Spain Weighing New Anti-Piracy Law

MADRID, Spain (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — In a continuing effort to crack down in intellectual property theft, Spanish lawmakers have proposed new laws targeting advertisers on piracy websites.

According to Reuters, the proposed laws would impose sanctions on companies who's advertisements appear on websites that facilitate piracy, to target the ad revenue that makes such websites possible.

The details on the implementation of the new system however, have not been fully explained and it is unclear how regulators would determine what constitutes a website which facilitates piracy; what remedies would be available to accused companies; or who would collect the fees. These issues will likely be clarified in the as the proposed law wends its way through the Spanish parliament.

This isn't Spain's first foray into trying to crack down on endemic theft of intellectual property in the nation. Spain had previously implemented a web-blocking rule that allows copyright holders to force Internet service providers to block websites, but the measure has drawn criticisms from both sides, with opponents claiming that the law provides too little in the way of recourse and rights-holders stating that the law has proven ineffective to stem the tide. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers