ITALY DEPLOYS “PIRACY SHIELD” TO PROTECT ONLINE SPORTS

Agcom’s plans to combat online piracy in Italy are taking shape.

The communications regulator has now commissioned its so called ‘Piracy Shield’, designed to take down sites that illegally broadcast live sporting events.

“The platform is therefore functional. It is now up to the operators providing access (ISPs) who must obscure these sites, on the advice of the rights holders, to carry out the necessary activities to make the platform operational. Those activities must be completed by 31 January 2024,” said an Agcom statement.

The Piracy Shield is basically a machine to machine system. Accredited rightsholders can “upload” the reports of violation, with evidence of how the breach has taken place. The platform then automatically directs them to the accredited ISPs who provide for the blocking of the IP address within 30 minutes.

The platform requirements defined by the Authority were discussed and shared as part of the work of the Anti-piracy Technical Committee convened by Agcom, in collaboration with the National Cybersecurity Agency, which took office last September 7.

The work of the committee, which was also attended by representatives of the Mimit, the Postal Police and the main Associations for the fight against piracy and the protection of copyright, was attended by the Special Units of Goods and Services of the Guardia di Finanza at Agcom which, within the framework of the current memorandum of understanding, will collaborate with the Authority to ensure the start-up and efficient operation of the platform through, among other things, constant assistance to users of the Piracy Shield.

Source: broadbandtvnews.com