Scandinavian pirates had a good weekend

Last week, judges both in Denmark and in Norway have ruled to the disadvantage of rights holders.

In Norway, the court decided that ISP Telenor, the biggest Internet provider of the nation, does not need to block access to The Pirate Bay, reports Torrentfreak. Ifpi, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, representing the music industry worldwide, had summoned Telenor last March to try and secure such a ban. That has not worked. The judge ruled that Telenor is not accomplishing copyright infringement when her clients share protected content. Therefore, according to the court, there are no legal grounds for ordering Telenor to block TPB.

In Denmark, the Antipiratgruppen, an organisation that fights piracy, has decided not to start cases anymore against individual file-sharers. In practice, it turned out to be very hard to convince the courts of the file-sharers guilt. Of the four cases that the Antipiratgruppen brought to court this year, it only won one. The judges did not consider an IP address enough evidence to find someone guilty. Denmarks High Court ruled similarly. In practice, this means that the Antipiratgruppen needs to catch file-sharers red-handed, or that they confess themselves.