No more 'Pirates of Spain'

Penelope Cruz
 Pirates of Caribbean

Last month the Spanish government fully approved their pending Sustainable Economy Law (LES), legislation designed to stop Spanish Internet users from accessing file-sharing sites. The law has been fully approved only two weeks after the conservative 'Partido Popular' government came into power last December.

The decision of which sites will be blocked will lie with the Intellectual Property Committee. This panel will have the power to take action against those providing illegal content and entities providing infrastructure, all within 10 days of a complaint by right-holders.

In addition to the WikiLeaks cables, Spanish newspaper E'l Pais' obtained a letter from the U.S. ambassador to Spain expressing "deep concern" over the country's failure to enact the law and suggesting that economic punishment may be in order. From this it can be seen that the Spanish Government was somewhat pressurized to pass the law by the U.S.

Spanish pop star Shakira

According to the rights managment entity EGEDA, Spain was responsible for some 20% of worldwide illegal downloads. 98% of all songs were downloaded illegally. The Spanish entertainment industry suffered a loss of over £4.3 billion in the first six months of 2010.




Tags: Spanish Anti piracy Law, Spanis Illegal Downloading, SOPA, PIPA, EGEDA, intellectual property SOPA PIPA, IPR, penelope cruz pirates of spain, shakira listening to music, Spanish anti piracy, spanish illegal downloading laws, Sustainable Economy Law, vikrant shetty,