Pirate Bay related decision

In November this year, a decision by a Norwegian District Court concluded that there were no grounds for ordering internet service supplier Telenor to block internet access to The Pirate Bay. According to the IPKat:

“In June 2009 the music and film industry filed a petition for a preliminary injunction requiring Telenor to block its customers’ access to The Pirate Bay. The Asker og Bærum District Court delivered its decision 6 November in favour of Telenor. The court concluded that Telenor did not unlawfully contribute to copyright infringements that take place by its customers’ use of The Pirate Bay. Accordingly, the court held that that there was no legal basis for ordering Telenor to block access to the website. Telenor has repeatedly emphasized that it does not support infringements that take place through use of The Pirate Bay. On the contrary, Telenor co-operates closely with rights holders by establishing solutions for legal downloads and streaming of content. The case did not concern the question of whether customers of Telenor infringed copyright by using The Pirate Bay, but whether Telenor - by granting access to The Pirate Bay -- committed an illegal act. ... In its assessment the court emphasized the unfortunate consequences of imposing blocking obligations on internet service providers. The decision is not yet legally in force. The music and film industry are considering appealing against the decision.”

More on the internet cut-off struggle

According to the EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS, regarding the European Parliament new positon on cutting internet access to persistent online infringers, "Parliament's delegation has agreed a compromise proposal that will serve as a basis for negotiations and towards which the Council and the commission will be able to converge", said French Socialist MEP and one of the main negotiators Catherine Trautmann.


The MEPs insisted that they remained champions of citizens' fundamental rights, however, the compromise text, which would be the basis of discussions, no longer requires that only judicial authorities be allowed to cut off internet access.


MEPs with strong majorities twice inserted an amendment to the telecoms package that would have forbidden member states from restricting internet access without judicial authorisation and only in exceptional circumstances. On 6 October, telecoms ministers formally rejected the parliament's key amendment - Amendment 138.


"Amendment 138 will instead be replaced by a weak provision that does not carry any new important safeguard for citizen's freedoms," said spokesman for France-based internet freedom pressure group La Quadrature du Net.


The move comes as France's anti-piracy legislation, under which internet access can be cut off, fines imposed and in some cases prison sentences handed down, was finally given the green light by the country's constitutional court. Britain likewise is expected to table similar legislation in the coming weeks.


The parliament, Council and commission delegates will meet behind closed doors on 4 November. They then have six to eight weeks to reach an overall agreement. The two sides - sitting as the full Council and parliament - then have a further six to eight weeks to approve the final agreement without amendment.

Green light to cut persistent file-sharers from the Internet

The European Parliament has dropped an amendment to its Telcoms Package which would have made it hard for countries to prevent persistent online copyright infringers from accessing the Internet without a court decision. Seemingly, this follows pressure from countries keen to adopt tough anti-piracy laws.

As a result, individual countries may be able to ask internet service providers to remove users deemed to be persistent pirates without needing a prior court order.

The amendment to the European Parliament's forthcoming telecoms legislation was designed to protect citizens against being automatically cut off from the Internet. Amendment 138 read:

Any such measures liable to restrict those fundamental rights or freedoms may only be taken in exceptional circumstances...and shall be subject to adequate procedural safeguards in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights.. including effective judicial protection and due process."

The issue that needs to be addressed is whether internet access is a fundamental right. The European Parliament has already adopted a provision stating that internet access is "critical for the practical exercise of a wide array of fundamental rights" and the UK prime minister Gordon Brown has said that people are as entitled to internet access as to gas, water and electricity.

Source: BBC News