It is important to stress that this latest attack on file-sharing is sparked by the private initiative of a lawyer representing intellectual property owners. The State has not yet tipped its hand with regard to the attitude that it will assume, and indeed it is difficult to envisage a European Court convicting individiuals under criminal charges in advance of a US determination to similar effect.

In early June, for example, rumours of a swoop on Italian sharers circulated, claiming that 180 people were under investigation for copyright infringements relating to their use of p2p networks. This scare prompted a clarification by the police involved (Guardia di Finanzia) that the targets of the raid were active in commercial counterfieting rings that used p2p and ftp servers as part of their business, and that those who eployed the tools to share files were not the target of the operation. Elsewhhere in Europe during 2002 six eDonkey servers were shut down in Denmark were shut down by police under-pressure from industry groups, and letters of warning were issued to numerous German broadband users, who were informed that their traffic logs would be preserved in case of subsequent litigation by copyright owners.

As yet, however, there have been no state-instigated prosecutions of individuals for the collaborative sharing of media and knowledge that they call 'piracy.'


Spanish Firms Target File Traders

In what is being touted as the largest legal action of its kind, a Spanish law firm has announced plans to file a copyright-violation complaint against 4,000 individuals who allegedly have swapped illegal files over peer-to-peer networks in that country.

Thirty-two Spanish companies that manufacture software or other material protected by the country's intellectual property laws have united to report the file traders to the Technological Investigation Brigade of the National Police, according to the plaintiffs' attorney, Javier Ribas.

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Ribas, who refused to identify his clients out of fear that angry P2P traders would organize boycotts of their products, said his law firm had pinpointed the IP addresses of 95,000 Spaniards using such programs to exchange copyright material, but narrowed the complaint to 4,000 individuals who had downloaded the most illegal files.

He anticipated the case would be heard by a Spanish criminal court in September, adding that his law firm would demand jail sentences of up to four years for each convicted software pirate -- the maximum under the Spanish legal code -- in addition to compensation equivalent to the market value of each illegal file downloaded.

According to the plaintiffs, P2P piracy in Spain has cost them more than 85 million euros ($96 million) over the past six months.

But the massive computer sweep prompted a Spanish senator to call for an investigation into the tactics used by the law firm to access private machines.

"Article 18.3 of the Spanish Constitution stipulates that private communication can only be intercepted when there is a court order," said Félix Lavilla Martínez, a socialist senator from Soria and a member of the Senate's Commission on the Information and Knowledge Society. "Even if it's only basic data, they'd be breaking the law if they don't have previous judicial authorization (to locate the files)."

In response to the senator's criticism, Ribas said the firm was able to pinpoint the most active file traders by using older versions of P2P software that show the type and number of files downloaded by each user, as well as the users' IP addresses.

"The P2P protocols offer a ton of information," Ribas said. "And the great thing is that they do it publicly if you have an old version of each program. The new versions encrypt, but they still have to negotiate with the old versions. That's the secret. There's nothing criminal about it."

Carlos Sánchez Almeida, a Spanish attorney specializing in Internet law, said the announcement was "propaganda designed to strike fears into users so they stop using P2P programs." He said he doubted the action's viability in a court of law.

"Spanish penal code requires an intent to profit for there to be a crime against intellectual property," he said, mentioning several Spanish lawsuits that ultimately were thrown out after it was determined the defendants were not selling or otherwise profiting from a collection of illegally copied material.

But Ribas stated that any monetary gain, including the mere act of saving money by not paying for the copyright material, could be construed as "intent to profit."

The Spanish Internet Users Association, a group that defends file trading, called the pending complaint an "act of pure and simple cowardice" by a group of businesses "that don't dare show their faces."

The group encouraged file traders to download a program that enables P2P users to block the IP addresses of computers associated with law enforcement or antipiracy groups, including the Spanish police.

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