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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 MADRID 001052 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/WE AND EEB/TPP/IPE: T.O'KEEFFE AND J.URBAN 
STATE PASS USTR FOR D.WEINER AND J.GROVES 
STATE PASS U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE FOR D.CARSON, M.PALLANTE 
AND M.WOODS 
COMMERCE FOR 4212/D.CALVERT 
COMMERCE ALSO FOR USPTO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD KIPR EINV ECPS KCRM SP
SUBJECT: ZAPATERO PROMISES ACTION TO COMBAT INTERNET PIRACY 
 
REF: A. MADRID 982 
     ¶B. MADRID 417 
     ¶C. MADRID 410 
     ¶D. MADRID 224 
 
MADRID 00001052  001.3 OF 005 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. (SBU) In an October 21 speech to the American Business 
Council, President Zapatero addressed internet piracy in 
public for the first time, acknowledging that deficiencies in 
IPR protection in Spain are a source of concern to the USG 
and the GOS.  Zapatero pointed to the October 9 creation by 
the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) of an Inter-Ministerial 
Commission to study Internet piracy, which he said will 
submit recommendations to the government before the end of 
this year.  The Commission appears to formalize and enhance 
ongoing working-level Inter-Ministerial discussions.  Its 
formation, the December 31 deadline, and Zapatero's 
high-profile statement are encouraging signs suggesting that 
progress may be forthcoming.  Post believes Zapatero's 
October 13 meeting with the President has contributed to both 
the formation of the Commission and Zapatero's willingness to 
go on record emphasizing the need for a solution. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Meanwhile, developments continue on other fronts, 
and the decline in music, video, and movie sales this year 
provides more evidence of the seriousness of the problem. 
The government continues to urge the content providers and 
the Internet Service Providers' (ISP) association (the 
"Coalition" and "Redtel," respectively) to reach agreement on 
measures to deter piracy.  The two sides continue to exchange 
proposals, but Coalition sources advise that any agreement 
reached will be of modest scope.  The Coalition also 
announced it is developing a "macroweb" to make content 
legally available online, which it plans to deploy in 2010 
once the government begins to implement measures to protect 
online content.  Separately, rights-holders' groups have won 
some internet piracy court cases and lost others.  On October 
19, the Coalition sent the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, and 
Trade (MITYC) a list of some 200 commercial-scale pirate 
websites, asking the Ministry to take dissuasive action and 
also to pass the list to the Prosecutor General's office 
(Fiscalia) for criminal charges.  End Summary. 
 
THE NEW COMMISSION 
 
¶3. (U) During the weeks leading up to President Zapatero's 
October 13 meeting with President Obama, U.S. 
copyright-dependent groups such as MPAA and the Recording 
Industry Association of America (RIAA) pressed actively to 
have President Obama raise internet piracy with Zapatero. 
Members of Congress sent a letter to USTR and the Commerce 
Department with the same message. 
 
¶4. (U) On October 9, Spain's Council of Ministers (Cabinet) 
announced the establishment of an Inter-Ministerial 
Commission to address the problem of IPR violations on the 
internet.  The Council tasked the Commission with analyzing 
the existing regulatory framework and identifying actions 
that will make the criminal and civil judicial processes more 
effective in protecting copyrights online and offering 
remedies to rights-holders.  The Commission is to provide the 
Council with its preliminary conclusions and recommendations 
by December 31. 
 
¶5. (U) Senior officials (roughly Under Secretary and 
Assistant Secretary equivalents) of the following eight 
Ministries will comprise the Commission: MITYC, Culture, 
Interior, Justice, Education, Foreign Affairs and 
Cooperation, Economy and Finance, and the Presidency.  The 
Commission held its first meeting October 23 to set its work 
agenda.  The Commission will build on informal collaborative 
efforts undertaken over the past several months at the 
working level by MITYC, Culture, Industry, and Justice. 
 
¶6. (U) In an October 22 meeting with Charge, MITYC State 
Secre tary for Telecommunications and the Information Society 
Francisco Ros acknowledged the challenge of coordinating 
among eight Ministries but stressed the benefits of including 
all relevant actors in the discussion of possible solutions. 
 
