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03.06.09 Norway ISP Will Not Ban Pirate Bay  By Bruce Houghton Norwegian ISP Telenor has rejected calls to block Pirate Bay and punish its users.Telenor rejected demands from the recording trade group IFPI and Norway's film producers to block access to the Swedish website and says it and found no legal basis for the demand for ISPs to control or assess the content users download. Telenor is not alone in its stance. While all sides have called for greater cooperation between rights holders and ISPs, few service providers have gone beyond warning letters to customers. "The problem is that the business model for selling digital content...has not adapted to the reality of the Internet. The problem is not the ISPs, rather the rights holders themselves," says Telenor Norway head Ragnar Kårus. "It is the rights holder's job to develop sustainable business models" "Telenor is of the opinion it is the rights holder's job to develop sustainable business models for contentdelivery over the Internet. It is possible to do this effectively (more) as proven by global successes in this area including iTunes and Telenor's own music downloading service. The enormous market for downloading ringtones and games to mobile telephones are other examples of people's willingness to pay for digital content if the business model is right."
"Our experience is that people are willing to pay for legal content on the Internet, if the price and availability are good, and the quality and user experience are right," says Ragnar Kårhus. In a letter to the legal firm, Simonsen Advokatfirma DA, on Friday, Telenor rejected the demand put forward on behalf of the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), the Norwegian videogram association (Norsk Videogramforening) and the Norwegian Film Distributors Association (Norske Filmbyråers Forening), to block access to The Pirate Bay. In Telenor's opinion, ISPs are not complicit in the actions of its customers on the Internet. "We comply with all relevant laws and regulations and can see no legal basis for any ISP to act in the interests of digital intellectual property rights holders by blocking individual websites," says Kårhus. "Asking an ISP to control and assess what Internet users can and cannot download is just as wrong as asking the post office to open and read letters and decide what should and should not be delivered." Comments About the Author: Bruce Houghton is a 25 year music industry veteran who owns booking agency Skyline Music and the tour marketing company Skyline Innovations. http://www.hypebot.com |
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