Do you know a donut with a hole? Here, the image – or metaphor, if you prefer – is certainly not applicable to Piracy shield, better known as an anti-pezzotto platform. Between controversies and delays first, and major oversights in indicating fully legal sites as fraudulent then, things already didn't seem to be going very well.
To make matters worse, in the past few hours the anti-pezzotto platform was hacked, and its source code was published on GitHub. Let's start from this news, and then briefly retrace the short but already troubled history of Piracy shield.
The anti-pezzotto platform hacked
That a tool designed to hunt hackers ends up hacked is a pretty good paradox.
Yet this is exactly what happened to Piracy Shield: the anti-pezzotto platform was hacked and its source code ended up on GitHub, a hosting service.
Without going into technical details, let's say that the platform's code has become open source. However, not as a consequence of a libertarian turn on the part of the company that developed it, but rather for a deliberate gesture of an anonymous user, who acted in protest. And he left an eloquent message.
The hacker's message
The anti-pezzotto platform was hacked, and the code was published online by a user whose nickname is Fuckpiracyshield. Name whose translation does not require an Oxford degree. And from which all the resentment towards Piracy shield shines through.
In fact, he or she also left a message on GitHub, both in Italian and English. The text: “Piracy Shield, a platform developed by SP Tech Legal for AGCOM, is not only an Italian-style attempt to fight online piracy, but is also a dangerous gateway to censorship. Its indiscriminate blocking of legitimate websites and IP addresses poses an immense danger, paving the way for uncontrolled censorship under the guise of enforcing copyright laws.
By granting authorities unchecked power to block online content, Piracy Shield poses a significant threat to freedom of expression and access to information. This draconian approach not only fails to effectively combat piracy, but also undermines fundamental democratic principles.
We need to recognize Piracy Shield for what it really is: a censorship tool masquerading as a solution to piracy. Piracy Shield is simply the result of technical incompetence and excessive bureaucracy, a constant in the Italian government.”
Two questions
The hacking of the anti-pezzotto platform, and the message we reported to you, raise at least two questions. The first concerns the criminal action itself: how did the user come into possession of the code? Due to the connivance of someone who worked on the project, or due to a glaring weakness in the platform's defense system? In both cases, certainly not a great impression was made.
Then there is the question raised by the message, which is not at all groundless: in fact, since it came into operation, Piracy shield has suffered several blundersreporting as illegal sites that had nothing illegal about them at all.
The oversights of the anti-pezzotto platform
The anti-pezzotto platform has been active since February 1st, ready to intervene within 30 minutes of the illegal broadcast of streaming events. Since then, Piracy shield has operated more than 3,200 times.
However, it also obscured more than legitimate sites, which had the sole “fault” of sharing the IP address with sites reported as non-compliant. The cause of these reporting errors is twofold: the need to operate quickly, and the absence of human review.
Piracy shield amidst delays and controversies
The actors involved in various capacities in the operation of Piracy Shield have made resounding declarations in recent weeks. The latest, those of Agcom commissioner Massimiliano Capitanio, who from his LinkedIn profile promised severe fines also to users of the piece.
Nevertheless, the platform was only activated on February 1st, after hesitations and delays. And, as if that wasn't enough, following an appeal (later rejected by the Lazio Regional Administrative Court) with which Assoprovider contested the legitimacy of the donation of the platform from the Serie A League to Agcom, and the action of the providers as “network policemen” .
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