---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 16 May 1994 08:31:40 -0400 From: jmdaluz@kquest.com (Jose M. daLuz) Subject: Community Nets Crackdown in Italy. (fwd) To: eff-activists@eff.org (eff-activists mailing list) Perhaps it's time for Electronic Frontiers Italy? [forwards from CommuNet & Net Happenings removed] ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sat, 14 May 1994 22:19:59 -0700 From: Bernardo Parrella Subject: File 5--Fidonet Crackdown in Italy (update) Updates will follow. >From 'la Repubblica' , May 13th 1994, page 21 COMPUTER PIRATE HUNTING IN ITALY (Caccia ai pirati dell'informatica) by CLAUDIO GERINO Translated by Fabio Rossetti. Translator's notes in square brackets. 'La Repubblica' is currently the 2nd most important newspaper in Italy after the 'Corriere della Sera'. 231 lines more (you've seen 74%) Message 521/556 From owner-cudigest@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU> Page 35 the 'Corriere della Sera'. ROME - Crime association finalized to the spreading of illegaly duplicated computer software; illegal passwords used to break into government owned computers: the first maxi-operation against computer piracy starts from the prosecutor's office in Pesaro, Italy, following the passage of the new computer crime bill on January 14th. Dozens of BBSes ('telematic data-banks') have been shut down; computers, floppy disks and modem have been seized; a large number of sysops (system operators) has been denounced all over Italy. Nonetheless, the actions of Sostituto Procuratore [italian prosecutor] Gaetano Saverio Pedrocchi have been questioned by the networks involved in the affair. Two very well-known networks, Peacelink and Fidonet, have been indeed caught under the eye of the judge from Pesaro. The first network - Peacelink - offers news and services regarding pacifist voluntary services in our country [Italy] and in the rest of the world. This is the network which, in collaboration with radio amateurs, has kept alive most of the communication with the people in ex-Jugoslavia. In these days it had even indicted a national conference on peace. The second network is instead the 'italian branch' of an 211 lines more (you've seen 77%) Message 521/556 From owner-cudigest@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU> Page 36 on peace. The second network is instead the 'italian branch' of an 'international sysop network' and is considered the most up-to-date data bank on telematics. Both network have iron clad rules regarding illegal duplication of computer software and password exchange. Both networks are based on the voluntary collaboration of system operators. On the other hand, investigations seem to have ascertained severe violations of the norms against computer piracy in Italy. It is not unlikely - at least so the investigators seem to intend - that inside those networks somebody has created a sort of secret sub-network, perhaps hiding it to the system operator themselves. The operation conducted by the 'Guardia di Finanza' [the italian customs office] started the night beetween Wednesday and yesterday [May 11th/ May 12th 94]: it will now be extended to all the people who logged themselves to the BBSes involved. "While in the rest of the world BBSes are assuming an extremely important role in the diffusion of information - explains Peacelink spokesman Alessandro Marescotti - in Italy networks with inflexible norms against piracy have been struck. All this has happened charging system operators with every responsability regarding everything that 191 lines more (you've seen 79%) Message 521/556 From owner-cudigest@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU> Page 37 system operators with every responsability regarding everything that could possibly happen in a bulletin board. The truth of the matter is the absence of laws protecting the rights to existance for these networks. Indeed, many volunteers have already decided to stop their activities, notably 'Net 10', a sort of 'telematic help line'. We suspect these investigations to be - as a matter of fact - aimed to favour the survival of commercial networks only." +______________________________________________________ BITs Against The Empire Computer Underground Fido 2:333/412 Research & Documentation CyberNet 65:1400/1 Trento - Italy Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive From: nyt@blythe.org (NY Transfer News) Subject: Fascism & the Media in Italy Date: Mon, 9 May 1994 19:25:21 GMT Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [An interesting piece, badly translated. We don't have time to clean it up, but are distributing this because it includes important information on intelligence-fascist links and fascist use and control of broadcast media. -- NY Transfer] Date: Thu, 5 May 94 11:12:05 SET From: W04BOJ31@ICINECA.CINECA.IT Fascism and the Media in Italy: THE ITALIAN POLITIC AND MAMMI'S LAW The MAMMI'S LAW: after the result of the Italian political elections, it appears to be still more urgent to create an open field to the fight against the broadcasting and television regulation imposed in 1990 by the group of power constituted by Craxi, Andreotti, Forlani on Berlusconi's account. Who is Silvio Berlusconi? Berlusconi inaugurates his career as a building business man in Milano in the sixties. Although, he has poor means, his career is bewildering thanks to political supports and bank credits. but it's in the seventies-eighties, that his wealth will constitute the basis of an economical empire: while Italy is being shaken by the democratic and leftwing shove which brings 30% of the consent to the communist party, allows a few important civil conquests (abortion, divorce) assists to the growing of a strong and aggressive revolutionary leftwing (to the point that in