AGCOM And The Administrative Enforcement Of IP Rights

At the end of a process started in 2010, after three public consultations on an equal number of proposals, on December 12, 2012 AGCOM (i.e. the Italian Communications Authority), adopted regulations that established the powers that it can exercise in case of breaches of copyrights in the Internet. The legal framework that has been created is unprecedented in Western countries, since an independent administrative authority is granted the power to impose, in the course of a shortened proceeding, exceptionally severe injunctions and other restrictive measures, traditionally falling under the competence of the judicial authority, and imposed at the end of proceedings where the right of defense is fully guaranteed.