Data Protection Makes Identifying Online Pirates a Nightmare
Written by enigmax on June 10, 2009Norway’s data protection department has indicated that ISPs must delete all personal IP address-related data just 3 weeks after collection. The instruction, initially given to two ISPs but applicable to them all, means that it will be incredibly difficult to take action against file-sharers.
Previously it hasn’t been particularly easy for copyright holders to go after alleged infringers in Norway, but just recently the country’s telecoms regulator said that file-sharers’ identities can be given to copyright holders, providing a court agrees there is a good reason to hand them over. This means that these individuals can be pursued through the courts, or through “pay up or else” type threats.
However, the authority in charge of data protection in Norway has just made that process much, much harder for the copyright holders, since it has instructed two ISPs – Tele2 and Lyse Tele – to delete all IP address-related personal information they hold on their customers which is more than 3 weeks old.
According to Aftenposten the decision, borne of the Personal Data Act which prohibits the storage of unnecessary data, will apply to all ISPs in Norway such as Canal Digital, NextGenTel, Telenor and others.
The fact that data can only be held for just 21 days will see the immediate deletion of IP information held on around 1.6 million subscribers by these Norwegian ISPs. However, the decision flies in the face of European Union rules which say that this type of data must be held for at least 6 months – right now in Norway, data retention can be anything from a few days to five months.
The process of monitoring file-sharers, gathering evidence and then collating it all into an acceptable format can be time consuming. Add this to the time taken to get into the system to obtain a court order from a judge to force the ISPs to hand over data on their customers, and you end up with a period longer than 21 days. By which time the data has gone and the evidence becomes useless, since it’s impossible to identity the alleged infringer.
Movie industry lawyer Espen Tondel isn’t going to like this, one little bit.
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64 Responses
first? XD
21 days? that’s awesome. Hope it gets also applied all over the europe.
Awesome!
I wonder if this has anything to do with all of norway’s internet traffic going through sweden…
hmm. nah, that’d be silly.
Norway FTW!
Sweet first time i posted and first 4th. Yah more privacy. Lets hope the U.S. does this. NOT!!!!
_ F1_RS_T _ ! _ !
3 weeks is more than enough for getting your balls busted. it takes only some hours in germany from when the copyrights holders inform the police till the info at the isp gets locked, and won´t be deleted any more.
However, the decision flies in the face of European Union rules which say that this type of data must be held for at least 6 months
…
you do know Norway is not a member of the European Union eh? they don’t have to give a shit about what the EU wants/does..they have enough money :D
the decision flies in the face of European Union rules
Norway is not in the EU.
Norway isn’t an EU member, God bless ‘em.
not long to go till the moron geezers who hate technology and p2p are replaced by our generation in government, im looking forward to being there when the record labels die and p2p declared not a crime
@PirateLover,
+1 bro.
And on topic, Espen Tondel can go suck dirty monkey balls along with the executives of the industry he represents.
Keep in mind that not all European countries are in the EU.
This is not a problem at all. From a legal perspective, you just get a court order which is time activated. All the court order says is that the rights holder can submit IPs to the ISPs over a certain period of time for disclosure.
Norway is not a member of EU, but it is a member of EØS which basically places it “under” EU without actually becoming a member.
I hope the Norwegians invade and enforce their oppressive laws on us all!!!
rather interesting. Its like collecting dust.. why do you need it? plus copyright holders would have “solved” this “problem” now if they think they’re so good at what they do (or dilligent)and if their reasoning (not makin any reference to any reasoned nicknames by the way) is of trust. 8+ years of “hard work” and look.. people are still sharing… my torrents are still going, my cd & dvd burner still work… so catch me if you can :P . Oh by theway still waiting on torrentfreak’s DCMA takedown notice (to take down their articles from hard drive cache) I downloaded (oh excuse me, not downloaded.. but articles I stole). I’m not sure what court to go to yet but I’ll arrange with torrentfreak’s leagal team to see what is the most convenient for them. Again, I’m sorry for stealing your graphics, your adverts, your user coments and articles… please forgive me torrentfreak for being such an ambitious pirate of your site!
#9
#10
#19
Norway is a meber of the EEA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Area
so basically Norway agrees to all EU low
@ 18
No they don’t only laws that involve competition this is a privacy law
I’m proud of having lived in Norway and learned their language! Go Norway!
to author: typo near end: “since it’s impossible to identity the alleged infringer.”
should be identify not identity
@PirateLover,
You know at one time when I was a young lad, I thought just the same as you. That those things that made obvious sense, yet the established powers that be were against, would have to wait until our generation grew up to take the reigns of power to make things right.
Guess what? In the words of Bruce Springsteen, “Met the new boss, same as the old boss” developed to be truer than the words implied.
Those now in power are of my generation, much to my dismay. You see, when you get out in the world and have to make a living working a job, you wind up having to conform to the establishment to hold and keep that job. That means that the way things were is most likely the way they will continue to be.
Honestly, I pray you are right, that when your generation is “in” things will be different. Still you’ll pardon me if I don’t hold my breath. People will still be greedy for money, people will still scheme on how to get ahead at someone elses expense, and companies that hire labor will still want them to present themselves in a certain light to hold the job.
Hmm, in the above response I failed to continue on with the topic at hand. I say good on Norway.
The copyright enforcement actions have made themselves so distasteful that the courts and governments of the world are getting wise to their methods and actions and it isn’t setting well with any not wrapped up in the trying to protect the income stream.