Europe, it is talked about the "Italian case", the "weak link of the NATO chain"), in the meantime, a few blocks of power linked to the business world, to the magistrature, to the Army and police forces, to rightwing political exponents and to the Masonery, are giving life to a secret plan, which grows around the Masonic Lodge P2, called "the plan for the democratic rebirth". Such a plan is predicting, as soon as by 1976, the authoritarian reorganization of the social and political life in Italy: presidential democracy, reform of the electoral system (Italy is the only case in Europe which electoral system is strictly proprtional), collaborative and no more conflictual trade unions. Such a plan, despite inquiries from the magistrates, slowly grows and spreads, and today's Italy sees it completely fullfilled. In the meantime, Silvio Berlusconi, as various inquiries prove it, thanks to the important political supports in different sectors, goes on growing and prospering thanks to amazing credit facilities, which would have never been granted to any other Italian businessman. His link with the socialist party (which by the end of the seventies makes a reactionary swing in favour of capitalismo with Craxi's leadership), polluted by the P2 facts, allows him to accomplish the great leap: from a building businessman he becomes the owner of at least 3 national televisions, breaking thus the TV state monopoly,. During the eighties, Berlusconi is becoming more and more prosperous thanks to his political alliance with the Christian Democracy and the Socialist Party. Because of this political frame, we now descrive the 1990 Mammi's law , the only law in Europe which recognizes to a single economical subject the radio-television monopoly, with at least 3 national channels, 3 pay-televisions, a radio-network, a wide-diffused daily newspapers, half the monopoly of the Pubblicity market, the strangling of the other radios. Always in the eighties, berlusconi buys the Milan Footbal Club, another great source of popolarity for his "Transmitting Excellency". When by 1991, the "tangentopoli" blows up, that is the wide inquiry carried out by the magistrates on the corruption of the Italian political system, the Christian Democracy and the Socialist Party start falling into pieces under the indignation of the public opinion. At this point, the new plan goes off. In 1993, the separatist and populist party LEGA NORD (Northern League) achievies an evident electoral success in Northern Italy, while the neofascists from the Movimento Sociale Italiano - MSI - (Italian Social Movement) are assesting themselves in the south. In front of the prospect of an electoral victory from the "united leftwings", the only present and homogeneous group in the national territory, as well as anti monopolist and supporters of a new anti-trus law, Berlusconi, whose television and commercial empire is exposed for a debt of at least 4.500 billions of lire (probably still more) with the bank (which in Italy are under the controll of public authorities), enter the lists. In january 1994, FORZA ITALIA (COME ON ITALY!) is being launched with all the characteristics suitable for any commercial operation. FORZA ITALIA, the party of the Moderate rightwing's orphans, is based on a Reagan-like government program: war to the public assistance, reduction of taxes for the rich... etc, up to the fantastic promiss of a milion working-places in a country torn down by unemployment and industrial restructuration, which has emptied whole zones of the country. It is now that the power of the mass-media is being verified: Berlusconi's three channels are working perfectly well as powerful instruments for the creation of the public opinion, not only and not so much because of the factions conveyance of political information, rather than because of the cultural, social, consuming reference-system that is being created everyday: the optimism of the market, the cure for all evils, the prospect of an existence based on the stereotypes of the consumation, on the absolute values of the business know-how, the secessionist selfishness of Northern Italy, rich and industrialized are all the factors constituting tha basis for the victory of 27th of March; a trust based on Forza Italia, neofascists together with the North League win the elections in a clamorous way. On the 15th of April, during the process for Conspiracy against the Republic, all the accused of the masonic Lodge P2 are being discharged of the principal crime. On the 16th of April, Irene Pivetti from the North League, an integralist catholic with pre-council positions and near to cardinal Lefebvre's ones, is being elected at the Chamber of Deputies. 44 years after the liberation from nazi-fascism, we assist to the formation of a government led by Berlusconi together with fascist ministers and ministers from North League. On the 17th of april, Jack Lang, ex-minister of the Culture of the French socialist government, invites all the governments and the European Community to refuse themselves to have contact with the fascist ministers of the Italian Republic. In the meantime, between february and march, the withdravel of the concessions to the radios to broadcast has been carried on and almost ultimated. After the cancellation of 800 televisions, it's the turn of 2000 radios to be denied the right to broadcast. The Mammi's law is aiming at "rationalizing" the broadcasting frequencies considered "overpopulated": this has meant the imposition of extremely high caution money for most small radios, precarious living-conditions, redefinition of a sector in favour of a few wide concentrations, besides the only ones capable of overcoming the business and enterprise rules dictated by the law. All these conditions are being imposed by a State