Norwegian Lawyers Must Stop Chasing File Sharers

Skapare sends word from TorrentFreak that Norway's Simonsen law firm has lost their license to pursue file sharers. "Just days after Norway's data protection department told ISPs they must delete all personal IP address-related data three weeks after collection, it's now become safer than ever to be a file-sharer in Norway. The only law firm with a license to track pirates has just seen it expire and it won't be renewed." Skapare adds, "Sounds like Norway's government treats privacy seriously. Maybe they've been watching the abuses in the USA. More info on the Norwegian perspective in this Google translation from Dagbladet.no."

Comments

This is not over yet...

[Sholmas]

The Minister of Culture has said he supports the outing of "pirates", and will support the so-called "pirate-hunters" in their application for a new lisence. Google Translate link: http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dagbladet.no%2F2009%2F06%2F23%2Fkultur%2Ffildeling%2Fteknio%2Ftrond_giske%2F6860130%2F&sl=no&tl=en&history_state0=

Re:This is not over yet...

[hyfe]

Yes, but in the same article Ove Skåra from Datatilsynet (computer-watch.. government institution set up to help protect our privacy. They give out permits for surveillance cameraes and can give out legally binding rulings to companies who are in breach of privacy-laws) is quoted with saying:

"- Da er et brev med en anbefaling på ingen måte nok. Hvis ikke det kommer noen nye opplysninger, vil jeg ikke tro at brevet gjør noen særlig forskjell, sier han. "

(..since we recently had a meeting with the department concerning this..)
"- A letter with a recommondation is by no means enough. Unless there is new information relevant to the case, I do not believe the letter will make any difference".

So, for the Norwegian Slashdotters:

[Anonymous Coward]

We've a few questions.

1. What's the tech economy like over there?
2. How long does it take to learn your language OR how English friendly is it?
3. What's the average cost of living in your cities?

Thanks in advance.

How do I Immigrate?

[NukeDoggie]

How do I immigrate to Norway from US? Sounds like the place to be!!! I'm in IT, and have pretty fair skills, Siebel, VB, some web, java, C etc also Cobol and other dinosaurs and assorted relics...

Re:How do I Immigrate?

[AliasMarlowe]

Top three are pork ribs, Pinnekjøtt and Lutefisk.

Advice: avoid lutefisk. It's nasty, very nasty.
In fact, in the nastiest dish in the world competition, Norway powered into second place with lutefisk. It was judged more repulsive than Scotland's haggis, but less disgusting than the Swedish entry, surströmming (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surstrmming, even the Swedes have to drink a bottle of vodka before eating it).
Boiled sheep's eyes or raw sea-slugs taste a lot nicer than lutefisk or surströmming. I speak from actual experience.

Re:Yarrrrr...

[brit74]

Those of us who are creators are very alarmed by statements like this. You might as well tell me that I don't deserve to get paid for all the stuff I create - no matter how great it is. Is it really a good idea to undermine the ability of digital creators to even earn a living? Without intellectual property, I end up spending years working on stuff and essentially giving it away to the world - while my mortgage company comes and pounds down my door. Why am I not entitled to a small amount of protection in the marketplace, so that I can earn a living from my hard work?

The summary is wrong.

[IrquiM]

The "pirate chasing"-lawyers got a temporary license in 2006 for doing exactly that while we were waiting for new laws.

That license is now expiring (This autumn) and they're not getting a new one. Not because they want to protect the privacy of Norwegian citizens, but because temporary is temporary.

Now, read my last sentence again please.

(Still though, Norway's a good place to live - can recommend it to everyone!)

Re:Yarrrrr...

[brit74]

entitled to a small amount of protection

"Small"? Really?

Yes, small.

And you should always offset your mentality by the fact that you didn't create anything in a vacuum. The creation might have been written down by you, but it was created by all of society, in an abstract sense.

I see what I'm doing as "value added". My years of work are the "value added" part.

Besides, you could easily apply those same concepts to "real" property. Take land-property as an example: the earth was here long before humans. Therefore, any attempts to put up a fence and call this "mine" or "yours" is wrong. The farmer sells crops - but he didn't construct the seeds ex-nihilo, he didn't sit down and design the genetics, he didn't create the sunlight or the soil. Therefore, farmers should not be entitled to sell crops. They should not have the benefit of laws that prevent people from taking them without paying him, because he was not 100% responsible for creating the food. And your car? It's made mostly of glass and metal. The metal was pulled out of the ground. The glass is made from sand. It's all from the earth - not created by man. Therefore, land-property, food crops, and anything made of glass and metal cannot be "property" - because no one constructed them in a vacuum. Once you bring in "value added", suddenly cars and crops become legitimate property. The same goes for the digital world.

Re:Yarrrrr...

[brit74]

1. I didn't setup the copyright system, so don't blame me for "[fucking] us over".
2. I'm not defending the excessively long copyright lengths that we see. Personally, I think ten or twenty years is plenty. What I'm arguing about is the idea that copyright lengths should be eliminated, or filesharing legalized. What those things do is effectively reduce copyright lengths to 0 seconds. Heck, I've toyed with the idea of putting my own work under a much shorter copyright length (like a 14-year founder's copyright) or something shorter. Why would I do that? Simply because I don't agree with current copyright.