Cloudflare Threatens Italy Exit After $16.3M Fine For Refusing Piracy Blocks (x.com)
- Reference: 0180567652
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/01/12/1423251/cloudflare-threatens-italy-exit-after-163m-fine-for-refusing-piracy-blocks
- Source link: https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2009654937303896492
Prince called Italy's Autorita per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni a "quasi-judicial body" administering a "scheme to censor the Internet" on behalf of "a shadowy cabal of European media elites." The fine stems from Cloudflare's refusal to comply with Italy's Piracy Shield law, which requires internet service providers and DNS operators to block sites within 30 minutes of receiving blocking requests from copyright holders. Prince said Cloudflare may discontinue free services for Italian users, remove servers from Italian cities and cancel plans to build an Italian office.
[1] https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2009654937303896492
[2] https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/01/09/2052239/italy-fines-cloudflare-14-million-euros-for-refusing-to-filter-pirate-sites-on-public-1111-dns
Every company should do this. Fight fire with fire (Score:2)
If the UK wants to force Apple to backdoor their systems, Apple should shutdown Apple accounts and devices for UK government officials AND their families. Tell them to use Android.
The outcry would get the government to back off SO quickly.
Set a precedent.
Re: (Score:2)
> If the UK wants to force Apple to backdoor their systems, Apple should shutdown Apple accounts and devices for UK government officials AND their families.
Yeah, courts famously love it when corporations are actively hostile to lawmakers!
Re: (Score:2)
> produce something and then maybe the world will care what you think.
You don't even have a name, nobody even knows who you are. You're a coward and no one will even have to forget you when you die because no one knows you now.
Re: (Score:1)
Da, da, tovarish.
I'm sure everyone is Europe is miserable and spends all day dreaming of living in Putinstan.
Re: (Score:2)
Italy is not opening backdoors on any private personal system.
Italy wants to defend copyright holders and block pirate streaming services. Is that an absurd request?
Re: (Score:3)
The line between the two is blurrier than you think.
That's the issue, how much does it take before italy decides a start up competing with youtube is a piracy site because a user posts a chunk of pirated content?
The issue is that instead of following the existing due process of law to get sites like that removed the correct way; they're looking for easy, blanket attacks to apply with minimal effort and time. It's not about protecting copyright holders, it's about the money of a few corps taking over the law
Re: (Score:2)
What's the existing due process of the law to do this in Italy?
Re: (Score:3)
> Italy wants to defend copyright holders and block pirate streaming services. Is that an absurd request?
Note that copyright holders also include copyleft. The ability to defend copyright is essential for FOSS to work.
Should we let CloudFlare get away with it, it means enforcing the GPL is worthless because CloudFlare will let people pirate FOSS code. And pirating FOSS code is possible by not following the license. So if a company releases a product using Linux without releasing the source, and refuses to do
Re: Every company should do this. Fight fire with (Score:2)
Congratulations! You just used "false dichotomy"! It's... not very effective. The situation isn't "follow the Italian law or copyright will be completely invalidated". The Italian law allows certain rightsholders (certain very rich ones, primarily the football industry) to apply immediate blanket IP bans with no judicial oversight or appeals process. It doesn't exist to protect the GPL. I doubt it even does, since only certain organizations can actually issue the takedown requests (I can't find details on h
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on the way it's done. If you want to see the Internet stop being a Common Carrier and have only approved content, then root for the Italian way.
Rooting for injuries (Score:3)
Cloudflare has entirely too much control over the internet.
Italy is a censorious, protectionist crab.
Let them fight.
(To be fair, Prince is not the sort of crazy asshole chasing unstated goals that you'd expect to be in his role. I've disagreed with several of his choices, but I've never seen much of a hint of hidden motives or short-sighted greed. But he's human, and even if he stays perfectly aligned with the "forces of good", whatever that means, he won't be there forever. And they have too much power now.)
(As far as Italy goes, my first statement was fair.)
Arrivederci (Score:2)
Arrivederci CloudFlare! Won't miss you! Not that I support blocking anything.
MAFIAE? (Score:2)
Music and Film Industry Association Europe?
Give reasonable notice (Score:1)
Cutting customers off on less than a month's notice is very bad for your own reputation.
Better option from a PR standpoint:
* Pay the fine, then appeal it. Paying first make you look like a good corporate citizen in the eyes of the rest of the world.
* Immediately stop accepting new customers in Italy.
* Tell all existing customers in Italy that you are declaring Force majeure and ending their services in 90 days.
* Let it be known that the above notices will be rescinded if you reach an amicable agreement wit
Re: (Score:1)
Why pay it, who cares about looking good in anyone's eyes, especially to look good as a 'corporate citizen', whatever t.f. that means? putin can start a land grab war and his minions are absolutely clear [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] that they want to destroy Ukraine as a nation and to make sure there are no such people as Ukrainians. Trump attacks countries with force to kidnap presidents (and not putin, notice, he didn't kidnap a mass murderer) and he is open about using Venezuela for his own purpose
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Did_MBcn0QU
Do it (Score:3)
I can't think of a bigger world wide stage than the Olympics. If Cloudflare takes their ball and goes home then their internet coverage goes to hell.
On the other hand, it would also show companies are bigger than countries and no longer have to follow their laws.
On the gripping hand, I'll just grab my popcorn and watch.
Re: (Score:3)
> On the other hand, it would also show companies are bigger than countries and no longer have to follow their laws.
It wouldn't change anything at all, as companies already don't have to follow a country's laws if they don't do business there. It would show that Italy can chase a company out of their country if they don't like the way they do business, which also wouldn't change anything. It would be a massive victory for... the status quo.
Re: (Score:2)
> It would be a massive victory for... the status quo.
And the mafioso companies/organizations that create such stupid laws in the first place.
and when they FINE google for hosting? (Score:1)
and when they FINE google for hosting?
Re: (Score:2)
> If Cloudflare takes their ball and goes home then their internet coverage goes to hell.
Cloudflare is not the internet, they are just one major player. Akamai or someone else is likely to fill any void.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, do it!