Downloading music, movies via P2P not illegal in Italy

If profit isn't your motive, then swapping pirated music, movies and software via P2P isn't illegal. That's what a high court in Italy ruled last month, marking yet another blow for enforcement efforts by the recording, software and motion picture industry trade groups.

According to the Associated Press, "The court's decision [...] overturns earlier convictions against two former Turin Polytechnic Institute students who set up in 1994 a peer-to-peer, file-sharing network that was shut down within months." The students were each sentenced to one year in jail, which had already been reduced to 3 months upon appeal, a point which this ruling makes moot.

The ruling does not have any effect on the legality of violating the terms of copyright within the country, but does appear to decriminalize the act of file-sharing in and of itself.

Tags: filesharing, italy, P2P, piracy