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YouTube Legally Considered a TV Station In Italy

Posted by Soulskill on from the legislation-to-facilitate-prosecution dept.

orzetto writes "Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that YouTube and similar websites based on user-generated content will be considered TV stations (Google translation of Italian original) in Italian law, and will be subject to the same obligations. Among these, a small tax (500 €), the obligation to publish corrections within 48 hours upon request of people who consider themselves slandered by published content, and the obligation not to broadcast content inappropriate for children in certain time slots. The main change, though, is that YouTube and similar sites will be legally responsible for all published content as long as they have any form (even if automated) of editorial control. The main reason for this is probably that it will force YouTube to assume editorial responsibility for all published content, which facilitates the ongoing € 500M lawsuit of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi against YouTube because of content copyrighted by Berlusconi's TV networks that some users uploaded on YouTube. Berlusconi's Spanish TV station, TeleCinco, was previously defeated in court on the grounds that YouTube is not a content provider."

9 of 254 comments (clear)

  1. Pretty much completely infeasible. by nonzzero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The best response to this would be "No more YouTube for Italy!"

    1. Re:Pretty much completely infeasible. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Do you really think this isn't the intended result of this law? Silvio "Mr. Corruption" Berlusconi owns most major TV stations in Italy. He's in the perfect position to get rid of competition.

  2. Take that Italy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    In America, Dominos is legally considered pizza.

    1. Re:Take that Italy by Yvan256 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Maybe, but you better be careful. If one Dominos restaurant ever goes down, they will all follow very quickly.

    2. Re:Take that Italy by Life2Short · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If YouTube is an Italian TV Station, where are the breasts?

  3. This is what happens... by rm999 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is what happens when the leader of a country also controls the largest media conglomerate of that country. Control the media, and you control the people. Control the people, and you *keep* control of the media.

  4. Call it by arcsimm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    See, this is where I think Google should call Berlusconi's bluff. All they need to do is redirect Italian IPs to a page that says, "Due to the legal implications of new regulations, Google can no longer provide service to Italian site visitors" followed by a few informational links. Then, they just sit back and wait for public outcry to force the Italian government to backpedal, and continue on as usual.

  5. Re:When did Italy turn into by kyrio · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where can I purchase your bottled mind?

  6. Google will do what it did in Korea by D+H+NG · · Score: 5, Interesting

    When South Korea passed a law that requires large websites with user-generated contents to collect user's personal information, Google simply disabled the uploading and commenting features in YouTube for Korean users and encouraged them to set their locale to some other country. This continued for a year, shining a spotlight on South Korea's stupid law until the government gave up and exempted YouTube from the law.