Norway court rejects calls to block Pirate Bay

Published: 7 Nov 09 09:25 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/23130/20091107/

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Communications company Telenor will not be forced to block customers from accessing popular Swedish file sharing website The Pirate Bay, a court in Norway decided on Friday.

The case arose after entertainment industry bosses demanded the service provider to take action.

The ruling states that Telenor and other internet service providers in Norway cannot be held liable for copyright violations that arise from illegal downloads and that a decision to block websites is better taken by the Norwegian authorities.

If courts forced providers to shut access, "Telenor and other internet providers, including private companies, may have to do an evaluation on whether an Internet page or service shall be blocked or not," according to an excerpt of the judgement released by the Norwegian telecoms firm.

"This is an evaluation normally assigned to the authorities, and in the court's view, today's situation makes it unnatural to assign such responsibility to private companies," the court said.

Last year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) convinced judges in Denmark to force Swedish internet service provider Tele2, to shut access to The Pirate Bay.

But Telenor argued that Norwegian legislation could not be applied in the same way as Danish law.

"You can not sue a ladder manufacturer because someone used one of his ladders to commit a burglary," Atle Lessum, Telenor spokesperson, told the newspaper Verdens Gang before the hearing.

"We therefore we reject imposed censorship like this," he added.

Founded in 2003, The Pirate Bay makes it possible to skirt copyright fees and share music, film and computer game files using bit torrent technology, or peer-to-peer links offered on the site.

The Pirate Bay claims to have some 22 million users worldwide.

AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)

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Your comments about this article:

11:44 November 7, 2009 by hilt_m
Well good on Norway for standing up for their own government policies, they are right, this really is a decision for the authorities not the entertainment industry.
13:21 November 7, 2009 by Random Guy
ah.... how it must make the swed's nutz again that little brother norway is again the better Scandinavian country.

at least they still come and visit for the cheaper booze!
13:24 November 7, 2009 by CanadianCoder
thank goodness for some sanity.
16:04 November 7, 2009 by usgepo
Way to go Norway, spot on! If only Sweden show some backbone!

I honestly think that the trouble with Swedish politicians is that their head is to close to their a......
18:31 November 7, 2009 by eZee.se
@usgepo,

Thats where you are mistaken, its not too close to their...

its too far up their...

Good on you Norway
20:21 November 7, 2009 by Atlas
Finally, someone in Scandinavia knows what is right and wrong...Congratulations Norway
09:23 November 8, 2009 by Makaveli
I always thought journalism was about telling a story in an objective way. however that clearly does not seem to be the case with this article because it insinuates that the Pirate Bay is doing something wrong. Quote "Founded in 2003, The Pirate Bay makes it possible to skirt copyright fees and share music, film and computer game files using bit torrent technology, or peer-to-peer links offered on the site". This is just too vague and immediately leads the reader into thinking that this company is doing something very illegal. The pirate bay acts as a portal for file sharing, but however does not oblige anybody to share copyrighted material. The statement made in this article was very derogatory and i wonder who edits this articles.
14:08 November 8, 2009 by spy
"You can not sue a ladder manufacturer because someone used one of his ladders to commit a burglary,"

Mmmmm. . . If a particular ladder was designed specifically to assist burglars then I would expect the manufacturer to have some action taken against them.
16:37 November 8, 2009 by hilt_m
If a particular ladder was designed specifically to assist burglars then I would expect the manufacturer to have some action taken against them. ummm then why are not weapons manufacturing companies sued? Lets take it a step further what about the company that supplies the raw materials used to make your burglar specific ladders, should they be held responsible? What about the machinery company that produced the tools used by the raw materials company? Where does it stop. No the person you hold responsible is the bloke that knocked off your TV.
20:24 November 8, 2009 by spy
hilt_m

Haha!

The Weapons industry is one of the most highly regulated industries in the world (unlike TPB). Not only do you need a licence to produce weapons, distribution is recorded, and also the end-user is vetted and licenced too.

TPB was set up specifically to facilitate illegal file-sharing; had it been set up as a general search-engine then it would not be attacked by the courts.
14:34 November 10, 2009 by Luckystrike
@Spy

Clearly not the smartest guy on the tinternet..
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