Spain’s government adopts anti-piracy law

9 January 2012 - The Spanish government has approved new legislation aimed at blocking websites trading in pirated material. Under the Sinde Law, named after the former Spanish Culture Minister Angeles Gonzalez-Sinde, rights holders can report websites hosting infringing content to the newly created intellectual property commission. The commission will decide whether it wants to take action and the case will then be passed to a judge to rule whether the site in question should be shut down.  The aim is to complete the process within 10 days.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said that the aim of the law was "to safeguard intellectual property, boost our culture industries and protect the rights of owners, creators and others in the face of the lucrative plundering of illegal downloading sites."
It is estimated that piracy in Spain cost legal content rights owners €5.2bn during the first half of 2010.