Appeal to the Council of State.
A regulatory norm without penalty.
This, in short, is what the Sixth Section of the Council of State has established regarding the highly contested AGCOM Regulation on copyright, which had been challenged by the Consumer Defense Movement (MDC) and the association of independent providers ASSOPROVIDER.
The Supreme Administrative Body accepted two of the arguments advanced by the defense of the two associations, represented by lawyers Fulvio Sarzana di Sant'Ippolito and Maria Sole Montagna of the Rome-based law firm Sarzana e Associati, while confirming the legitimacy of the Regulation.
In particular, the Judges of Palazzo Spada have annulled the Regulation in the part in which the same provision provides for sanctions against
of those who do not comply with the orders of the Authority, since such sanctions are not present in the primary legislation, an independent Administrative Authority cannot be allowed to hypothesize them, because this activity is reserved to the primary legislator.
In practice, AGCOM does not have the explicit sanctioning powers provided by law in the area of copyright.
This means, for example, that the Authority has no power to sanction providers or website owners, nor does it have the power to report the behavior of those who do not comply to the judicial authorities.
The Citizen Defense Movement, through its National President Francesco Luongo, expressed satisfaction, emphasizing that "the right to citizenship online, as well as the right to freedom of expression, must be protected from any attempt at oppression, especially by public administration, which must act in accordance with constitutional values and primary norms, which absolutely cannot be ignored."“
Satisfaction was also expressed by the President of ASSOPROVIDER, Dino Bortolotto, who commented as follows:
“The Council of State accepts two of the grounds for appeal against the AGCOM Regulation on copyright that ASSOPROVIDER together with the Citizen Defense Movement presented to the Council of State, ruling in favor of the providers. There is no provision that provides for the possibility of financially sanctioning websites or internet service providers in the matter of copyright.
Appeal to the Council of State
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