Outrage in Italy - Government permission required to Upload Video's to YouTube!

[pennyjangle]

New rules to be introduced by government decree will require people who upload videos onto the Internet to obtain authorization from the Communications Ministry similar to that required by television broadcasters, drastically reducing freedom to communicate over the Web, opposition lawmakers have warned.

The decree is ostensibly an enactment of a European Union (EU) directive on product placement and is due to go into effect at the end of January after being subjected to a nonbinding appraisal by parliament.

On Thursday opposition lawmakers held a press conference in parliament to denounce the new rules -- which require government authorization for the uploading of videos, give individuals who claim to have been defamed a right of reply and prevent the replay of copyright material -- as a threat to freedom of expression.

"The decree subjects the transmission of images on the Web to rules typical of television and requires prior ministerial authorization, with an incredible limitation on the way the Internet currently functions," opposition Democratic Party lawmaker Paolo Gentiloni told the press conference.

Article 4 of the decree specifies that the dissemination over the Internet "of moving pictures, whether or not accompanied by sound," requires ministerial authorization. Critics say it will therefore apply to the Web sites of newspapers, to IPTV and to mobile TV, obliging them to take on the same status as television broadcasters.

"Italy joins the club of the censors, together with China, Iran and North Korea," said Gentiloni's party colleague Vincenzo Vita.

The decree was also condemned by Articolo 21, an organization dedicated to the defense of freedom of speech as enshrined in article 21 of the Italian constitution. The group said the measures resembled an earlier government attempt to crack down on bloggers by imposing on them the same obligations and responsibilities as newspapers.

http://www.thestandard.com/

[Daniele.from.Italy]

I can't find this on any Italian newspaper... I Guess the censorship is already started...
Do you have any Italian written source?

I knew by the way that the "TV empire" (which btw is owned by the prime minister) was in war with youtube because people upload part of tv shows on youtube, TVs want control on their "stuffs" and they want people to go on their website to watch them. Youtube already has a policy that doesn't allow users to put video without owning copyrights, but people can do what they want THEN is up to youtube to remove the videos
In other words, italians go on youtube and watch pieces of italian tv shows (with youtube advertising) while they snob the TVs websites (and their advertinsings), in this way youtube get benefits.
Youtube doesn't remove these video because they say they are to many, and that they can't control everything, and basically they say it's not their fault, and so on...
The truth is that youtube (as well as google) wants to be bribed... The "entities" that pay the tributes to youtube get what they want... That's why you can't talk about certain topics on youtube, you can't criticize Islam for example as we all know... You couldn't say that Obama was a muslim during the 2008 campaign... And so on... The Music Industries also bribed them recently, and now you can't make videos using copyrigheted music on the background because they remove the audio. I know that certain US TVs also pay youtube to remove their material and youtube obeys with extraordinary efficency (but only for those who pay them!)...

I think it's clear that italian TVs, which number can be counted on the finger of to hands AND which are all owned by the same person (which again is the prime minister), do not want to pay anything to remove their materials from youtube as well as "government" and related entities do not want to pay to remove unwanted videos, so they are circling the problem with this law by picking directly on people...

It's going to be an epic failure...

[Confederate Kahanist]

I hope Obongo and the rest of the US government doesn't get any ides from this.

[The One and Only Mo]

You know something, with all the crap out there on YouTube, there should be some censorship.

[Irish Zionist]

You know something, with all the crap out there on YouTube, there should be some censorship.

Yes of the Nazi's but I get a feeling it's going to effect the wrong people.

[cjd]

I hope Obongo and the rest of the US government doesn't get any ides from this.

He has enough ideas about issues like this already   He just hasn't  figured out how to impose them with out causing an uprising. That fairness doctrine they were talking about early on was the first step to something like this.

[The One and Only Mo]

You know something, with all the crap out there on YouTube, there should be some censorship.

Yes of the Nazi's but I get a feeling it's going to effect the wrong people.

It'll affect everybody.

[looserivet]

You know something, with all the crap out there on YouTube, there should be some censorship.

That's a bit like free speech should have limits, you tube is already censored, try finding videos of Muslims beheading westerners. You can on LiveLeak and when I get into arguments with Islams apologists in the UK calling Islam the religion of peace. I like nothing better than dropping in one of those videos, OK gets me banned from the forum but I win. How many people have watched them videos that would be banned and now know the true face of Islam? I watched one of them and couldn't sleep for a few days, it was the sound that did it for me. Vile as the videos are they serve a purpose.

[rhayat1]

You know something, with all the crap out there on YouTube, there should be some censorship.

There already IS some censorship.  It's called your MOUSE.  Use discretion when using it.  There's your censorship.