Dear all,

We are very glad to share with you a very important legal decision for the discussion on the regulation of community networks in Brazil.

The Superior Court of Justice (STJ, in Portuguese), one of the highest organs of the Brazilian Judicial branch, confirmed the decision of a lower federal court that acquitted a man accused of illegally developing telecommunications activities (internet radio service) in a city in the State of São Paulo. Although not binding, it is a very positive precedent.

The extinction of the punishment regarding the crime of article 183 of Law 9.472/1997, described above, occurred on the grounds that the Resolution 680/2017 of the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel, in Portuguese) gave new wording to the Resolution 614/2013. As of this change, it is no longer necessary to be granted a license to operate the multimedia radiation communication service restricted to up to five thousand users.

In this case, the city in which the events took place has less than 40 thousand inhabitants, and it was shown that the telecommunication activity was carried out according to the new standards provided by Anatel. It is also worth noting that this year Anatel recognized the important role of community networks in the access of telecommunications services on its website.

More information about the decision can be found, in Portuguese, on the STJ website: http://www.stj.jus.br/sites/portalp/Paginas/Comunicacao/Noticias/06082020-Mudanca-normativa-da-Anatel-favorece-acusado-de-exploracao-clandestina-de-internet-via-radio.aspx 

We are available to answer any questions or discuss further.

Kind Regards,