ITALY AND 301: SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS, BUT NO ACTION

UNCLAS ROME 002419

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO EEB/TPP/IPE URBAN, BOGER, WALLACE, WATTS,
LEBLANC
PASS TO USTR SANFORD, GROVES, MCCOY, YANG, WILSON, PETERS
PASS TO DEPT OF COMMERCE ISRAEL, PAUGH, R MCLAUGHLIN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD PGOV IT
SUBJECT: ITALY AND 301: SIGNIFICANT EFFORTS, BUT NO ACTION
PLAN YET

REF: A. SECSTATE 158938


B. ROME 1697

C. ROME 1217

D. ROME 290

(SBU) 1. SUMMARY: In response to USG's 2007 Special 301
Initiative, Government of Italy (GOI) officials have taken
some positive steps to address Intellectual Property Rights
(IPR) protection in Italy. Positive signs include
senior-level GOI public statements on the importance of IPR
protection, concrete efforts to energize the Italian
judiciary, and a start at collecting quantifiable IPR
enforcement data. However, the GOI has not yet articulated a
comprehensive IPR protection action plan. Post will continue
positive engagement with GOI and continue to push for a
coherent action plan. END SUMMARY.

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ITALIAN ACTIONS
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HEIGHTENED ENGAGEMENT
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(U) 2. The GOI's most senior IPR officials have increased
contact with Post and USG visitors to Italy to productively
discuss IPR issues. All have been involved in USG IPR
initiatives this year, such as Post's 2007 Judicial Trainer
IPR Sensitization conference (to be discussed SEPTEL). Mauro
Masi, Italy's IPR Delegate to International Institutions and
de facto IPR czar, and Fabrizio Mazza, MFA's IPR Chief, plan
to meet with USG IPR-related officials in Washington in
December. Giovanni Kessler, Italy's High Commissioner of the
Office for the Fight Against Counterfeiting (ACHC),is
scheduled to visit the U.S. on a Voluntary Visitor program in
early 2008.

(U) 3. The GOI has shown interest in the Anti-Counterfeiting
Trade Agreement (ACTA, refs B and D). The Association of
Mayors of major Italian cities (ANCI) has implemented an
anti-counterfeiting public awareness program at a local
level. On December 3-4, ACHC hosted an international
conference on IPR protection (to be discussed SEPTEL).

SENIOR GOI PUBLIC COMMENT ON IPR'S IMPORTANCE
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(U) 4. Senior level GOI officials have publicly discussed
IPR's importance to Italy. On May 31, Minister for Economic
Development Bersani hosted Ambassador Spogli at Bersani's
ministry for a public discussion on IPR and Innovation (ref
C). On October 24th, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister D'Alema hosted Ambassador Spogli and Justice
Minister Mastella at MFA for a discussion on IPR protection
in Italy (See Rome SIPRNet Daily Report, October 25, 2007).
After Ministers D'Alema and Mastella and Ambassador Spogli
spoke, senior representatives of all GOI agencies with IPR
competency participated in a roundtable discussion on
improving IPR protection in Italy. The Ministry for Economic
Development's Director General for Economic Development and
Competition, Andrea Bianchi, hosted U.S. and Italian patent,
IPR, and tech transfer experts at a conference at the
Ministry November 19-20 (to be discussed SEPTEL).

EFFORTS TO INCREASE PUBLIC AWARENESS ON IPR
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(U) 5. The Bersani and D'Alema events were covered in the
mainstream press, with the D'Alema event getting extensive
coverage on radio and television in addition to online and
print. Masi indicates that the GOI is planning a series of
public service announcements for all media (press, online,
television, radio) throughout the Christmas holidays to
enhance public awareness of the importance of IPR protection.
Kessler has received significant press exposure by
articulating the importance of IPR protection and the ACHC's
plans to address it.

DATA COLLECTION
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(U) 6. Masi has formally requested IPR data from all GOI
agencies involved in IPR enforcement (law enforcement and
judiciary branches in particular).

JUDICIAL OUTREACH

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(U) 7. The Italian Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura
(CSM--the Magistracy's senior self-governing body),a
notoriously independent body, granted Post permission to
invite their judicial trainers to attend Post's judicial
conference mentioned above. As a result, the equivalent of
the attorneys general for the Rome and Milan judicial regions
have sent letters to their prosecutorial and judicial
colleagues in their regions asking them to pay close
attention to IPR cases that prosecutors and judges may
receive.

(U) 8. The Italian Parliament is currently considering
legislation consisting of a package of public
security-related proposals (the Pachetto). It would address
IPR issues in part by raising administrative and criminal
penalties against counterfeiters (See Rome SIPRNet Daily
Report, October 10, 2007).

PRIVATE INDUSTRY OUTREACH
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(U) 9. ACHC has convened an advisory panel of IPR industry
representatives. The GOI has invited representatives of IPR
industry associations to all of its public IPR events held
this year.

ONLINE PIRACY EFFORTS
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(U) 10. The Italian Communications Police, the law
enforcement agency with online enforcement capacity in Italy,
participated in the D'Alema roundtable and outlined its plans
to address online piracy. Recently, a Milan court issued an
unprecedented 12 million Euro fine in an illegal internet
downloading case (see Rome SIPRNet Daily Report, November 21,
2007).

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WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?
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STILL NO ACTION PLAN
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(SBU) 11. The GOI still has not shown us a coherent,
comprehensive IPR protection action plan that coordinates and
puts into context their IPR protection activities, and that
identifies a vision for the GOI's IPR protection goals. The
absence of this plan suggests that the GOI's commitment to
IPR may not be well thought-out or long-term in nature.
Further, initiatives like the Pachetto, the ANCI public
awareness program, and ACHC's December 3-4 conference largely
focus on counterfeiting, and do not place much emphasis on
addressing copyright piracy.

ADDRESS ONLINE AND LEGISLATIVE CONCERNS
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(SBU) 12. Local IPR industry representatives report no
discernible change in the IPR protection environment here,
but they do admit to a growing fear of possible GOI
legislation and/or rulings that may weaken IPR in Italy.
Industry is concerned that new Italian data privacy laws may
restrict Internet Service Providers' (ISPs) ability to
disclose the identities of potential online pirates due to
individual privacy considerations. While not strictly a
piracy or counterfeiting problem, pharmaceutical industry
representatives worry that the GOI pharmaceutical authority
may approve generic drugs before patents on brand name
medicines expire. The GOI has not articulated notice and
takedown procedures for online pirate websites.

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COMMENT
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(SBU) 13. Post will continue to push the GOI to prepare the
needed comprehensive IPR action plan, and for more robust
enforcement of Italian IPR law. END COMMENT.
SPOGLI