Hackers target anti-piracy ministers

Wednesday, 01 February 2012 10:25

Written by Editor

Activists belonging to the hacking group Anonymous have published the personal details... ...of Culture Minister José Ignacio Wert (left), his predecessor, Ángeles González-Sinde (right), producers, filmmakers and actors who support the anti-piracy law which was passed at the beginning of January.

The law is aimed at cracking down on websites that illegally share digital content. Called the Sinde Law after the former culture minister, it will create a new government commission to deal with appeals by Spanish copyright-holders who feel a site is illegally distributing their content without their permission. Complainants must identify the owners of the site infringing their copyright and present the content and links. The owners of the websites will have three days to present their defence to the commission.

If the commission orders the removal of the content, internet service providers (ISPs) will have 24 hours to block the service or remove the content. The website owners will not be able to appeal. If they fail to remove content voluntarily, a court will intervene to close down the website or block the service, requiring ISPs to reveal the identity of the infringers.  A government spokesman said the entire process should take no more than 10 days. Unlike the SOPA Act (Stop Online Piracy Act) currently making its way through the US Congress, which targets infringing websites and users, the Sinde Law focuses only on those who are making money from copyrighted content online.