According to the file-sharing-friendly website TorrentFreak.com, the latest edition of a U.S. government report on international intellectual property laws has laid out heavy criticism of Spain's lax laws regarding file-sharing.
Spanish courts have regularly ruled that file-sharing sites that don't directly profit from copyright infringement are protected by law. In this report, known as the Special 301 Report, recognized Spain, China, Russia and even Canada as countries that needed to change their ways, although the report carries no threat of sanctions.
The U.S. criticized the extent of Spain's file-sharing, which apparently ran as high as 350 million illegal movie downloads in 2008. The report also slammed Spain for allowing some 50 million videogame downloads.
But while the U.S.' report criticizes file-sharing, the European Union's parliament is taking steps to protect it. Yesterday, the governing body voted 407 to 57 to stop France from cutting off Internet access to people who download illegal copies of media.
The EU Parliament is the lower legislative body in the EU government, roughly equivalent to the U.S. House of Representatives. The rest of the government comprises the European Commission (its executive branch) and the European Council (its senate, or higher legislative body).