Sooner or later this has to come to a head. Either the dinosaurs learn new ways or they follow in the footsteps of their kin. I would rather see them do the latter both for a lesson in hubris, and for a lesson in what greed gets you when you let it rule the roost.
This is a nice way to put a roadblock in their plans.
still too long
i WILL STOP PIRATING, I promise…when…they make a return policy on bad products. I think a 30 day return policy on music movies and games is fair. Imagine getting your money back for a movie that has no ending. Leaving you hanging for a sequel. Thats garbage and its not moral. Also, Paying $50 for a game that constantly needs patches to fix all the problems it has and creates for its users. And horrid music. You pay $16 for a CD filled with garbage other than the 1 or maybe 2 songs that inspired you to purchase it. Software that is incredibly difficult to use to its potential. Thank God, for piratebay and its kin. It has saved me from spending alot of money on garbage. Believe me when I say, I have deleted as much as I have downloaded. And certainly have software and music and movies that sit idle on the shelf that would have gone directly back to where I bought it if I could have forseen the utter dissapointment that it brought me. WHERES MY REFUND!!
@25
LOL, I’m with you, thats a great Idea…LOL
I too will stop pirating when it is possible to return a shitty movie, or a game that sux so bad that even old mario bros pwns it….
if ive said it once ive said it a thousand times, it is now possible to try before you buy.
so if lars ulrich of metallica gives me back my 30 dollars for the last 2 cd’s he put out, i wont upload his discography for free. LOL
Hope it gets harder.
Hoooray, they need meedio service now!
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Great idea from Norway. I’d like to see this happen in other countries. It’s a good step towards online privacy.
http://antimatter.atbhost.net/?p=43
“However, the decision flies in the face of European Union rules which say that this type of data must be held for at least 6 months – right now in Norway, data retention can be anything from a few days to five months.”
Norway is not a EU member… is it?
Lol, my bad for not reading fast enough…
@6 epic fail
This will go on my twitter and facebook page. Strictly cut and paste.
to them it’s probably not about the users, it’s about the money makers.
Check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kBGNU892tI
NOW TO THE BIG QUESTION: WHERE CAN I GET A NORWAY VPN?
cool story bro :)
. http://www.20minutes.fr/article/331417/High-Tech-SnowTigers-entre-40-a-50-teras-octets-de-donnees-saisies-en-France-et-a-l-etranger.php
go europe!!! fook them american cartels in the ass!!!
Norway isn’t in EU, so technically they can do whatever they want and tell EU to gtfo or else.
Pirate Tondel?
?????? ??? ??????? ???????? ????? ????????????? ????, ? ?? ????????? ????? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ??????? ????????.
So if there is a real crime and they delete it, don’t they destroy evidence? Isn’t that illegal? I think there are exceptions where they don’t delete after 3 weeks.
more stupid laws to let sharers, who are nothing more than thieves and criminals escape the system.
when will these countries realise action needs to be taken to stop pirating before it ruins these industries forever.
Just throw in the terrorist card and you will see dem raise the retention to forever. :)
@Mauritz (18): A Norwegian friend has described EEA membership as ‘obey without say’ – agreeing to be bound by the rules of the EU, while having no influence on those rules. This isn’t entirely true. As that Wikipedia page points out, it’s only certain aspects of EU legislation. I’d have thought that the Data Retention Directive comes squarely under policing and justice, and so Norway won’t be obliged to transpose it into Norwegian law. But, the whole Europe thing is such a complicated mess, I could be wrong.
Privacy laws stand strong in Norway. We’re also getting faster and faster broadband. Win/win
Great, now do this in the UK!
norway is the greatest country to live in according to micheal moore and this helps solidify that opinion…kvlt people but crappy music
Norway uh? then thats where I’m going next, I’ll be safe there…
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“storage of unnecessary data” <–sure the uk use to have some laws for that but seems its just a data free for all now.
norway++ good work :)
Now this is nice.
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Bagwell.
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NORGE NORGE NORGE
@26: Try before you buy doesn’t always work. For example, I recently tried out the demo of Call of Duty: World At War on the Xbox 360 and liked it. So I purchased the full game and to my utter dismay finished it in one single and very short sitting. I wished I had known just how little I would be getting for my $69. I would not have purchased had I known. It’s a reminder that I need to be super vigilant by reading at least several reviews, not rely solely on demos and if possible wait until the game I want hits the bargain bin (not always easy).
@44: When will the entertainment cartel learn that technology has made their business model obsolete and they must therefore explore new ones? I’m willing to bet you everything I own that over 80% of the people you call pirates would be more than happy to pay REASONABLE prices for REASONABLE entertainment. There is still plenty of money to be made as long as people are treated with fairly and honestly. It is up to the industry to find the right path. See, the folks you call pirates? I call them customers and ones that have been gravely mistreated at that. The entertainment industry feels like they are owed and the results have been not unlike a baby throwing a temper tantrum. Stop treating your customers like criminals, find a REASONABLE middle ground that everyone can be happy with, cut your losses and I’ll bet you anything that the entertainment industry flourishes once again. Seriously, which side do you think will win in a long protracted battle over many years? I’ll give you a hint: businesses come and go but consumers (NOT cash cows for milking that you feel you rightfully own) will be around forever.
to bad Norway aint a part of the European Union :)
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Good to see things finally heading in the right direction =]
good feckin story
Norway FTW!!!
since when Norway became EU member?
But we still have to follow many of the EU-regulations.
Det er godt å være norsk i Norge.
How that is compatible with the EU regulations on data retention (which require a retention period of at least 6 months and up to two years [at the implementing country's discretion]) is gonna be interesting.
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