Last Thursday, the Spanish congress approved new laws making it a civil offense to download any copyrighted content, even for personal usage. This legislation toughens previous laws which permitted downloads if they were for purely personal use.
From now on, Spaniards caught illegally downloading content will have to reimburse the rights holders for the losses. However, the Spanish government is aiming its sights at ISPs, as it's also a criminal offense to facilitate un-filtered downloading.
The law also introduces a small tax to be levied on all blank media --- from a blank CD to mobile phones and even a memory stick. Computer hard disks and ADSL lines have been left out of the legislation despite their widespread use for illegally copying music and films. The money collected will be paid back to the owner of the copyright.
News source: TMCnet
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