Eavesdropping Devices? Those who follow Italian political life will certainly be aware of the controversy that the bill on telephone eavesdropping is arising not only between the ruling coalition and its opposition, but also within the Italian governmental majority.
Not only the centre-left opposition, but a large chunk of the centre-right coalition that rules the country does not like some parts of this bill, which seem to aim at gagging the press in its ability to report about investigations and ends up making life much harder for police forces when investigating and when wiretapping phones or planting eavesdropping devices.
How eavesdropping devices affected by the bill?
The fact that between the lines of the bill presented for approval were hiding some norms that would have dramatically limited the possibility of planting bugs to eavesdrop conversations, making it possible to use them only when serious clues of guilt are involved, and that the eavesdropped intelligence could only be used against the specific crime in question and not any additional offences that might be revealed while listening, raised more than one eyebrow.
What seems to be happening now is a showdown within the coalition, between a right-wing that supports Berlusconi no matter what, and those who, taking into consideration the “law and order” attitude of most of their electorate (an attitude also shared by the centre-left) might be in trouble having to explain why such a bill, that ends up making life easier for criminals, is being passed by using the electors’ mandate.
Those who work in this field are sitting on the riverside, hoping that the interests of a few do not prevail over everyone else’s call for security.