I would like to return to the topic of the court actions for defamation, that really have been a part of my professional life for years. I remember that there was a socialist in prison who was always saying to me: “As soon as I get out of prison I’ll bring an action against you!” Now times have really changed. Compared to this, the Socialists were tiny babies. Today there’s an incredible tendency. Things you can’t imagine can happen. An assassin, with a suspended sentence, a pardon, and with all sorts, can get out of prison and, if you mention the fact in a newspaper, or on a blog or on the internet, you can be had up for defaming the assassin. And he asks you for damages, perhaps even millions in damages. The one who is had up for defamation always risks more than the one bringing the action.
Now take away the word “assassin” and replace it with “bankrupt”, “swindler”, “mafia person”, the concept doesn’t change. The one who speaks the truth is always risking more, that’s perhaps, like I do, or like you do when you are shouting the truth our loud.
We are living in a really strange Country, in which a little man like Schifani, protected by the shield of the Lodo Schifani and then by the Lodo Alfano, can denounce a journalist like Travaglio, because Travaglio exposes facts on TV. The ones who are risking more than others these days are us, the people of the Internet. It’s the internet. How can you gag the truth? There are millions of posts, millions of film clips, millions of comments. There are three routes for gagging the Internet, three routes. The first is with the little attempts, in August: around 14. 18, 16 August. Amendments, sub-amendments to the amendments. Changing the laws on publishing as has been done by these squalid folk like Levi, Ms Carlucci, and D’Alia. I remember Gentiloni who said “I didn’t realise that, because I was playing tennis with Ermete”. Ministers who don’t notice these things. The internet noticed and together with all the bloggers we blocked it. Or it can be done in other ways. By placing the Internet in a situation in which it cannot operate. Like in the Fourth World. 3000 town without ADSL, to do Wifi you have to shout loud. There’s more speed and more Internet in any island in the Indian Ocean than there is in Sardinia. Thus we are already in the Fourth World as regards Communications.
And the other thing is defamation. You write something and you make an error in an article, a comma, you put a badly designed phrase in inverted commas, and there you’ve triggered an action for defamation with millions of damages. This is intimidation: attack one to attack a hundred. The court action is triggered. This famous court action. An action done by the rich against those who cannot afford it. The politicians, the people with certain means can do this, but the ones who are taken to court generally have problems, some financial problems. These days, there’s the risk that a camorra-person, while under house-arrest, but with a clever lawyer, can send Saviano to prison. It’s incredible. You take a civil action and you ask for money. You take me to court and you ask me for a million euro. OK, if you lose then pay me a million euro. You have to be risking something. It’s not OK to use the court actions like that to cause intimidation. That’s why I have decided to defend the bloggers. Not because I am altruistic or a benefactor of humanity. Because the Internet is a system that can protect itself. How? We can protect ourselves very well. We have started this defence battle that is called “The Internet Shield” in which we are looking for the best lawyers, the ones that are against the stupid ones, who are a bit motivated by certain things and who can give a contribution to those of the Internet who have a court action brought against them for some phrase, some comma, some inverted commas.
The initiative is called “The Internet Shield” and it will give the list of all the lawyers who are available to both defend and to prevent court actions for defamation by supplying correct information.
Look, I have a certain amount of experience on court actions and I have some really skilled marvellous lawyers. Now in these last six months no one has brought an action for defamation against me and there are my lawyers who are calling me and saying: “Well then Grillo, what do we want to do? We can’t go on like this!” OK. My lawyers, who are people who are used to this type of experience, will be available to the Internet.
They will never give up, and you – here I’m talking to the bloggers and those of you who make use of the Internet, - you must absolutely not give up. Because if you give up I will take a court action against you all! See you later.

P.S.: Those lawyers who want to contact me about the initiative can do so by sending information to the blog.