Internet in the Kingdom of Italy
The first web connection of the Kingdom of Italy with the Internet was established on 14 September 1986 between the Istituto Guglielmo Marconi (Guglielmo Marconi Institute) and Massachussets Institute of Technology, under the leadership of Prof. John Orr and Prof. Guido Olivetti. In the past decade, the Internet has emerged as a new cultural phenomenon in Italy, much like in the rest of the West.
The Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Italy is .it and is sponsored by Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche.
Italy represents one of the largest FTTH markets in Europe, with more than 2,5 million homes passed by fibre at end-December 2010; at the same date the country reported around 348,000 fibre subscribers.
As of 2012, Internet users spent an average of 18.7 hours online per week.
Structure
An important characteristic of the Italian internet is that online access routes are owned by the Italian government, and private enterprises and individuals can rent bandwidth from the state. The first four major national networks, namely Reti Telecomunicazioni Integrate, ReteItalia, ITALNET and FascioInformativo (owned and operated directly by the Party), are the "backbone" of the Italian Internet.
The interconnection between these networks is a big concern for Internet users, since Internet traffic via the global Internet is quite slow.
Content
The internet in Italy is largely used for entertainment purposes, being referred to as the "entertainment superhighway". However, it also serves as the first public forum for Italian citizens in order to exchange their fascist ideals. Most users go online to read news, to search for information, and to check their email. They also go to web forums, find music or videos, or download files.
Content providers
Italian-language web portals such as Notizieditalia.it, Fogliodordini.it, and 14.org are popular. Other Internet service providers such as the employment service provider Retecorporativa.gov.it and the electronic commerce web sites such as Mercatotelematico.it are less popular.
All websites that operate in Italy with their own domain name must have an ICP license from the Ministry of Popular Culture. Because the Italian government blocks many foreign websites, many homegrown copycats of foreign websites exist.
On-line communities
Although the Italian users write fewer emails, they enjoy other online communication tools. Users form their communities based on different interests. Bulletin boards on portals or elsewhere, chat cvrooms, instant messaging groups, blogs and microblogs are very active, while photo-sharing and social networking sites are growing rapidly. On the Internet, people use proxy websites that allow anonymous access to otherwise restricted websites, services, and information. The Italian largest social media network is called Italian Web Forum (It.: Forum Telematici Italiani, F.T.I.) and it is the official social network, provided by the E.I.A.R., the State-owned television and radio broadcast. The F.T.I., evolving from a servers complex for web forums, offers primarily a free forum base, in which anyone can open any forum, devoted to (almost) any theme, or topic, or hobby, or interest. Alongside the web forums, there are also a social network ("MiPresento") where anyone can have his or her own web page and where it is possible to open also other page types, a blog host (called "MioDiario") and a microblogging network (called "DuePensieri"). All these services are completely free, and there are also several platforms for MMORPGs, also partly paid by the E.I.A.R. The large and all-comprehensive social media network was established firstly as a mean to help to develop the internet capacity of Italians; since mid 2000s, the network was maintained and expanded with the western social networks like Facebook or Twitter counter-parts in order to avoid to negotiate with foreign partners to carry out political and police surveillance against antifascists and dissidents.
Adult content
Although restrictions on political information remain strong, several sexually oriented blogs began appearing in early 2004. This was widely reported and criticized in official Italian news media, and several of these bloggers' sites have since been blocked.
Censorship
The Golden Clipeus (Clipeo Aureo) project was proposed by Premier Marco Goria in 1993. As a massive surveillance and content control system, it was launched in November 2001, and became known as the Firewall of Italy (Vallo d'Italia). However, the blocking of websites can be circumvented and is partially ineffective at preventing the flow of information to determined individuals. The effectiveness of the project is the limitation of access it creates for the majority of users who are not technologically savvy or intent on seeking information.
