Updating an item from last March: ""This is the most extreme law that has been passed against peer-to-peer file-sharing internationally," said Robin Gross, head of IP Justice, about a new law criminalizing the unauthorized online transfer of copyrighted materials, passed by Italy's parliament just over a week ago. Associated Press writer Aidan Lewis notes that the law's heavy penalties include fines of up to $1,250 for simply downloading copyrighted works for personal use, and "up to three years in prison for using the Internet illegally for commercial purposes."
However, Andrea Rossato, an assistant professor of law at the University of Trento, claims, in a note posted on p2pnet.net, that Italy's minister of culture, Giuliano Urbani, admitted it was a mistake to blur the distinction between violating copyrights for commercial and for noncommercial purposes. "Therefore, Parliament, at the very moment it approved the Act, adopted a resolution to push the Italian government into proposing a new Bill to amend the amendment discussed above," said Prof. Rossato. It remains to be seen if the Parliament and Government will deliver these modifications.