Proposed legislation in Spain to regulate Internet activity has enraged libertarians who say the measure would squelch free speech.
The “Law of Information Society Services and Electronic Commerce” (known by its Spanish acronym LSSI) would force websites to register with the government and require Web hosting companies to police content by reporting suspected illicit activity.
Failure to obey the rules would generate fines of up to 175,000 Euros ($150,000).
The measure, which was drafted by the Ministry of Science and Technology, would also allow government agencies to shut down websites and seize their content and activity logs, said Luis Fajardo López a law professor at the University of Gerona.
“This is done as a gesture to combat crime, but it doesn’t take into account that information archives can be manipulated, edited and configured by anyone and can’t, for that reason, serve as a base to incriminate anyone,” opined Fajardo López.
Another lawyer suggested that the measure would violate Spain’s constitutionally protected free speech by allowing the government to seize Internet content it considers offensive. He compared the effort to the failed Communications Decency Act
“If the (law) is passed, freedom of expression in the Internet will be as limited as it is in countries like China, Vietnam or Saudi Arabia,” said Carlos Sánchez Almeida, a Barcelona attorney who specializes in Internet law.
An aggressive campaign against the legislation has been launched by Kriptopolis, a cryptography website that is part of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign.
At the campaign’s Internet headquarters, Kriptopolis compared the measure to a decree promulgated by Queen Isabella in 1502 that required printers to obtain licenses for everything they published. Sympathizers have flooded the inboxes of the Ministry of Science and Technology with protests, and as of Friday morning, almost 400 mirrors of the Kriptopolis site had sprung up around the Web.
The bill’s sponsors admit that the measure is a rough draft that still needs work.