MADRID 00001052  002.3 OF 005 
 
 
He framed the problem as one of reconciling IPR with privacy 
and other fundamental rights, arguing that in Spain and other 
countries, government attempts to regulate the Internet have 
sparked protests by privacy advocates and counter-measures by 
legislatures. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Rights-holders are convinced that the mere 
possibility of Zapatero's having to address the issue in his 
meeting with the President spurred the government to action. 
Coalition President Aldo Olcese called the Council of 
Ministers' announcement, which our government contacts had 
played up all week as imminent good news that would 
demonstrate the government's seriousness, "a cynical maneuver 
to give Zapatero something to say" in case President Obama 
did raise the issue.  Olcese also called the announcement of 
the Commission a delaying tactic, since it pushes any 
solution into the future.  He predicts the Commission will 
recommend among other things that Spain seek a European-wide 
approach to Internet piracy during its EU Presidency, an 
approach that State Secretary Ros is known to support but 
which rights-holders fear could lead to further delay. 
 
ZAPATERO RECOGNIZES THE PROBLEM 
 
¶8. (SBU) The reported discussion of internet piracy by a 
senior White House official with close advisors of Zapatero, 
and GOS pleasure with Zapatero's visit to DC as a whole, 
appear to have resonated at senior levels of the GOS.  In an 
October 21 speech to the American Business Council (ABC) on 
economic issues, Zapatero addressed the issue in public for 
the first time.  He cited Spain's impressive performance in 
attracting foreign investment but noted the need for 
improvement in several areas, including IPR, as part of a 
broader effort to enhance Spain's attractiveness to foreign 
investors.  Without specifically naming internet piracy, he 
noted that IPR protection was of concern to both the USG and 
the GOS.  He pointed out that Spain boasts the world's fourth 
largest cultural industry and that the "creative sector" 
accounts for 4% of GDP.  Zapatero expressed support for the 
Coalition-Redtel negotiations and reiterated that the newly 
formed Inter-Ministerial Commission is to present its 
proposal by year's end. 
 
SALES DROP ILLUSTRATES SERIOUSNESS OF PROBLEM 
 
¶9. (U) Representatives of copyright groups have presented an 
array of evidence to dramatize the plight of their 
industries.  Legitimate music sales in Spain fell by more 
than 30% in the first six months of 2009 compared with the 
same period in 2008.  Video sales were down 33% and rentals 
down 44%.  Movie attendance has declined significantly over 
the past two years.  While the severe recession contributed 
to these losses, industry representatives point the finger at 
competition from illicit downloads and file-sharing. 
 
PRIVATE SECTOR NEGOTIATIONS 
 
¶10. (U) Per reftels, beginning in May 2008, the government 
had urged the Coalition and Redtel to negotiate an agreement 
on deterring and combating digital piracy.  The parties 
worked for almost a year in three different areas - 
dissuasive measures (including recommendations for 
legislative and regulatory reforms), public education and 
awareness, and new business models, i.e., making more content 
legally available online. 
 
¶11. (U) As reported ref B, Redtel broke off negotiations in 
April 2009.  According to Redtel executive director Maria 
Teresa Arcos, Redtel and the Coalition have not conducted any 
formal negotiations since then.  Sometimes Coalition and 
Redtel presidents Aldo Olcese and Miguel Canalejo meet 
together with senior officials of MITYC or the Culture 
Ministry; the two groups also sometimes communicate through 
third parties, especially government officials; and they have 
also passed draft proposals back and forth.  The government 
is eager to have a private-sector agreement, however modest 
or narrow, on which to base its own initiatives.  The 
Coalition is willing to keep trying for an agreement as a 
means of keeping the government engaged, but it says it has 
become disillusioned with the continued dilution of its 
proposals.  It has given up, at least for now, any measures 
to sanction or even notify individual users who infringe 
 
MADRID 00001052  003.3 OF 005 
 
 
copyrights online, and its proposal that ISPs or the 
government shut down or block pirate websites probably would 
require controversial legislation.  It does not expect the 
"de minimis" agreement to advance its interests much. 
 
¶12. (U) Redtel's primary emphasis in the negotiation has been 
on the business model issue, as its ISP members hoped to 
enter into lucrative business deals with such Coalition 
members as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) 
and various recording companies to market their products 
legally online.  The ISPs' inability to achieve their 
objectives in this area was the ostensible reason for 
suspension of the negotiations.  However, content providers' 
representatives note that the ISPs and their parent 
telecommunications companies (Telefonica, Orange, Vodaphone, 
and Ono) have a number of contentious issues pending with the 
government involving taxation, competition, and regulation, 
and may be using the Internet piracy negotiations as leverage 
with the government on other matters.  In public, Redtel 
executives have said if the government wants to solve the 
piracy problem, it should take action, and the ISPs will 
comply with their obligations, but the government should not 
expect voluntary concessions from Redtel. 
 
