A new anti-P2P campaign will begin in Norway tomorrow. Entitled “Share – Not Steal” the campaign is supported by 36 industry groups including IFPI, TV, movie, games and software associations, along with (at the time of writing) another 1750+ artists, musicians and other copyright holders.
The campaign carries a petition which hopes to force Norway’s political parties to show their intentions on unauthorized file-sharing.
“Legal file sharing is good. Illegal file sharing is theft,” begins a statement from the organizers, which goes on to say that just because everyone is doing it, it doesn’t mean to say that the practice should be legalized.
“Currently the systematic and organized piracy of digital media is carried out to the extent that the very existence of the basis for artists, composers, artists, filmmakers, writers and other rights holders are threatened,” it adds.
The organizers say that some political parties have proposed the “legalization of software piracy” by compensating the original creators through the budget or taxes, “rather than ensuring that Norwegian law is enforced” against infringers.
The organizers hope that the petition will force Norway’s political parties to become more open and clarify their stance on the issue of unauthorized file-sharing and copyright issues before the country’s elections this fall.
