VZCZCXRO2802
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHMD #1206 3561249
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221249Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1588
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA 4273
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
UNCLAS MADRID 001206
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EUR/WE AND EEB/TPP/IPE
STATE PASS USTR FOR D.WEINER AND J.GROVES
STATE ALSO PASS U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE FOR M.PALLANTE AND
M.WOODS
COMMERCE FOR 4212/DON CALVERT
COMMERCE ALSO FOR PTO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KIPR SP
SUBJECT: GOS CONTINUES IPR ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
REF: MADRID 1161
1.(U) Although the fate of the GOS proposal to empower
administrative authorities to close websites that promote
unauthorized file-sharing remains uncertain (reftel), the GOS
continues to take actions to enforce existing IPR laws. As
of mid-December, the National Police had detained 107 people
for IPR crimes during 2009, as well as confiscating around
1.2 million pirated CDs and DVDs, 765 recorders, and 67
recording towers. About 80% of the individuals detained were
accused of copying and/or selling unauthorized material
physically, not online. Most Internet-related detentions
were related to one of two areas: websites that facilitated
downloading of unauthorized material, and sellers of
"informatic equipment" on which they had installed illicitly
downloaded software. In one instance, police detained two
people and dismantled 8 servers containing 30,000 movie,
television, and musical works for peer-to-peer file sharing.
Over 500 members of the group's "video club" had paid 20
euros per month for access.
2.(U) Separately, a 19-year-old arrested December 2 in the
city of Valladolid may become the first Spaniard convicted of
an online IPR crime. The young man, reported to have been
well-known on movie filesharing pages, was arrested as the
result of a complaint by the audiovisual producers, rights
management association (EGEDA) that led to a months-long
investigation by the Castilla y Leon police force's
Technological Investigation Group. He is alleged to have
placed first-run Spanish movies on storage and sharing sites
and received around 1,500 dollars over four months in return
for the downloads. The young man, who has gone on sites to
urge his peers to think twice before uploading unauthorized
material, faces a sentence of 6 months to 4 years and a
possible fine.
3.(U) In addition, the national police detained earlier this
month four people who filmed movies clandestinely in the city
of Alicante and later distributed them online. Police
sources estimated that the hundred of films distributed by
the group had cost the works' owners some five million euros.
A press article cites them as saying this could be the
largest operation against movie piracy in Europe to date.
CHACON