Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ROME3334
2006-12-19 16:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Rome
Cable title:
Italy: Changing Public Attitudes Toward
VZCZCXRO9075 PP RUEHFL RUEHNP DE RUEHRO #3334/01 3531642 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 191642Z DEC 06 FM AMEMBASSY ROME TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6765 INFO RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN 8108 RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES 2129 RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE 1995 RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ROME 003334
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EB A/S SULLIVAN, EB/TPP/IPE JOELLEN URBAN,
CANDY GREEN, JENNIFER BOGER
STATE PASS USTR FOR J SANFORD, J CHOE GROVES
DOC PASS USPTO
DOJ FOR DAAG LAURA PARSKY
DHS PASS ICE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: ETRD EINV KIPR IT
SUBJECT: Italy: Changing Public Attitudes Toward
Intellectual Property (IPR) Rights and Boosting
Prosecutions of IPR Violations
Refs: A. ROME 2428, B. ROME 1858, C. 05 ROME 4046, D.
05 ROME 1569
--------
SUMMARY
--------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ROME 003334
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EB A/S SULLIVAN, EB/TPP/IPE JOELLEN URBAN,
CANDY GREEN, JENNIFER BOGER
STATE PASS USTR FOR J SANFORD, J CHOE GROVES
DOC PASS USPTO
DOJ FOR DAAG LAURA PARSKY
DHS PASS ICE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: ETRD EINV KIPR IT
SUBJECT: Italy: Changing Public Attitudes Toward
Intellectual Property (IPR) Rights and Boosting
Prosecutions of IPR Violations
Refs: A. ROME 2428, B. ROME 1858, C. 05 ROME 4046, D.
05 ROME 1569
--------------
SUMMARY
--------------
1. Italy has some of the better IPR protection laws
in the EU, but enforcement is stunningly lackluster.
Until 2005, Mission Italy focused a more than decade-
long effort on improving enforcement, but we also
began to consider how we might change Italians
perceptions toward IPR as a way to support enforcement
efforts. This message reports our second annual
conference on changing perceptions, where we believe
we advanced our goal by 1) introducing concerns of
organized labor; 2) encouraging follow-on projects
among the stakeholders themselves; and 3) producing
candid evaluations and self-criticisms of weaknesses
in IPR protection efforts. End Summary.
--------------
CURRENT IPR SITUATION IN ITALY
--------------
2. Embassy public diplomacy outreach (reftels A, B, C, D)
focused on the need to improve enforcement following the
passage of a set of quite good IPR protection laws. Over
more than a decade, the Mission organized over-subscribed
conferences to bring together U.S. law enforcement and
judicial officials and share best U.S. practices. While
enforcement improved, it was clear that IPR abuse more than
kept pace. In 2005 we began to discuss how we might change
Italian public perception toward IPR to create Qa culture
of IPR legality.Q The conference in November 2006 in
Florence was an attempt to take our efforts to change
public perception a step further, and to encourage a
culture of IPR legality.
--------------
THE WORKSHOP
--------------
3. The City of Florence co-hosted the two-day roundtable.
Thirty-five experts from national and local governments,
public sector agencies, industry, law enforcement,
magistracy, trade-associations, and academia attended. U.S.
participants were drawn from Embassy Rome and the three
Consulates; USPTO; and Street Law, a U.S. NGO conducting
IPR education programs in U.S. schools (Embassy Rome Public
Affairs section of Embassy Rome sponsored Street LawQs
participation).
4. We also invited Confederazione Generale Italiana del
Lavoro (CGIL),one of ItalyQs major labor unions. Our
invitation was strategic Q to convince union leadership of
this most left-leaning of ItalyQs major unions Q that
piracy and counterfeiting affect employment in Italy, and
to ask union leadership to join the effort to educate union
ranks, the greater public and political class on the need
for better IPR protection. We also pushed participants to
toss their, at times, platitudinous remarks and to offer
candid appraisals of the IPR situation.
