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Deutsch: Spanische Regierung beschließt neues Gesetz gegen Filesharer

The Spanish Government passed on 8 January 2010 the Law for Sustainable Economy which includes the creation of an Intellectual Property Commission (IPC) that will be in charge with filing complaints with a judge in cases of alleged illegal downloading.

The legislation will give the authorities the possibility to shut down file-sharing sites within a few days from the complained filed by IPC. The court is to decide within four days from the complaint whether a certain site is infringing the law or not. Until now the procedure to shut down sites considered in breach of copyright law lasted for more than a year.

The legislation has met serious criticism and opposition lately from the public and freedom activists. In a Manifesto on the rights of Internet users at the beginning of December 2009, a group of journalists, bloggers, professionals and creators stated that: "Copyright should not be placed above citizens' fundamental rights to privacy, security, presumption of innocence, effective judicial protection and freedom of expression."

Many of the opponents believe the legislation was forced by a strong lobby from the entertainment industry and the pressure from the US, without real consideration of the implications and impact on the Internet users.

The only good change in the new legislation is that the sites cannot be shut down without a judicial decision as it was initially proposed.

On 9 January a group of activists, experts and bloggers met in Madrid to discuss the action to be taken in order to defend civil rights on the Internet. One of the results of the meeting was the organisation of a larger campaign under a new alliance to defend Internet liberties called Red SOStenible. The new alliance was launched on 13 January 2010.

The new plan of the Government against P2P "doesn't wash" (only in Spanish, 4.01.2010)
http://www.publico.es/ciencias/283018/nuevo/plan/gobierno/p/p/cuela

Spain Fast Tracks P2P Site Shutdowns (8.01.2010)
http://torrentfreak.com/spain-fast-tracks-p2p-site-shutdowns-100108/

Spain passes anti-piracy law (8.01.2010)
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3if944e...

Campaign Red Sostenible (13.01.2010)
http://red-sostenible.net

Government rectification does not please the Red activists (only in Spanish, 13.01.2010)
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2010/01/12/navegante/1263299629.html