Spanish Govt to Establish Anti-P2P Commission
Representatives from the Justice, Industry, Interior and Culture ministries would design a legal framework to to solve the problem of illegal downloading.
Much to the chagrin of copyright holders and govt officials, Spanish courts have a long history of recognizing the difference between commercial and noncommercial file-sharing, and looks as though the former intends to change [...]
Spanish Judge Rules Not-For-Profit P2P is Legal
First time a judge in the country has clearly stated that "P2P itself does not violate any rights," says attorney Carlos Almeida-Sanchez.
Spain, though part of Europe, seems to be worlds apart as the only country that has realized the difference between piracy and illegal file-sharing.
For Raul N. Orejuda Garcia, Magistrate Court judge of Mercantile [...]
Spaniards Demand Internet “Civil Rights”
Want unrestricted file-sharing, repeal of blank media levy, increased broadband access, and net neutrality.
More than 300 members of Spain’s Internet Users Association (AI) protested outside that country’s culture ministry in Madrid recently to ensure the govt doesn’t limit their Internet freedoms ahead of forthcoming legislation expected to crack down on illegal file-sharing.
The protestors demanded [...]
Spanish P2P Developer Goes to Court for “Unfair Competition”
Record labels accuse him of profiting from file-sharing programs that allow users to download music for free and thereby “free ride” over their property.
The trial against P2P software designer Pablo Soto has finally begun in a Spanish courtroom. The Promusicae association of Spanish record labels along with EMI, Sony, Vivendi Universal, and [...]
Spanish Man Jailed for Operating Illegal File-Sharing Site
Court found he used copyrighted material to illegally benefit from ads on the site, but he argues that they were only used to “economically sustain” it.
A Spanish court has sentenced 22yo Adrián Gómez Llorente to six months in jail and fined him €4,900 euros ($6,496 USD) for operating an illegal file-sharing Web site.
He was found [...]
Record Labels Sue Spanish P2P Developer for ‘Unfair Competition?’
Unable to win a court case against file-sharers, Promusicae, the Spanish branch of the RIAA, decides to go after the software developer instead.
Pablo Soto, founder and CEO of MP2P Technologies, announced today hat he has been served with an unprecedented lawsuit from Promusicae, the organization that represents the recording industry in Spain.
Promusicae filed a [...]
Spain Legalizes File-Sharing if “Not for Profit”
A Spanish judge has dismissed charges against an anonymous 40-year-old man accused of file-sharing since the man’s intent was not to make money.
Yesterdays ruling by Judge Paz Aldecoa of No. 3 Penal Court in the northern city of Santander said that there was “no talk of money or any other compensation beyond the [...]
Spanish revolt against blank media levy
Spanish activists have launched a web-based campaign to fight the recently-imposed levy on blank media which will “place a tax on blank CDs, DVDs and even flash memory sticks”, as we reported earlier today.
Todoscontraelcanon.es (all against the levy) is collecting signatures under a “Your Signature Counts” slogan, and vows to challenge the new Ley de [...]
Spain outlaws P2P file-sharing
A Spanish intellectual property law has finally banned unauthorized peer-to-peer file-sharing in Spain, making it a civil offense even to download content for personal use.
The legislation, approved by Congress on Thursday, toughens previous provisions. An early May circular from Spain’s fiscal general del estado, or chief prosecutor, allowed downloads for purely personal use.
Now Spaniards caught [...]
Spain Adds ‘Copyright Tax’ to Blank Media
On Thursday, June 22, 2006 the Spanish Congress voted to implement a tax on all blank media, including flash memory sticks, blank cd and dvd-rs, even mobile phones and printers. There is no word on how much this new tax will be, only that the revenues will be collected by the government, and will then [...]