--------------
Description: A Cultural Epidemic
--------------
5. All participants agreed that disregard for IPR is
rampant throughout the culture. They also faulted Italian
efforts in IPR protection in various areas. There was
consensus that Italians perceive different levels of crime,
with piracy and counterfeiting considered benign. As a
result, there is an attitude of leniency toward IPR
offenders, particularly among young people, but also in
society as a whole. Most also agreed that even the most
ROME 00003334 002 OF 004
educated Italians do not understand IPQs value to the
economy, and the need to protect IPR to stimulate
innovation and growth.
6. Participants claimed that some prominent Italian
political figures, including Ministers, have openly
declared they buy counterfeit and pirated goods, and that
other Italian politiciansQ public statements demonstrating
indifference to the issue have undermined IPR protection.
The union representative observed that some major retailers
knowingly sell pirated goods alongside legal products, so
that much counterfeiting is actually generated by the legal
economy. The Florentine local police representative
described illegal aliensQ flagrant open sales of
counterfeit goods on Florence streets. She called for
tougher penalties, including rescinding alien resident
status, for immigrants caught selling counterfeit goods.
Finally, a number of participants pointed out that internet
downloading presented problems of control that the
representative of the Communications Authority called
Qtechnically impossible or beyond current capacities.
-------------- --------------
Prescription: Increase Awareness and Enforcement
-------------- --------------
7. A number of participants agreed that positive messages,
with focus on the benefits society derives from adequate
IPR protection would be effective. Several participants
expressed the need to educate the young on IPR values,
since primary- and secondary-school aged children are
consumers and shapers of culture. Participants also agreed
that they must redouble their efforts Q alone and together
Q to change public perceptions toward IPR.
8. During the official session and on the margins, several
participants complained about an across the board amnesty
the government granted this summer on a broad spectrum of
crimes in Italy, including IPR violations. This amnesty
effectively wiped out a great majority of recent
convictions on IPR violations and has discouraged
prosecutors from taking further action on many pending IPR
cases. As an indication of the difficulty of securing
government action in this area, the representative of the
Italian Music Federation noted that the political class,
including parliamentarians, need education on IPR basics,
but also on ItalyQs current responsibilities under
international agreements and EU directives.
--------------
PROPOSED PROJECTS
--------------
9. Sixteen participants offered ideas for new, self-funded
projects, which we present below. Note that these
proposals are still in an embryonic stage and thus somewhat
general.
Economic Development Ministry (Italian Patent and Trademark
OfficeQIPTO)
-------------- --------------
-- Promote a culture of IPR legality to consumer groups.
-- Develop IPTO website to include IPR education campaigns.
-- Offer universities IPR protection for investment in
research, innovation, and for university-private sector
collaboration.
-- Initiate discussions on IPR issues among opinion-makers
in the media.
Communications Authority
--------------
-- Conduct IPR awareness campaigns with online service
providers.
Federcomin (ItalyQs association of ICT industries)
ROME 00003334 003 OF 004
-------------- --------------
-- Launch a self-regulating IPR-protection code for
internet service providers.
Music Industry
--------------
-- Launch education campaigns for journalists and
politicians.
Business Software Alliance (BSA, software industry
association)
-------------- --------------
-- Working with the financial police, educate business
about white-collar software piracy.
-- Formation of an QassociationQ of institutions concerned
with IPR.
High Commissioner for Anti-Counterfeiting
-------------- --------------
-- Conduct a public information campaign on
economic/criminal dangers of IPR piracy.
-- Conduct a public information campaign to help consumers
distinguish between legal and pirated products.
-- Develop piracy statistics.
CGILQUNION
--------------
-- Sensitize public on piracyQs impact on the job market.
-- Request retailers/distributors sign a public statement
verifying that their products comply with IPR laws.
-- Secure cooperation among the three major national unions
on an anti-piracy position.
Anti-Mafia Directorate
--------------
-- Sensitize local judicial offices on the need to train
magistrates on IPR legislation and enforcement.
-- Initiate a train-the-trainer program for the 54
magistrates with responsibility for developing magistrate
training programs within ItalyQs 27 judicial districts.
