Spain has long been a thorn in the side of United States-based entertainment companies. Now Spain has passed amendments to the country’s penal code which states admins of sites offering links to copyrighted works without the owners’ permission will face jail sentences of up to six years. For individual file-sharers and those operating P2P software, According to Torrentfreak.
In January 2012, it was revealed that the United States had threatened to put Spain on a trade blacklist but just months later the country responded by introduced the so-called Sinde Law which was designed to offer greater protections for copyright holders. However, even though the legislation included provisions to close infringing sites, there was clearly no appetite to do so.
“In no case will we act against regular users, neutral search engines, or against P2P programs that allow the sharing of content,” Minister Alberto Ruiz Gallardón said.
The idea of going after sites and not users was welcomed by local writer Lorenza Silva.
“You can not criminalize the entire population,” he told Elpais. “But making life difficult for the biggest contributor to the problem and going after those who generate the most benefits from it is the right strategy.”
via - TorrentFreak