¶13. (U) Meanwhile, the Coalition announced October 19 its own 
new business model: a "macro-website" offering access at 
reasonable prices to its members' products, including the 
much-desired and much-pirated movies made available by major 
U.S. studios.  The new site is reportedly based on the U.K. 
website findanyfilm.com and will also contain music and 
games.  Coalition president Olcese noted that consolidating 
the content in one place will offer an attractive alternative 
to illegal downloads and file-sharing.  He stated, however, 
that the "macroweb" will not be formally launched until the 
government has begun to implement measures to combat piracy 
and protect content, which the Coalition hopes will be in 
early 2010.  Rights-holders argue that Spain's current 
lawless online environment makes legal content offers futile. 
 During a visit to Madrid, International Federation of the 
Phonographic Industry (IFPI) president John Kennedy 
characterized Spain's situation as a "vicious circle" in that 
such legal websites can never compete against free downloads 
as long as piracy remains unpunished, and are therefore not a 
sound investment. 
 
COURT CASES - WIN SOME, LOSE MORE: THE "CIRCULAR" CASTS ITS 
SHADOW 
 
¶14. (U) The government claims it is doing everything it can 
under current authority to combat Internet piracy.  At State 
Secretary Ros' recent meeting with AmCham's IP Committee (ref 
A), Salvador Soriano, Deputy Director General for Information 
Society Services in the Ministry of Industry, Tourism, and 
Trade (MITYC), cited statistics showing that in the past four 
years, law enforcement authorities have investigated 100 
websites over allegations of illicit activity; 43 criminal 
complaints have been filed by either private parties or 
government entities; 43 arrests have been made; and 34 cases 
are currently before investigating judges. 
 
¶15. (U) Comment: These figures cover activity since 2005. 
According to Jose Manuel Tourne of the Federation for the 
Protection of Intellectual Property in Audiovisual Works 
(FAP), authorities conducted 21 investigations for Internet 
piracy in 2006 and more than 20 in 2007.  Many of those cases 
are still working their way through the judicial system and 
are still awaiting decisions by investigating judges or have 
been appealed to provincial courts.  Many have been thrown 
out by judges following the reasoning of the Circular (see 
ref D) issued in May 2006 by the Prosecutor General's office 
(Fiscalia).  One case in April (ref C) in La Rioja resulted 
in an important precedent with the first-ever conviction of a 
web operator for running a pirate website that generated 
profit for advertising revenues.  Sources in the National 
Police, Civil Guard, and Fiscalia have told post that in the 
past two years police and prosecutors have largely given up 
pursuing these cases because the Circular sets such a high 
bar.  While the government continues to insist that the 
Circular is not binding on judges, its language has directly 
influenced judges and led to unfortunate outcomes in a number 
of such cases. 
 
 
MADRID 00001052  004.3 OF 005 
 
 
¶16. (U) Comment continued: In the Circular - a series of 
guidelines for prosecutors to follow in investigating and 
prosecuting IPR cases - the Fiscalia argued against pursuing 
criminal charges against file-sharers on the grounds that it 
was impractical and undesirable to penalize "a broad 
cross-section of society that uses technological advances to 
access protected works."  Most rights-holders do not pursue 
criminal charges against individual Internet users except in 
the most egregious circumstances.  They believe, however, 
that prison sentences and/or suspension of Internet access 
are not necessarily disproportionate in such extreme 
circumstances, and also that, if available, such sanctions 
would provide a strong deterrent against illicit downloads 
where none currently exists.  End comment. 
 