Communications Police
--------------
-- Sensitize the public on IPR violation risks, e.g.,
counterfeit drugs, downloading viruses.
State Police Training Directorate
--------------
-- Include IPR enforcement sessions within police training
programs.
Innovation Ministry
--------------
-- Develop IPR programs for teacher training.
SocietaQ Italiana deglie Autori ed Editori (SIAE: ItalyQs
royalty payment society)
-------------- --------------
-- Broadcast IPR awareness programs during the day to reach
younger viewers (with repeated airings).
Italian Universities
--------------
-- Include IPR awareness courses as part of the mandatory
curriculum.
ROME 00003334 004 OF 004
Confindustria (employersQ association)
-------------- --------------
-- Educate industry members about the value of IP.
-- Create patenting consortia to foster collaborative
research.
Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italian (ANCIQItalian mayorQs
association)/City of Florence
-------------- --------------
-- Form a working group of 10-12 principal Italian cities
to develop local IPR communications campaigns to be
replicated at a national level.
--------------
NEXT STEPS
--------------
10. We have encouraged conference attendees to work
independently Q and collaborate together, as appropriate
on individual projects listed above. We see the EmbassyQs
role as that of a catalyst to ensure projects advance. We
are now creating a closed internet site tracking all
projects, with access limited to Mission Italy and Florence
workshop participants, both to watch progress and to
intervene, as necessary.
11. We already have already approached the Magistracy and
police training directorate to collaborate on their
projects to train magistrate trainers and police officers.
We also are internally discussing strategies to address
training politicians, including parliamentarians.
12. Aside from our work to change public attitudes towards
IPR, we continue to hammer home the importance of
enforcement (we are preparing for our annual spring retreat
with Italian law enforcement officials/magistrates) and
public diplomacy outreach on IPR within the context of the
AmbassadorQs Partnership for Growth, our broad effort aimed
at increasing entrepreneurship and economic growth.
--------------
Comment
--------------
13. We believe bringing key operational-level players
together and encouraging them to collaborate can have an
impact on public tolerance of IPR theft. We also believe
our role in promoting IPR protection in Italy must focus
the Italians on reversing policies and changing attitudes
that discourage prosecution of IPR violations. Further, we
think that reaching out to ItalyQs unions Q and thus
educating the rank and file on how IPR theft affects them
and their families Q could have important consequences for
our efforts, particularly if the left-of-center government
begins to understand that IPR is not just a concern of
business and center-right. End comment.
BORG
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EB A/S SULLIVAN, EB/TPP/IPE JOELLEN URBAN,
CANDY GREEN, JENNIFER BOGER
STATE PASS USTR FOR J SANFORD, J CHOE GROVES
DOC PASS USPTO
DOJ FOR DAAG LAURA PARSKY
DHS PASS ICE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: ETRD EINV KIPR IT
SUBJECT: Italy: Changing Public Attitudes Toward
Intellectual Property (IPR) Rights and Boosting
Prosecutions of IPR Violations
Refs: A. ROME 2428, B. ROME 1858, C. 05 ROME 4046, D.
05 ROME 1569
--------------
SUMMARY
--------------
1. Italy has some of the better IPR protection laws
in the EU, but enforcement is stunningly lackluster.
Until 2005, Mission Italy focused a more than decade-
long effort on improving enforcement, but we also
began to consider how we might change Italians
perceptions toward IPR as a way to support enforcement
efforts. This message reports our second annual
conference on changing perceptions, where we believe
we advanced our goal by 1) introducing concerns of
organized labor; 2) encouraging follow-on projects
among the stakeholders themselves; and 3) producing
candid evaluations and self-criticisms of weaknesses
in IPR protection efforts. End Summary.
