion, and 
will begin broaching the issue at the Feb. 3-4 meeting of the 
Intellectual Property Working Group. (Post has briefed the 
U.S. delegation on the issue.) A parallel effort is underway 
to create a concrete plan for dealing with on-line piracy in 
Italy, likely by forcing some responsibility onto Internet 
Service Providers (ISPs).  Officials would like to see a plan 
announced by the time of the G-8 summit in July. End Summary. 
 
(SBU) 2. In late 2008, PM Berlusconi revived a notion that 
had been introduced in the parliament earlier, namely -- a 
vaguely expressed need to "regulate the Internet." Given that 
the internet was and continues to be the source of some of 
the most effective criticism directed against him, there are 
worries that interest in Internet regulation might be an 
effort to silence his many on-line critics.  Fabrizio Mazza, 
head of the intellectual property office at the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, provided an alternate explanation when he 
recently described Berlusconi's interest in the issue to 
Econoff.  According to Mazza, the Internet is a Wild West. 
Given that the Internet is essentially borderless, combating 
Internet crime will take international cooperation.  At some 
point, the lack of rules becomes a problem.  Regulation, as 
Berlusconi uses the term, means setting parameters to control 
crime.  Mazza insists this will not involve suppression of 
free speech. 
 
(SBU)  3. In the past, Internet piracy has been tackled in 
the G-8 context by the Intellectual Property Experts Group 
(IPEG), but IPEG is a technical level group, Mazza said, and 
its decisions and discussions have little impact without a 
political counterpart. Mazza is hoping the G-8 Summit could 
result in a statement of intent aimed at in some way 
regulating the Internet cooperatively. For this issue to go 
very far, Mazza said, Canada would have to be on board, since 
Canada hosts the next G-8 summit in 2010. These ideas will 
form part of the discussion at this week's meeting of the 
IPEG. 
 
(SBU) 4. On the national front, the GOI is moving to create a 
plan to fight on-line piracy. In Ref A, Post outlined GOI 
plans to form an interministerial committee to deal with this 
issue.  The committee has been formed and Mazza says it is 
tasked with coming up with an actionable plan in 2-3 months 
time.  The committee will hold hearings with industry, 
Internet Service Providers and others to come up with a 
proposal to be enacted in Italy.  Mazza specifically 
referenced the French "3 strikes" graduated response plan and 
a British plan to fight illegal downloading as possible 
models for the Italian plan.  Mazza hopes that the 
committee's proposal would be announced prior to the G-8 
Summit, as a public signal that Italy intends to take its 
place with other G-8 countries in fighting IPR infringement. 
Mazza characterized involved Italian officials as 
"determined." 
 
(SBU) 5. Mazza said ISPs are nervous at the prospect of an 
Italian plan, but said that IP industries are "very" 
supportive. According to Mazza, the plan would likely see 
ISPs assigned some level of responsibility for fighting 
on-line piracy. In general, our industry contacts have said 
past frustration with GOI efforts to protect copyright make 
it hard for them to be optimistic, but conversations with 
officials of the Italian music industry association and the 
Motion Picture Association, indicate some hope for a positive 
outcome this time. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - 
COMMENT 
- - - - - - - - - - 
 
(SBU) 6. Committees such as the new IPR entity have in the 
past been formed without anything coming from them, but the 
spotlight of the G-8 and the desire of some key Italian IPR 
 
ROME 00000143  002 OF 002 
 
 
figures to show results could make a difference this time. 
Post is cautiously optimistic that the next few months will 
see some movement on IPR. The role of the very conservative 
Data Protection Authority is still problematic however (see 
Reftel B).  Any plan to combat on-line piracy will have to 
navigate around the Data Protection Authority's rulings that 
put privacy considerations on the highest plane. 
 
 
 
DIBBLE