Cases related to the Internet become more and more frequent. One of our members from Italy has worked in this field for a long time and even collaborated with his government to inform greater audiences about legal solutions to cybercrime.
It is one of the most discussed topics of our times and the debate is far from being over: legal aspects of the Internet and new technologies of communication.
A Sicilian lawer, Alessandro Palmigiano (EJ Italy), has been working on such cases for more than a decade. Two specialists of cybercriminality are working in his lawfirm. “At some point”, he says, “I did research for the European Commission, mostly in customer protection. We had to analyse new rules created by the Internet. But things change very fast: I did this work eight years ago and it has changed a lot since then”.
Last year, Alessandro had the opportunity to work with an administration in the prevention of such problems, when the local government of Sicily implied him in the preparation of a book about cybercrimes. Intended for kids and teenagers, it also gives valuable advice to parents. It was made in close co-operation with the Sicilian police. Alessandro contributed to the legal part of the booklet, giving a clear view of the legal risks and the legal solutions. It refers to very precise cases, including references to decisions made by Italian courts of appeal or the cassation court, to support its explanations of what is legal and what is not on the internet.
A variety of problems are explored: pedophilia, cyberbullying, harrassment of course. But also internet addiction and how to overcome it. “There are also cases of unfair competition”, explains Alessandro, “for example when you use the name of someone else on a website to redirect the search engine results towards content you created yourself”.
Some cases encountered by Alessandro may seem unusual to the general public. “I remember the case of a woman who had a relationship in the past with someone who is now publicly known to be a member of the Mafia. They broke up ten years ago, and being in a purely romantic relationship with a criminal is not illegal, whatever may be our personal feelings about it, and as long as you are not an accomplice. However, this woman was in trouble because of websites reporting her as a mafiosi. The last thing she wanted was people to find out about this past relationship anytime they looked for her name online. We contacted the website and they agreed to put this down”.
Alessandro has also worked on cases of identity theft, defamation... the list is long and the brochure made with the Sicilian government mentions them all. As the brochure states in its introduction: it may seem virtual, but the Internet is real. For lawyers too, it is more than a virtual world, and legal cases around it will only become more and more real.
Do you also have an interest in new communication technologies and the legal aspects they entail? Please write to us at journalist@eurojuris.net