law, in the most anticonstitutional way. The aim is that of promoting medium-large groups upon which the whole publicity market is being diverted, trampling thus on the individual and associative right for free expression and free broadcasting. This is further confirmed by the fact, that under the pressure of the Catholic Church, a reservated number has been left aside in favour of communitarian radios, that is to say radios with social, religious, ethnical characteristics. To radios of the kind, the right to exist has been recognized but still with very limited possibilities of using pubblicity and sponsor to finance themselves. Besides, the assignment of the frequencies has been a real obstacle-race: complex technical and bureaucratic documentations to supply in very short terms, the imposition a minimum number of 3 regular employees in each radio, the payment of a heavy annual licence-fee plus a caution-money amounted to 300 milions of lire, useless sayng that it has prevented many radios to enetr the lists. Obviously, for all the small radios spared by the "national lottery of the Concessions" (like our radio), life is all the same quite hard: the communitarian radios have to dedicate 20% of their programmation to the local information (this threshold would be unreachable for the RAI iteself!). Moreover, the general conditions of the law - as reported above - make survival quite arduous. The same law for the Press, which was initially providing tariff dacilities for the radios as well, is still suspended, after years of failed application for many. On the 15th of march, a demonstration has been organized in Roma by the CONNA XXX, and the AIRA network, a group based on the informal and horizontal circulation of informations and confrontations between a few antagonist radios from Central and Northern Italy.We are reporting underneath part of the platform presented by the CONNA, with which we substantially agree: "- Rediscussion of the conditions in which each radio had to provide the necessary documentation requested by the law, as the terms of notice have revealed themselves to be too short and insufficient; - Cancellation if the imposition on both a minimum number of employees in each radio, and on licence fees and cautions absolutely unjustifiable; - Adjustment of the periods of time dedicated to information according to the real possibility of gathering local news, considering that they are difficult to find especially in small centers; - Possibility for the radios to have a free interconnection between them to co-produce common programms and news-bullettins; - Possibility to activate new radios belongin to linguistic minorities or organized groups aiming at any kind of sportiv, social, cultural promotions." We don't canceal the discomfort which overcomes us at the thought that there must be a regulation and taxation on an activity which has no cost at all for the collectivity. Hence, the only regulation we would expect would be that of prohibiting wide monopolistic concentrations, but it seems that the tendency is quite different nowadays.... Never as presently, the possibility of life for independent radios has been so central and vital in order to guarantee the plurality and freedom of information. *************************************************************************** RADIO K CENTRALE 107.05 Mhz Self managing Radio for Bologna and Province *************************************************************************** What is -Radio K Central? It's a project of communication born in Bologna (Italy) in summer 1992 from a great number of persons who recognize themseleves in the italian new left , and more precisely in the autonomous movement. Together with RKC, other 7 sister-radios are currently covering the national territory - Radio sherwood (Padova); Radio Onda D'urto (Milano e Brescia); Radio Onda Rossa (Roma); Radio Blackout (Torino) - . All these radios are constituting the AIRA (Agency of Information of Antagonist Networks) tigether with the world wise telematic network ECN (European Counter Network). Moreover, the radios are directly linked with teh squatted social centers, self-organized work committees, libraries and documentation centers, as well as being present and the active in situations of social fight inside the urban and human evirnment. Its obvious to assert that RKC is a keypoint in the network, network of varoius realities, which keep their own autonomy of movement, but which are all looking forward to conitnuous interaction, information exchanges, and to the promotion of direct actions for the satisfaction of peoples real nedds. RKC, as well as the other sister radios are growing with the necessity of coming out from cultural impositions and mass-media logics. Self- management is the keyword, the tool which gives life to the project and allows to remain completely independent and out of sharing-out logics of Culture and politics of the economical, political and cultural potentates. The financing of the radio is based on the programmation of varous concerts, initiatives, on listeners subscriptions and on comrades who are working everyday in the studio. Self- management is thus becoming a political and cultural pattern to re-propose, a way to underline the power contradictions and clashes which are dominating the urban structure of our territories. -30- For more information: Andress: Radio K Centrale Via Azzogardino, 23 - Bologna - Italy Tel./Fax.: 0039 - 51 - 551740 E-Mail: w04boj31@icineca.cineca.it -- + 212-675-9690 NY TRANSFER NEWS COLLECTIVE 212-675-9663 + + Since 1985: Information for the Rest of Us + + GET INFO from ftpmail%transfr@blythe.org + + e-mail: nyt@blythe.org info: info@blythe.org + -- ----------------------------- Art McGee [amcgee@netcom.com] -----------------------------