--------------
CURRENT IPR SITUATION IN ITALY
--------------
2. Embassy public diplomacy outreach (reftels A, B, C, D)
focused on the need to improve enforcement following the
passage of a set of quite good IPR protection laws. Over
more than a decade, the Mission organized over-subscribed
conferences to bring together U.S. law enforcement and
judicial officials and share best U.S. practices. While
enforcement improved, it was clear that IPR abuse more than
kept pace. In 2005 we began to discuss how we might change
Italian public perception toward IPR to create Qa culture
of IPR legality.Q The conference in November 2006 in
Florence was an attempt to take our efforts to change
public perception a step further, and to encourage a
culture of IPR legality.
--------------
THE WORKSHOP
--------------
3. The City of Florence co-hosted the two-day roundtable.
Thirty-five experts from national and local governments,
public sector agencies, industry, law enforcement,
magistracy, trade-associations, and academia attended. U.S.
participants were drawn from Embassy Rome and the three
Consulates; USPTO; and Street Law, a U.S. NGO conducting
IPR education programs in U.S. schools (Embassy Rome Public
Affairs section of Embassy Rome sponsored Street LawQs
participation).
4. We also invited Confederazione Generale Italiana del
Lavoro (CGIL),one of ItalyQs major labor unions. Our
invitation was strategic Q to convince union leadership of
this most left-leaning of ItalyQs major unions Q that
piracy and counterfeiting affect employment in Italy, and
to ask union leadership to join the effort to educate union
ranks, the greater public and political class on the need
for better IPR protection. We also pushed participants to
toss their, at times, platitudinous remarks and to offer
candid appraisals of the IPR situation.
--------------
Description: A Cultural Epidemic
--------------
5. All participants agreed that disregard for IPR is
rampant throughout the culture. They also faulted Italian
efforts in IPR protection in various areas. There was
consensus that Italians perceive different levels of crime,
with piracy and counterfeiting considered benign. As a
result, there is an attitude of leniency toward IPR
offenders, particularly among young people, but also in
society as a whole. Most also agreed that even the most
ROME 00003334 002 OF 004
educated Italians do not understand IPQs value to the
economy, and the need to protect IPR to stimulate
innovation and growth.
6. Participants claimed that some prominent Italian
political figures, including Ministers, have openly
declared they buy counterfeit and pirated goods, and that
other Italian politiciansQ public statements demonstrating
indifference to the issue have undermined IPR protection.
The union representative observed that some major retailers
knowingly sell pirated goods alongside legal products, so
that much counterfeiting is actually generated by the legal
economy. The Florentine local police representative
described illegal aliensQ flagrant open sales of
counterfeit goods on Florence streets. She called for
tougher penalties, including rescinding alien resident
status, for immigrants caught selling counterfeit goods.
Finally, a number of participants pointed out that internet
downloading presented problems of control that the
representative of the Communications Authority called
Qtechnically impossible or beyond current capacities.
-------------- --------------
Prescription: Increase Awareness and Enforcement
-------------- --------------
7. A number of participants agreed that positive messages,
with focus on the benefits society derives from adequate
IPR protection would be effective. Several participants
expressed the need to educate the young on IPR values,
since primary- and secondary-school aged children are
consumers and shapers of culture. Participants also agreed
that they must redouble their efforts Q alone and together
Q to change public perceptions toward IPR.
8. During the official session and on the margins, several
participants complained about an across the board amnesty
the government granted this summer on a broad spectrum of
crimes in Italy, including IPR violations. This amnesty
effectively wiped out a great majority of recent
convictions on IPR violations and has discouraged
prosecutors from taking further action on many pending IPR
cases. As an indication of the difficulty of securing
government action in this area, the representative of the
Italian Music Federation noted that the political class,
including parliamentarians, need education on IPR basics,
but also on ItalyQs current responsibilities under
international agreements and EU directives.
--------------
PROPOSED PROJECTS
--------------
9. Sixteen participants offered ideas for new, self-funded
projects, which we present below. Note that these
proposals are still in an embryonic stage and thus somewhat
general.
Economic Development Ministry (Italian Patent and Trademark
OfficeQIPTO)
-------------- --------------
-- Promote a culture of IPR legality to consumer groups.
-- Develop IPTO website to include IPR education campaigns.