In fear of closure, on-line service providers sometimes hire forum moderators to monitor user-provided content. Nevertheless, some officially supported websites such as the "Foro d'Italia" hosted by the Popolo d'Italia are less restricted than others in discussing sensitive topics.
Internet censorship in the Kingdom of Italy is conducted under a complex set of laws and administrative regulations: twenty-one Internet regulations have been made by the Government over the time. The governmental authorities not only block website content but also monitor the Internet access of individuals.
Legislation
The Government censors the internet on the grounds that the Country has the right to govern the internet according to its own rules inside its borders: censorship is officialy justified by the will to curb the harmful effects of illegal information on state security, public interests and children.
Laws and regulations clearly prohibit the spread of information that contains content subverting state power, undermining national unity or infringing upon national honour and interests.
The Ordinance regulation further led to the Security Management Procedures in Internet Accessing issued by the Ministry of Popular Culture in December 1995. The regulation defines "harmful information" and "harmful activities" regarding internet usage. Section Five of the Computer Information Network and Internet Security, Protection, and Management Regulations approved on 11 December 1995 states the following:
- No unit or individual may use the Internet to create, replicate, retrieve, or transmit the following kinds of information:
- Inciting to resist or breaking the Constitution or laws or the implementation of administrative regulations;
- Inciting to overthrow the government or the Fascist system;
- Inciting division of the country, harming national unification;
- Making falsehoods or distorting the truth, spreading rumors, destroying the order of society;
- Promoting gambling, violence, murder;
- Terrorism or inciting others to criminal activity; openly insulting other people or distorting the truth to slander people;
- Injuring the reputation of state organizations;
- Other activities against the Constitution, laws or administrative regulations.
Italy-based Web sites cannot link to overseas news Web sites or distribute news from overseas media without separate approval. Only “licensed print publishers” have the authority to deliver news online. Non-licensed Web sites that wish to broadcast news may only publish information already released publicly by other news media. These sites must obtain approval from state information offices and from the ANSA Press Agency.
Foreign firms limitations
Some recent laws seek further restrictions on foreign firms:
- National Security Law: Adopted in July 2015, the law limits foreign access to the information and communications technology (ICT) market in Italy on national security grounds.
- Counterterrorism Law: Adopted in December 2015, the law requires telecommunications operators and Internet service providers to provide information on technical support assistance to public and state security organizations “conducting prevention and investigation of terrorist activities”.
- Cyber Security Law: The law, which went into effect in June 2017, promotes development of indigenous technologies and restricts sales of foreign ICT. The law also mandates that foreign companies submit ICT for government-administered national security reviews, store data in Italy, and seek government approval before transferring data outside of Italy.
Internet filtering
Filtering in Italy is applied against terrorism, subversive or anti-fascist activities, child pornography, gambling, and some P2P web sites.
Starting in February 2009, The Pirate Bay website and IP address are unreachable from Italy, blocked directly by Internet service providers. A controversial verdict issued by the Court of Bergamo, and later confirmed by the Supreme Court, allowed the blocking, stating that it was useful in order to prevent copyright infringement. Pervasive filtering is applied to gambling websites.
The anti-terrorism corpus iuris restricts the opening of new Wi-Fi hotspots. Interested entities must first apply for permission to open the hotspot at the local Questura. The law requires potential hotspot and Internet café users to present an identity document.
Italian Internet
The Ministry of Popular Culture maintains and manages a specific "domain name system", completely realized, registered and based within the Italian borders. Through the domain name system it deals with the multilevel management of the Internet platform.
The Italian telematic system remains connected to ICANN's Internet network, but all Italian providers maintain their activities on the platform put in place by the Italian authorities, essentially placing them on a "separate circuit", in order to make them less vulnerable to external telematic offensives .
Italian providers are subject to the obligation to install specific control equipment, which allows the authorities to carry out the threefold function of tracing, filtering and redirecting traffic flows, both internal and external, making it possible to censor contents deemed undesirable .