Small OT: In the article it’s mentioned also the app “IO” (italian for the english word “I”). There are also other important italian apps not working without play services. The serious thing is that that apps are almost mandatory to do the ordinary public administration bureaucracy. We can say that the italian state forces its citizens to use a smartphone with Google Play Services installed. This is no sense.

Maybe they could with those popular VPNs like, for example, NordVPN. I hope they don’t IP block such VPNs. In italy before Piracy Shield there wasn’t a strong law enforcement, for example people used torrents for years (but also now) with no VPNs at all, and I don’t know nobody that has received a complain letter or similar; but the Lega Calcio is a strong corporation, dimostrated to be stronger than gonverment itselfs, in some cases. All this circus because of soccer.

Internet has changed.

100% corporate law enforcement.

In Italy there’s a distopia called “Piracy Shield” that is banhamming random sites (for a day also Google Drive was banned WTF). Is an IP ban system, so you cannot escape changing DNS, is directly controlled by Lega Calcio; they can ban an IP for no reason in about 30 minutes. (Fun fact: it’s supported by a law that requires ALL VPNs of the whole world follow the ban LOL)

So the Italian government gave to a private company the power to virtually shutdown the internet in Italy.