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Norwegian ISPs And Consumer Council Fight Back Against Entertainment Industry Threat Letters
from the sorry,-no-can-do dept
∅yvind Kaldestad writes in to point us to a story he wrote for a Norwegian publication, that shows the ongoing trend of the entertainment industry pressuring ISPs in Europe to block file sharing or kick file sharers off their networks. However, in this case, it looks like the ISPs (smartly) are fighting back, and they've got the Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) at their backs. A law firm representing entertainment industry interests sent letters to various Norwegian ISPs, demanding they send specific letters to those suspected of unauthorized file sharing. The letter requests a signature accepting responsibility for their file sharing activities and renouncing all future unauthorized file sharing. However, the ISPs quickly rejected such letters, and the NCC warned people not to sign such a letter, as it makes the consumer liable for activities they might not actually have committed, and also removes the due process they are entitled to. The NCC also notes that, despite the claims in the letters, the Norwegian ISPs are unlikely to be liable for the actions of its users under both Norwegian and international law. Once again, this seems to be part of a highly coordinated campaign by the entertainment industry (and the IFPI specifically) to get ISPs to be their policemen and to prop up their obsolete business model.
Reader Comments
(Flattened / Threaded)
Uh, this seems to be a business problem, with Entertainment not leveraging new distribution models.
Why do we need to take cops off the street to police your content? Someone has to pay cops salaries, and that's in the form of VAT/Taxes. Why do you have to continue to turn your back on a higher margin distribution method?
Can't we just hug?
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REVOLUTION!
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Here's an idea:
You make content.
Find a way to charge me for it. (Maybe you can accept credit cards?)
Let me enjoy it as I want.
Win-Win-Win!
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The above comments have been rejected for having too much logic.
Even #2.
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DRM
If the TV and film industries would follow the lead of the music industry, and release their films and TV shows for sale in a DRM free format, world wide (especially in Norway, where I happen to be living right now, and Australia, where I'm from originally), then consumers wouldn't be forced to use illegal methods to get the content they want. If the shows I watch were available, I would certainly pay for each and every one of them (including any shows I may have illegally downloaded in the past).
But as it is right now, the only way I can legally get movies is to buy Region 2 encoded DVDs, which won't play in the Region 4 DVD player I have in my Mac, or import them from Australia. So, the industry have created this problem for themselves by imposing such unnecessary restrictions.
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