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Digital
Norway government publishes anti-file-sharing proposals
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 24 May 2011
Norway is the latest country to propose amendments to its copyright law to make it easier for content owners to tackle online piracy, though the Norwegian government has shied away from any sort of three-strikes system, instead making it legally easier for rights owners to identify individual file-sharers, and to get injunctions to order ISPs to block copyright infringing websites.
The former will relax data protection rules which, in Norway, currently limit who can monitor the activities of individuals on the internet. They will also simplify the process by which rights owners can force ISPs to reveal the name and contacts of suspected file-sharers based on the IP address they are using.
More interesting, though, is the newly proposed injunction system which will make it easier for the content industries to get websites guilty of rampant copyright infringement blocked (at least to those not savvy enough to work their way around ISP instigated blocks).
Such a system is also included in the UK’s Digital Economy Act alongside the British take on three-strikes, though with a proviso that, unlike with three-strikes, further parliamentary consideration must be given to any injunction system before it goes live. Some other countries, most notably Spain, have also decided to go the speedy injunction route instead of establishing some sort of three-strikes process that targets actual individual file-sharers.
The big debate in most countries is whether government regulators should have the power to order such website blocking, or whether injunctions should only be available via the courts system, albeit via some sort of fast-track judicial process. And the Norwegian government’s proposals put forward both these options. Those who fear any web blocking could lead to excessive censorship generally oppose both options, though will oppose the former much more vehemently.
Norway’s government is now asking for those affected by any change to copyright law to comment on the proposals, so it remains to be seen what is actually passed down the line.