¶17. (U) Rights-holders' groups were heartened by a September 
decision of a three-judge appellate panel of the Provincial 
Court of Murcia.  An investigating judge had dismissed a 
criminal complaint filed by rights-holders in 2006 against a 
website ("Elite Divx") that made files available for 
peer-to-peer (P2P) downloading.  The lower court followed the 
interpretation contained in the Circular, according to which 
most unauthorized P2P activity should be pursued as a civil 
wrong rather than as a crime.  (Note: In large part because 
of the Circular, media routinely report, and the Spanish 
public at large generally believes without question, that P2P 
activity is entirely legal.  End note.)  In sending the case 
back to the lower court to be re-tried, the appellate court 
found that unauthorized P2P activity is in fact covered by 
the relevant sections of the Penal Code; that it comprises a 
form of "public communication...in the form of making 
(content) available"; that therefore (in direct contradiction 
of the Circular) the "private copy exception" does not apply; 
and that - even accepting the Circular's controversial 
interpretation that a commercial profit motive must be 
present for criminal penalties to apply - the revenues earned 
by the website from advertising demonstrate that it is "an 
authentic business receiving important economic benefits 
which increase based on the number of visits" and thus 
covered by the Penal Code. 
 
¶18. (U) The Murcia court's decision does not have binding 
precedential force, but rights-holders believe that because 
it was issued by an appellate court (albeit not a national 
one), and because, unlike many judicial decisions, it 
explains the judges' reasoning so forcefully and clearly, it 
is likely to influence other pending and future internet 
piracy cases elsewhere in the court system.  That said, many 
cases arising out of a series of police raids and website 
shutdowns in 2006-7 have already resulted in acquittals or 
have been summarily dismissed by investigating judges based 
at least in part on the Circular's influence. 
 
¶19. (U) In a separate case, rights-holders' groups were 
dismayed on October 15, when an investigating judge in Madrid 
rejected a complaint filed by the Music Producers of Spain 
(Promusicae) and music companies Universal, Warner, Sony, and 
EMI against an individual (identified in court by only his 
Internet Protocol number) who uploaded approximately 9,000 
music recordings without authorization using a P2P 
application, making them available to anyone who wanted them. 
 The judge quoted from the Circular's language stating that 
in order to constitute a crime, P2P activity must involve 
commercial profit.  Accordingly, he found that the only 
exchange taking place was that of "sharing among different 
users the material at their disposal, which constitutes 
socially acceptable and very widespread behavior that in the 
end is in no way illicit enrichment; rather, said conduct 
would raise the possibility of obtaining copies for private 
use, which leads to the conclusion that in this case there is 
no infraction deserving of criminal sanction."  Promusicae is 
appealing the verdict. 
 
THE COALITION'S CHALLENGE 
 
¶20. (U) At his October 19 press conference, Olcese also 
announced that the Coalition, in partnership with the 
self-described anti-piracy investigative  entity CoPeerRight 
Agency, had developed a list of 200 commercial-scale pirate 
websites, of which 62 operate from Spain.  Olcese said he was 
sending the list to MITYC in the hopes that the government 
will take action against the offending sites, which 
 
MADRID 00001052  005.3 OF 005 
 
 
CoPeerRight estimates generate average annual revenues of 1.5 
million euros from advertising directly related to their 
offers of infringing content.  Olcese also asked MITYC to 
pass the list to the Fiscalia for criminal prosecution. 
 
¶21. (SBU) Comment: MITYC currently has no authority to take 
any action against the sites except perhaps impose weak 
administrative sanctions.  There is no reason the Coalition 
could not file a criminal complaint with the police, provide 
them with the list and accompanying documentation, and ask 
them to investigate.  However, the Coalition believes Spanish 
law enforcement authorities are much more likely to 
investigate vigorously and prosecute if the material is given 
to them by a government entity such as MITYC. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Comment continued: The Coalition's other reason for 
sending the list to MITYC is to implicate that Ministry in 
the piracy problem and hold it accountable for finding a 
solution.  The Coalition is trying to keep the public 
spotlight and pressure on the government - and especially 
MITYC - while the Inter-Ministerial Commission explores 
possible initiatives.  The rights-holders' objective is the 
creation of a new government administrative body - a pale 
imitation of the High Authority contemplated by recent 
legislation in France - that would have the power to shut 
down or block pirate websites.  Rights-holders' groups 
believe that State Secretary Ros opposes the creation of such 
a body because he does not want his office, which oversees 
Internet matters, to become responsible for the problem. 
Content providers, who continue to believe in the face of 
Ros' recent "urban legend" remark (see ref A) that Spain has 
one of the highest rates of Internet piracy in the world, are 
determined to make him face up to the problem.  End Comment. 
CHACON