-- Offer universities IPR protection for investment in
research, innovation, and for university-private sector
collaboration.
-- Initiate discussions on IPR issues among opinion-makers
in the media.
Communications Authority
--------------
-- Conduct IPR awareness campaigns with online service
providers.
Federcomin (ItalyQs association of ICT industries)
ROME 00003334 003 OF 004
-------------- --------------
-- Launch a self-regulating IPR-protection code for
internet service providers.
Music Industry
--------------
-- Launch education campaigns for journalists and
politicians.
Business Software Alliance (BSA, software industry
association)
-------------- --------------
-- Working with the financial police, educate business
about white-collar software piracy.
-- Formation of an QassociationQ of institutions concerned
with IPR.
High Commissioner for Anti-Counterfeiting
-------------- --------------
-- Conduct a public information campaign on
economic/criminal dangers of IPR piracy.
-- Conduct a public information campaign to help consumers
distinguish between legal and pirated products.
-- Develop piracy statistics.
CGILQUNION
--------------
-- Sensitize public on piracyQs impact on the job market.
-- Request retailers/distributors sign a public statement
verifying that their products comply with IPR laws.
-- Secure cooperation among the three major national unions
on an anti-piracy position.
Anti-Mafia Directorate
--------------
-- Sensitize local judicial offices on the need to train
magistrates on IPR legislation and enforcement.
-- Initiate a train-the-trainer program for the 54
magistrates with responsibility for developing magistrate
training programs within ItalyQs 27 judicial districts.
Communications Police
--------------
-- Sensitize the public on IPR violation risks, e.g.,
counterfeit drugs, downloading viruses.
State Police Training Directorate
--------------
-- Include IPR enforcement sessions within police training
programs.
Innovation Ministry
--------------
-- Develop IPR programs for teacher training.
SocietaQ Italiana deglie Autori ed Editori (SIAE: ItalyQs
royalty payment society)
-------------- --------------
-- Broadcast IPR awareness programs during the day to reach
younger viewers (with repeated airings).
Italian Universities
--------------
-- Include IPR awareness courses as part of the mandatory
curriculum.
ROME 00003334 004 OF 004
Confindustria (employersQ association)
-------------- --------------
-- Educate industry members about the value of IP.
-- Create patenting consortia to foster collaborative
research.
Associazione Nazionale Comuni Italian (ANCIQItalian mayorQs
association)/City of Florence
-------------- --------------
-- Form a working group of 10-12 principal Italian cities
to develop local IPR communications campaigns to be
replicated at a national level.
--------------
NEXT STEPS
--------------
10. We have encouraged conference attendees to work
independently Q and collaborate together, as appropriate
on individual projects listed above. We see the EmbassyQs
role as that of a catalyst to ensure projects advance. We
are now creating a closed internet site tracking all
projects, with access limited to Mission Italy and Florence
workshop participants, both to watch progress and to
intervene, as necessary.
11. We already have already approached the Magistracy and
police training directorate to collaborate on their
projects to train magistrate trainers and police officers.
We also are internally discussing strategies to address
training politicians, including parliamentarians.
12. Aside from our work to change public attitudes towards
IPR, we continue to hammer home the importance of
enforcement (we are preparing for our annual spring retreat
with Italian law enforcement officials/magistrates) and
public diplomacy outreach on IPR within the context of the
AmbassadorQs Partnership for Growth, our broad effort aimed
at increasing entrepreneurship and economic growth.
--------------
Comment
--------------
13. We believe bringing key operational-level players
together and encouraging them to collaborate can have an
impact on public tolerance of IPR theft. We also believe
our role in promoting IPR protection in Italy must focus
the Italians on reversing policies and changing attitudes
that discourage prosecution of IPR violations. Further, we
think that reaching out to ItalyQs unions Q and thus
educating the rank and file on how IPR theft affects them
and their families Q could have important consequences for
our efforts, particularly if the left-of-center government
begins to understand that IPR is not just a concern of
business and center-right. End comment.
BORG