1. Pane e Coperto is not a tip at all! It as said above is to cover overhead. So if you are charged such a fee and feel that the fee is too high and then do not tip because of this, the only person you are hurting is the innocent waiter who see absolutely 0% of the chrage. Yes tipping in Italy is nothing compared to that in the states.

But let's think about this: you have a meal for two that comes to 61 euros. You were charged 3 euros per person for pane e coperto. Bringing the total to 67. Standard thing to do here for tip is to round up as do most Italians. This would bring the grand total of your dinner to 70 euros.

Now, let's think about the same meal in the states: That same bottle of wine would probably cost 2-3 times as much. But let's forget that for this example. You have a $61 meal (let's also forget how bad the exchange rate is and not think that it would equal to $70.25). Morally standard in the States is a 15% tip however, I feel that most people now a days are generally leaving 20%. That meal now becomes at 15%: 70.15 and at 20%: 73.20. So where is the problem? It seems that you are getting off cheaper in Italy, are eating better food, and drinking better wine (or at least better for the price).

2. I have no clue if the law exists. But, Italy makes more laws and regulations then they know what to do with them. And for every law that is made the people know the way around.

Example: 10 years ago in Naples when they started the seat belt rule, the most profitable business was selling t-shirts that have a black stripe from the left shoulder to right hip.

LOL~

that seatbelt t-shirt story is hilarious! That reminds me of my first european backpack trip when I was 21: I asked the other kids in Rome why everyone had a helmet strapped onto their scooters (as opposed to actually wearing the helmet). I was told because it had recently become law to "Have" a helmet with you while riding your scooter!

Clarification to anyone who misunderstand my second post on this thread: there is no confusion on our part about the "Pan e coperto" being a "Tip." We know what it is. I was just wondering about its recently becoming "Illegal." Also, we are also aware that it is customary for many Italians to merely "Round-up" the bill (even if only a few cents or a euro or so), and many do not leave a tip at all. We were told by many locals (we asked) that it is not expected like it is in the US, and it is not necessarily frowned if you don't leave a tip. Sometimes they just expect it from Americans because we often leave them a relatively large tip. We often just leave a bigger tip, "American style," if we especially like the service. My comment about not feeling badly about not tipping as much merely means we won't feel badly about tipping as Italians do (as opposed to "Punishing" or "Short-changing" the service staff) as we usually feel compelled to tip more out of habit. Lastly, as stated before, I was just curious about the new law and don't find the "Pane e coperto" a huge problem. We're NOT feeling like we need to "Get out of paying a few bucks," as some people have concluded, nor do we feel likes it is even an issue to complain about, not go to Italy over, or not eat out in Italy over!