MPA Will Begin Norway File-Sharing Crackdown This Month

[Rock001]

After a hiatus of more than two years, anti-piracy companies and rights holders will begin monitoring Norwegian file-sharers this month. The last time spying on P2P networks was allowed was back in 2011 but in less than 30 days content organizations, including the powerful MPA, will resume their work. BitTorrent users will be the number one target.

For years file-sharers in Norway have had somewhat of an easy rise after it was determined in 2011 that the only entity allowed to monitor and collect data on P2P networks would not longer be permitted to do so.

By May that same year it became clear that the government wouldn’t stand idly by, with a Ministry of Culture announcing amendments to the country’s Copyright Act. The promise was that movie and record companies would be given “the tools they need” to tackle infringement.

On July 1 the new law was passed and along with it a framework that would allow any rightsholder or trade group to spy on file-sharers providing they inform the data inspectorate in advance. After a somewhat slow start, copyright holders are now getting themselves organized and are almost ready to start.

The MPA, the international branch of the MPAA, and its associates including the Norwegian Videograms Association, Norwegian Association of Film Distributors, and the Norwegian Society of Composers and Lyricists, are among the organizations that have recently advised the inspectorate that their monitoring will soon begin.

Of course, all the data gathered will need to be subsequently handled and processed. That task will be carried out by the infamous pirate-hunting law firm, Simonsen.

Read the rest of the article here