Time Runs Out For Piracy Law

A law enabling a judge to order websites offering illegal content to shut down within 10 days is unlikely to pass as the Spanish government that approved it has only a few days left in power.

Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde, culture minister for Spain’s Socialist Party, has campaigned hard for a law to tackle illegal downloading.

But her party took a hiding from the centre-right Popular Party in the Nov. 20 election and it’s doubtful Sinde will get parliamentary time for the law that’s been named after her.

The so-called Sinde Law has had parliamentary approval since March and has been passed to the cabinet for final approval.

It seems that’s where the log jam occurred. Framing and altering the wording of the law has at various times been the subject of fierce protests from both sides of the fence; the rights holders and Internet users and consumer rights groups.

With the country in the grip of an economic crisis, it may have been considered one hot potato too many during the lead-up to the election.