The Spanish government has introduced hard line intellectual property legislation that will outlaw the acquisition of copyright content through unauthorised P2P networks, while charging a copyright levy on digital devices capable of storing content, including memory sticks, CDRs and mobile phones (though not hard drives). The new laws will also make it a criminal offence for ISPs to "facilitate" unauthorised downloading.
As previously reported, Spanish authorities have been keen to tighten up copyright piracy legislation after the content industries named it as the home to the highest levels of piracy in Europe. When the International Federation Of the Phonographic Industry launched a report on worldwide piracy issues a year ago, they staged the launch in Spain to highlight the high levels of piracy there. At the time, IFPI chief John Kennedy told reporters: "We are launching this report in Spain for a very good reason. Spain was once a thriving legitimate music market known for the quality of its artists and the success of its music industry. Today Spain is known for the most serious piracy problems in Europe and urgent action is needed to do something about it".
A Brussels based representative of the Movie Picture Association Of America this week welcomed Spain's new laws, describing them as "a definite step forward". But, of course, it remains to be seen how the new laws work in practice and how the authorities plan to enforce them. Of particular interest are the laws that pass liability for copyright violation onto the ISPs of those who illegally share music. Some experts say that the new laws possibly conflict with the 2000 E-Commerce Directive of the European Commission, which included some measures to protect internet providers. Whether Spanish and EC law in this domain can co-exist won't be tested until Spain's authorities take an ISP to task on the illegal file sharing that is occurring on their networks.