Spanish anti-piracy law approved by the Government

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Deutsch: [Spanische Regierung bestätigt Anti-Piraterie-Gesetz | http://www.unwatched.org/node/1794]

The Spanish Council of Ministers approved on 19 March 2010 the draft for the
Sustainable Economy Law (LES) that gives legal cover to the closure of sites
that links to “illegal” content made available without the the copyright
owners’ permission.

Despite the very active and strong opposition and criticism (even that of
the Spanish Fiscal Council) the draft LES was approved by the Spanish
Government without any change as stated Ángeles González Sinde, Minister of
Culture.

The approved draft stipulates the setting up of an Intellectual Property
Commission that would have the power to denounce to the high court websites
deemed to facilitate illegal downloading of copyrighted content. The court
is to rule in a 4-day term whether one website accused of illegal
downloading can be shut down or not, meaning that the court only decides on
whether a website closure would violate fundamental rights such as the
freedom of expression.

The draft law will further on go to the Parliament.

The Government approves the Sustainable Economy Law draft (only in Spanish,
20.03.2010)
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/economia/Gobierno/aprueba/proyecto/Ley/Economia/Sostenible/elpepueco/20100320elpepieco_3/Tes

Sinde answers that “everything is all right” with the anti-downloading law
(only in Spanish, 22.03.2010)
http://www.rtve.es/noticias/20100322/sinde-responde-que-todo-esta-orden-ley-antidescargas/324659.shtml

Spanish Govt Backs Anti-Piracy Proposals (22.03.2010)
http://www.itespresso.es/es/news/2010/03/22/ley-antidescargas-paso-firme-aprobacion-parlamentaria

EDRI-gram: Spanish Fiscal Council criticizes the new draft law on IPR
enforcement (24.02.2010)
http://www.edri.org/edrigram/number8.4/spanish-fiscal-council-criticizes-internet-ipr-provisions