It’s kind of an endless battle: after each regulation that restricts the use of some platform, (illegal) ways of restoring the primitive and more advantageous conditions appear – or are implemented.
It started Netflix, making the life of its subscribers (relatively) harder. The company in 2022 adjusted the prices of the various subscriptions. And this year (in Italy, precisely, starting from Tuesday 23 May) has imposed the block password sharing. Which will only be possible for those who are part of the same household.
Completely similar news have been announced in the past few hours by Disney +. That not only from November 1 will introduce the subscription with advertising in Italy (and will increase the price of the Premium subscription). But in 2024 he would like to imitate Netflix in blocking the sharing of subscriptions for those who are not part of the same household.
But we said that there are, or rather there were, services like Gamsgo, which allow the sharing of subscriptions to the main streaming platforms at a discounted price. Now, however, that after a sentence by the Council of State, Agcom has blocked Gamsgo, all password sharing platforms are at great risk.
Agcom obscures Gamsgo
The Agcom (Communications Authority) obscures Gamsgo. We find out from a note published on Thursday 10 August on the LinkedIn profile of Massimiliano Capitanio, Commissioner Agcom. Where we read: “I read with particular satisfaction a recent ruling by the Council of State which consolidates the goodness of the work of our offices in obscuring websites that facilitate the dangerous business of online piracy.
Sentence 7512 of 3 August 2023 confirmed the legitimacy of the resolution with which Agcom ordered internet service providers to disable access to the Gamsgo portal that connected users, with the aim of facilitating the illegal sharing of accounts of DAZN, Netflix, YouTube Premium, HBO Max, Crunchyroll and Spotify and many others”
And again: “The Council of State has found that ‘the exploitation in any way of a subscription, stipulated by a user with an economic operator for the use of products covered by copyright, by another economic operator, obtaining an advantage, without the knowledge of the first economic operator (in the present case, DAZN), constitutes aillegal activity in violation of the rules, including those of the European Union, on the protection of copyright‘“.
To protect copyright
In the note we also read that the sentence is part of a important regulatory environment recently strengthened by Parliament and constitutes a fundamental bulwark to protect the law and tens of thousands of jobs put at risk by copyright infringement.
In conclusion of the note, a wish: “The lightness with which certain acts are carried out finally imposes a serious reflection on the need to strengthen education for digital citizenship, starting from schools“.
The decision of the Council of State
Agcom therefore obscures Gamsgo, and it does so legitimatelyas stated in the sentence of the Council of State of 3 August cited by Capitanio, therefore allows Agcom.
Judgment what time it is trembling veins in the wrists to other password sharing platforms.
The many sites that allow the sharing of Netflix, Dazn and other streaming platforms could soon close their doors after the ruling. Also because, we always read in the note that appeared on LinkedIn, the sentence of the Council of State overturned a previous one of the Lazio TAR. And now it will no longer be necessary to communicate the start of the procedure exclusively via PEC, but a simple email will suffice. “Let’s also put an end to this embarrassing trick,” Massimiliano Capitanio said on his LinkedIn profile.
online piracy
Audiovisual piracy is a growing phenomenondespite the various interventions that – in recent months – have closed platforms of great notoriety.
In a previous article, for example, we pointed out a recent Fapav/Ipsos report, which indicates that in 2022 the 30 million more acts of piracy than in 2021, with a growth of 9%. Percentage that rises to +26% for live sporting events, +20% for TV programs and +15% for TV series.
The anti-piracy law
However, the anti-piracy law has been in force since Tuesday 8 Augustafter the approval of the House and the Senate.
The so-called “anti bullshit law” provides for penalties of up to three years of imprisonment and fines of up to fifteen thousand euros.
The main change introduced by the law is that Agcom is given the power to order service providers to disable access to the site that transmits pirated signals within thirty minutes, also through precautionary and urgent measures.
This, in concrete terms, means the interruption in a very short time of football matches broadcast by illegal platforms.