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Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act"

it.wikipedia.org

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Re: Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act"

#3

Post by bdhe »

Maybe I'm being dense, but I couldn't gather from the notice the scope of the Italian law: Servers hosted in Italy? Publishers of said content irrespective of where it is hosted? Authors of said content? Would the website be blacklisted if it (loosely speaking the people behind it) do not cooperate with the law? Does Italy even have an internet blacklist?

Re: Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act"

#4

Post by ErrantX »

bdhe wrote: post #3

Maybe I'm being dense, but I couldn't gather from the notice the scope of the Italian law: Servers hosted in Italy? Publishers of said content irrespective of where it is hosted? Authors of said content? Would the website be blacklisted if it (loosely speaking the people behind it) do not cooperate with the law? Does Italy even have an internet blacklist?

This came to the attention on the foundation wide discussion list earlier today (I think this is the first time the foundation were aware of it too...) & I've been digging into it.

The law they are protesting basically says as follows:

- Any party can post a notice to the owner/publisher of a website or blog etc. telling them to correct information (and provide the new information they require) and this must be done within 48 hours or a fine can be imposed.

Obviously it is a silly law. Italian Wikipedians are arguing that it is risky for them because it leaves them open to receiving these notices and having fines imposed; and so they have shut down (on their own initiative) it.wiki.

There is a lot of FUD flying around... but as best I can make out:

- There is nothing in these new laws to actually blacklist of close down Wikipedia for non-compliance

- There doesn't appear to be a way to use the law to target editors individually (although as with many laws it's really hard to make it "fit" into how Wikipedia is structured..).

My own view I laid out here: http://article.gmane.org/gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation/5630...

Re: Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act"

#6

Post by tomp »

I don't understand how this is supposed to make sense... Isn't it just as possible for an Italian to be offended by something written on the English wikipedia as it is on the Italian one? Why don't they just shut down wikipedia as a whole then?

Also, unless their servers are physically hosted in Italy or they have a number of employees based in Italy, I see no reason why they should abide by this law. Doesn't China lawfully demand censorship on every website? Maybe it's time they move their servers to Iceland...

I can't help but see this as a mostly a politically motivated action, a form of protest and a way of spreading information about this paragraph among the Italian public, and I cannot see how this is in the spirit of Wikipedia's neutrality...

Edit: a somewhat similar attitude is present in this post on the mailing list http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation/56247

Re: Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act"

#7

Post by credo »

This is obviously serious, but the "Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act" title seems to be inaccurate.

The wikipedia page talks about a "proposal, which the Italian Parliament is currently debating".

It appears that the proposal is not the law (yet)

Re: Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act"

#8

Post by ErrantX »

tomp wrote: post #6

I don't understand how this is supposed to make sense... Isn't it just as possible for an Italian to be offended by something written on the English wikipedia as it is on the Italian one? Why don't they just shut down wikipedia as a whole then? Also, unless their servers are physically hosted in Italy or they have a number of employees based in Italy, I see no reason why they should abide by this law. Doesn't China l…

Why don't they just shut down wikipedia as a whole then?

This is an action purely by the Italian community. The foundation were not even aware of it till a few hours ago :)

I see no reason why they should abide by this law

It's a protest against an upcoming law that ma lead to Italian editors being fined for not editing Wikipedia to the demands of companies/people.

Re: Wikipedia shuts down Italian site because of Berlusconi's "Wiretapping Act"

#9

Post by redthrowaway »

ErrantX wrote: post #4
bdhe wrote: post #3

Maybe I'm being dense, but I couldn't gather from the notice the scope of the Italian law: Servers hosted in Italy? Publishers of said content irrespective of where it is hosted? Authors of said content? Would the website be blacklisted if it (loosely speaking the people behind it) do not cooperate with the law? Does Italy even have an internet blacklist?

This came to the attention on the foundation wide discussion list earlier today (I think this is the first time the foundation were aware of it too...) & I've been digging into it. The law they are protesting basically says as follows: - Any party can post a notice to the owner/publisher of a website or blog etc. telling them to correct information (and provide the new information they require) and this must be done…

Who even has the ability to delist it.wp? Does the Italian Arbcom have the power to remove the wiki? I would have thought that only the Foundation itself could have made this call. It appears they've redirected every page (even those that don't exist) to the notice. This would seem to require a hell of a lot greater access than any mere editor would be afforded.
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