ASSOPROVIDER is in favor of protecting Copyright!

The "PEZZOTTO" harms independent providers!

Piracy Shield, Assoprovider requests Agcom to publish the proceedings

27 February 2024

The legal battle continues for the Association that brings together small and medium proximity operators against the excesses of the so-called anti-piracy platform (Piracy Shield) of Agcom Assoprovider.

TLC, Anti-piracy laws: Assoprovider appeals to the TAR

«It is a battle of civilization», thus Giovanbattista Frontera, president of the association of proximity operators, explains the decision to challenge the Regulation on copyright and the recent anti-piracy provisions

Assoprovider's protests against the recent anti-piracy measures continue.

The association, which brings together representatives of companies in the electronic communications sector throughout Italy, has decided to appeal to the Tar to contest the amendments to the Regulation on copyright and the premises of the same law, namely law 93 of July 14, 2023, on anti-piracy, which came into force last August 8.

The regulation is contested on several points. In particular, the decision to conduct precautionary proceedings in copyright matters without any adversarial process, without allowing a citizen, who has had access to their site blocked, to defend themselves in any way.

In general, the association argues that the copyright provisions require providers to take on a role of "network police, with all the costs that this entails. A role that instead should belong to ordinary public institutions, such as the police forces and the judiciary.
The choice of Assoprovider comes after the decision to challenge the changes, signed by AGCOM, to the Regulation on copyright published on July 31, 2023. The association wishes to clarify that it considers the protection of copyright to be sacred and that its protests and legal actions have nothing to do with the actual protection of artists and performers, whom it regards with sympathy and respect.

Assoprovider has a long tradition of protecting civil rights, which it has often exercised in the complete disregard of institutions. Notable is the battle, which reached the Constitutional Court, on the repressive powers of independent administrative authorities and the need to submit disputes concerning rights to a third and impartial Judge.

«The battle is just beginning. We will go all the way. This is certain.», concludes Frontera.

Press release of 18/7/2023

Anti-Piracy Law will sweep 2,000 companies from the market

The complaint by Assoprovider, the association of Proximity Operators, against the Mollicone law, which has come into force: "It is not effective and will put 10,000 jobs at risk"

La “Legge Anti Pirateria” metterà in ginocchio oltre duemila piccole e medie imprese delle tlc e più di 10mila posti di lavoro”. Questa è la denuncia di Assoprovider, l’associazione degli Operatori di Prossimità si scaglia duramente contro il provvedimento Mollicone che, per bloccare le piattaforme che diffondono illecitamente eventi live, tra cui sport, film e programmi di intrattenimento, obliges providers, at their own expense, to intervene promptly disabling access to illegal content.

According to the association, the text of the law is ineffective and will lead to the elimination of small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the sector in one fell swoop. We are talking about a market of about 2,000 companies (of which the association represents 12%):

“Questi obblighi imposti ai provider costringeranno le aziende, che hanno in media tre o quattro dipendenti e un fatturato che a malapena raggiunge i 500.000 euro, ad assumere almeno altre quattro persone per garantire un servizio di controllo 24 ore su 24, inclusi i sabati, le domeniche e le festività. Stiamo parlando di costi che arrivano a 200.000 o 300.000 euro all'anno. Come potranno queste aziende far fronte a tali costi senza correre il rischio di fallire?”, afferma Gian Battista Frontera, presidente di Assoprovider.
“Oltre a non essere efficace questa legge favorisce ancora le grandi multinazionali, molte delle quali hanno interessi diretti nel comparto dello streaming, a discapito delle piccole e medie imprese”, denuncia Frontera. The association will continue to put pressure on the competent bodies, as it has done in recent months, to ask senators and senators to take responsibility and therefore to take a step back regarding this billWe will express our radical dissent in every possible form to protect the sector and the principles that have always inspired our work," concludes Frontera.“.