Italy's new Wi-Fi rules made clearer: An article the other day was a poor translation, and left questions unanswered or vague. This short piece clarifies that hot spot operators do need to ask for permission, but it looks like a class license, in which once permission is given, they don't have to provide information on a site-by-site basis. Oddly, WEP protection appears to be required if that's what meant by "provide[r]s [sic in original] must supply users with an access code."
Given what we have learned in France starting to build a City Carrier in Lille (www.nordwireless.com), it is likely that the Italian rules are asking for per-session authentication rather than signal encryption.