Italy Classifies YouTube as TV Station

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
Joined
May 9, 2000
Messages
75,400
Reports by Italian Newspaper, The Republic, new laws have been passed classifying YouTube as a television station. This will effectively bring the internet giant under state control.

Most importantly, however, the new resolutions would make YouTube and other sites legally responsible for all of their content.
 
Ok, fine, what's their channel number then Italy? Yeah, thought so.
 
Ridiculous, but then again it's Italy, so it's expected.

As I see it there's only one thing for google to do. Shut down all Italian offices and stop officially operating in the country...
 
How much revenue REALLY comes from Italy. Think you're going to make money there now? Just stop "broadcasting" there...
 
Why is it ALWAYS someone else who is responsible for someone elses job? If you want to regulate what your citizens watch, fine set up filtering and filter it. Can't afford it? Tough luck. What is the point of it anyway? January 2nd and my brain officially exploded w/ already.
 
How much revenue REALLY comes from Italy. Think you're going to make money there now? Just stop "broadcasting" there...

That's what they actually want to happen. The guy in charge there (Berlusconi) personally owns much of the Italian media. Youtube is a place people can see dissenting opinions outside his ring of owned media companies - the guy considers anything dissenting to simply be wrong though and wants Youtube to take down any videos opposing him because he believes them to be slander.
 
That's what they actually want to happen. The guy in charge there (Berlusconi) personally owns much of the Italian media. Youtube is a place people can see dissenting opinions outside his ring of owned media companies - the guy considers anything dissenting to simply be wrong though and wants Youtube to take down any videos opposing him because he believes them to be slander.

Actually didnt one of the wikileaks cables say Berlusconi is the mouthpiece of Putin in Europe? That would certainly fit your description.
 
Italians can make anything, but when it comes to court, they will be hammered down at worst in the EU court and will have to pay Google way too much money as a compensation for all this idiocy they do.
 
That's what they actually want to happen. The guy in charge there (Berlusconi) personally owns much of the Italian media. Youtube is a place people can see dissenting opinions outside his ring of owned media companies - the guy considers anything dissenting to simply be wrong though and wants Youtube to take down any videos opposing him because he believes them to be slander.

Just because they leave the country doesn't mean YouTube.com wouldn't still be available to Italians :p
 
Berlusconi, the fascist in charge in Italy, owns most of the media in the country. He is simply making it easier to control his competition.
 
The Internet is sort of like CB. It's a public network. Good luck trying to enforce anything. If they don't want it there, they will have to go the way of China and just tell all ISP's to block the traffic. YouTube isn't going to change everything to accommodate some asshole.
 
I also believe if you're an Italian you have to get a permit or licence for broadcasting; which allows you to legally upload onto Youtube....

Dunno I might be way off.
 
They still think they run the holy Roman empire, what else but a dictator to be in control?
 
They still think they run the holy Roman empire, what else but a dictator to be in control?

The holy roman empire was German, mainly populated by Germans taking up most of the area around Germany down to the top half of Italy and part way into france from about the 10th to the 19th century (when Napoleon came along) Your thinking of the Roman empire. :p

They do have a total idiot for a primeminister. But historically, when your countries fucked up, you listen to the idiot with the loudest voice...for some reason... foolish humans.
 
Berlusconi, the fascist in charge in Italy, owns most of the media in the country. He is simply making it easier to control his competition.
It's actually something quite different.

Berlusconi's company is suing youtube for 500 million euros over copyright infringement claims and the case was stuck because youtube was a common carrier or whatever they call it in Italy. Since youtube has been reclassified, Mediaset can now continue to sue youtube.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807301025DOWJONESDJONLINE000654_FORTUNE5.htm
 
It's actually something quite different.

Berlusconi's company is suing youtube for 500 million euros over copyright infringement claims and the case was stuck because youtube was a common carrier or whatever they call it in Italy. Since youtube has been reclassified, Mediaset can now continue to sue youtube.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200807301025DOWJONESDJONLINE000654_FORTUNE5.htm

actually that sounds exactly like he's "making it easier to control his competition."
 
Glad everyone is judging italians by the choices of a few in their government..........I guess the actions of the US government defines all of us :/
 
I suspect YT will just pull the plug on Italy. This is way too much to expect of them.

And censored YT video's? Fuck that.
 
Glad everyone is judging italians by the choices of a few in their government..........I guess the actions of the US government defines all of us :/

By the views of some outside the US, that is exactly the case.
 
Glad everyone is judging
Hardly everyone was doing that. But it does seem like Italy is getting a bit jealous of Russia's corruption and made a power play to take the title back. :D

Like Russia, Italy's government is massively corrupted. Taking from the leaked cables, a veritable "mafia state."
 
Hm, they can profit off of this.

1) Google should cut traffic of youtube to Italy.

2) Then instantly open up a google sister site based in a Spain/UK/Germany that is a proxy site which lets you into youtube through those respectful countries (with google.italy ads in the youtube-italy proxy, of course).
 
Hm, they can profit off of this.

1) Google should cut traffic of youtube to Italy.

2) Then instantly open up a google sister site based in a Spain/UK/Germany that is a proxy site which lets you into youtube through those respectful countries (with google.italy ads in the youtube-italy proxy, of course).

I think part of the problem would be their CDN. One reason you-tube and the GOOG search works is the heavily distributed nature of their data center.

They would need to pull all of their physical operations out of Italy to give them the finger but that would severely impact the performance of the service.

No, GOOG will go to court and ultimately up through the EU. At which point Italy will probably get their ass handed to them. It depends on how much anti-American sentiment is in the air at the time, really. It is all politics. Rationality has little to do with it. If the PM can get Italians all pissed off at the "Imperialist Pig-Dog Americans" and their freedom-tubes then it's a win for local politics.

Us vs. them always works when you're incompetent, lack accountability and your media is a fawning simpering mass access whores.
 
Back
Top