of Italy’s state holding company. In June 1994, in compliance with Law No. 58, five
of these companies merged to form Telecom Italia. Three years later, Telecom Italia
merged with Societa Italiana L Esercizio Telecom (STET), retaining the Telecom Italia
name, to form a privately owned company that is now the country’s largest telecommunications service provider.
Telecom Italia currently supplies around 7.7 million customers with broadband
connections, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the market. 8 Other major
ISPs include Swiss-owned FastWeb, which serves 15 percent of the market, 9 Tiscali,
and Wind, owned by Egypt’s Orascom. 10 DSL and dial-up access are also available
from a number of smaller local and international providers. 11 The country’s most
widely available type of broadband connection is ADSL, which costs between EUR
19.95 and EUR 40.00 (USD 29.58 to USD 61.78) per month, with speeds ranging from
640 Kbps to 12 Mbps. 12
Telecom Italia and Tiscali are both tier 2 carriers. 13 Within Italy, four main Internet
exchange points operate, in Florence, Milan, Rome, and Turin. 14
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
Compared with many of its European counterparts, the Italian government has been
slow to come to terms with the digital world, and its attempts to create and apply
legislation to the Internet often reflect this fact. In 2000, a group of Internet privacy
advocates claimed that while Internet censorship was nonexistent in Italy, the government’s lack of understanding of privacy and freedom of information posed significant
problems for Internet and computer users. 15 In October 2007, the government proposed a bill, nicknamed the Levi-Prodi law for the lawmakers who proposed it, which
would require all ‘‘editorial product’’ owners to register with and pay taxes to the
Registro degli Operatori di Comunicazione, the regulatory authority that oversees media
and broadcasting. The intention of the bill was to simplify Italy’s publishing laws.
However, the bill was broadly worded enough to be interpreted as applying to bloggers,
Web site owners, and possibly even social network users, and drew widespread criticism from these sectors, traditional media sources, and civil rights groups as an example of the government’s failure to adapt to modernity. 16 One writer noted that the bill
contradicted EU directives and, if enacted, could be challenged before the European
Commission and the European Court of Justice. 17 The bill was eventually reworded to
apply only to commercial blogs; however, the debate continues, as noncommercial
bloggers with advertising would potentially still be included. 18 As of November 2008,
the bill had not yet been decided upon.
The government has attempted to regulate the Internet with the same laws that
apply to print and broadcast media. These include a press law that holds publishers
responsible for the content of their publications. Applied to the Internet, the law holds
Italy
319
of these companies merged to form Telecom Italia. Three years later, Telecom Italia
merged with Societa Italiana L Esercizio Telecom (STET), retaining the Telecom Italia
name, to form a privately owned company that is now the country’s largest telecommunications service provider.
Telecom Italia currently supplies around 7.7 million customers with broadband
connections, accounting for approximately 80 percent of the market. 8 Other major
ISPs include Swiss-owned FastWeb, which serves 15 percent of the market, 9 Tiscali,
and Wind, owned by Egypt’s Orascom. 10 DSL and dial-up access are also available
from a number of smaller local and international providers. 11 The country’s most
widely available type of broadband connection is ADSL, which costs between EUR
19.95 and EUR 40.00 (USD 29.58 to USD 61.78) per month, with speeds ranging from
640 Kbps to 12 Mbps. 12
Telecom Italia and Tiscali are both tier 2 carriers. 13 Within Italy, four main Internet
exchange points operate, in Florence, Milan, Rome, and Turin. 14
Legal and Regulatory Frameworks
Compared with many of its European counterparts, the Italian government has been
slow to come to terms with the digital world, and its attempts to create and apply
legislation to the Internet often reflect this fact. In 2000, a group of Internet privacy
advocates claimed that while Internet censorship was nonexistent in Italy, the government’s lack of understanding of privacy and freedom of information posed significant
problems for Internet and computer users. 15 In October 2007, the government proposed a bill, nicknamed the Levi-Prodi law for the lawmakers who proposed it, which
would require all ‘‘editorial product’’ owners to register with and pay taxes to the
Registro degli Operatori di Comunicazione, the regulatory authority that oversees media
and broadcasting. The intention of the bill was to simplify Italy’s publishing laws.
However, the bill was broadly worded enough to be interpreted as applying to bloggers,
Web site owners, and possibly even social network users, and drew widespread criticism from these sectors, traditional media sources, and civil rights groups as an example of the government’s failure to adapt to modernity. 16 One writer noted that the bill
contradicted EU directives and, if enacted, could be challenged before the European
Commission and the European Court of Justice. 17 The bill was eventually reworded to
apply only to commercial blogs; however, the debate continues, as noncommercial
bloggers with advertising would potentially still be included. 18 As of November 2008,
the bill had not yet been decided upon.
The government has attempted to regulate the Internet with the same laws that
apply to print and broadcast media. These include a press law that holds publishers
responsible for the content of their publications. Applied to the Internet, the law holds
Italy
319