Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
The Courts The Internet Your Rights Online

Norwegian Court Rules ISP Doesn't Have To Block The Pirate Bay 154

C4st13v4n14 writes "In a sudden outbreak of uncommon sense yesterday, a Norwegian District Court handed down the decision that Telenor, Norway's largest ISP, will not have to block access to The Pirate Bay. Telenor was sued earlier this year by the IFPI after being threatened and not backing down. 'The court ruled that Telenor is not contributing to any infringements of copyright law when its subscribers use The Pirate Bay, and therefore there is no legal basis for forcing the ISP to block access to the site. ... In making its decision, the court also had to examine the repercussions if it ruled that Telenor and other ISPs had to block access to certain websites.'"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Norwegian Court Rules ISP Doesn't Have To Block The Pirate Bay

Comments Filter:
  • by MrLeap ( 1014911 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:11AM (#30012552)
    Why is norway always ahead of the curve in nearly everything?
    • by Nuno Sa ( 1095047 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:18AM (#30012566)

      It's cold there... Anyway it's nice to see that some countries have not fallen for the global brainwashing taking place today around the world.

      Congrats to them!
      (It's here, the dark ages began: we have to congratulate common sense)

      • by Narpak ( 961733 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @02:51AM (#30012776)

        In a sudden outbreak of uncommon sense yesterday..

        I shall be a bit pedantic that this isn't the first time the Norwegian courts actually use reason and rational assessment before issuing a verdict.

        A man was taken to court for uploading a pirated version of the Norwegian movie "Falne Engler" and was let go with a warning. This and the fact that Kripos (special investigation unit) refused to "waste resources" investigating illegal file sharing (though also because of the current Norwegian law makes it difficult to prosecute anyone for file sharing); has members of the Norwegian movie/music/whatever lobby fuming.
        Rudimentary translated quote from Ketil Haukaas, assistant chief of Kripos [teknofil.no]
        We have dedicated investigators in some areas, like war crimes and internet related abuse of children. File sharing doesn't not warrant that kind of priority

        Vi har dedikerte etterforskere på noen områder, som krigsforbrytelser og internettrelaterte overgrep mot barn. Problemområdet fildeling tilsier ikke en slik prioritet at det er en fornuftig vei å gå


        Up to the point that article was written (in 2008) 182 reports of illegal file sharing had been delivered by IFPI; four were investigated and the only case "solved" was the one I mentioned earlier where the perpetrator was let go with a warning.

        So this "out break of common sense" wasn't exactly sudden.

      • by juletre ( 739996 )
        We are beginning to catch up. The words "terrorist" and "pedophile" are used as often as possible to get what you want politically.
        • I want to carry a gun as self-defense against pedophiles and terrorists. It's for the children.

          "No" - democrat

          See? That argument doesn't always work.

    • by haruchai ( 17472 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:28AM (#30012596)

      Cold weather, hot women, health care, and common sense. If their food is any good, maybe I'll move also

      • by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:50AM (#30012638) Homepage Journal

        Four out of five [wikipedia.org] isn't bad, I suppose. *sigh*

      • Have you forgotten about global warming? Soon enough Norway might be the new Costa Rica: hot weather AND women. The food will probably be hot and spicy, too. But will the women still be fair-skinned and blonde? Hope you like the Latin/Caribbean/Mediterranean look.

        • Global warming will not increase the amount of sunlight received in Norway. The people will still be light-skinned.

          • by macraig ( 621737 )

            Sure it will! The mass migration of billions of people to the New Tropic of Cancer will tilt the earth over on its axis a bit so that Norway gets all the rays.

      • by u38cg ( 607297 ) <calum@callingthetune.co.uk> on Saturday November 07, 2009 @03:53AM (#30012978) Homepage
        Check out the price of beer first though. They didn't get everything *quite* right...
        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

          Exactly, and it's the same in all scandinavian countries (for all alcohol). Majority comes from the insane taxation of alcohol, which is supposed to increase general health.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            As studies show (and yes, I've read the studies; they make sense), it does.

            • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

              by sopssa ( 1498795 ) *

              It also makes the drinking culture different. Instead of socially drinking a few drinks/beers, people get mad drunk on weekends "because it costs so much, so we drink all we can when we do". That also leads to all kinds of other kind of problems.

              Alcohol results in much worse results when you have to go for the full price at single times instead of spreading it around, like how the drinking culture is in germany and france.

              • by bogjobber ( 880402 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @07:33AM (#30013514)
                That's not really as constant as you make it seem. In many countries that have cheap booze and very tolerant attitudes toward alcohol people get drunk like crazy (Spain, UK being examples) while others do not. I'm sure if alcohol prices dropped in Scandinavian countries there would be more drinking, but cultural factors are probably more important.
          • by juletre ( 739996 )
            Good wine is cheap, bad wine expensive.

            Because vinmonopolet ("the wine monopoly", the only place to get wine) is stately driven its prices are regulated by law. Everything gets a tax depending on the alcohol content and then a flat fee is added on top of that. The trick is that noting of this is connected to what polet (or "the pole" as it is know) actually paid for the wine.
            When they have a really good wine they cannot point to demand and raise the prices as a private store owner would do. This makes c
        • by IrquiM ( 471313 )

          Compare it to the wages. A McDonald's worker gets at least as much beer as in US for his paycheck.

        • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

          by Tubal-Cain ( 1289912 )
          Who cares about beer? I want to know the prices of caffeinated beverages.
      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Its the perfect country, the problem is that its infested by smug norwegians.. /love from sweden

      • Cold weather, hot women, health care, and common sense. If their food is any good, maybe I'll move also

        Whether the food is good depends on where you are. There's a quite good selection in the cities in the southern part of the country (most of the ones you'll hear about), both in terms of quality and availability in shops and restaurants (ethnic or french inspired, for the most part). There's more remote parts that have a horrid selection.

        Norway does not really have that much of a classic food culture; we used to be poor. The present day food culture is to a large degree imported; lots of Italian and a bi

        • by hitmark ( 640295 )

          another thing to consider is that the seasons do not allow for much fresh food year round, unless one imports, so a lot of the traditional foods are stuff that's salted/pickled, dried, or that basically keeps over the winter.

        • There's more remote parts that have a horrid selection.

          Speaking of horrid, what's that last item on the list below? I don't dare try it. It's all chopped up so as to be unrecognizable. ;)

          • biff - steak
          • selbiff - seal cutlets
          • kvalbiff - 'harpoon' special
          • kyllingbiff - chicken breasts
          • kalkunbiff - turkeybreasts
          • svinbiff - pork cutlets
          • sejbiff - saithe cutlets
          • sojabiff - tofu (or somesuch) cutlets
          • lammbiff - lamb cutlets
          • . . .
          • finnbiff - ??wtf??
          • by Lavene ( 1025400 )

            Speaking of horrid, what's that last item on the list below? I don't dare try it. It's all chopped up so as to be unrecognizable. ;)

            • ...
            • . . .
            • finnbiff - ??wtf??

            It's reindeer :)

          • As others have told you, finnbiff is reindeer cut into small pieces. It's just pure, lean meat, often served with a sauce of sour cream, onion, mushrooms spiced with juniper berries and black pepper, usually with lingonberry (AKA cowberry, or in norwegian "tyttebær") jam and boiled potatoes on the side.

            Eivind.

    • by saladpuncher ( 633633 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:51AM (#30012642) Homepage
      • Now to learn norwegian. Du lukter dritgodt.

      • by Narpak ( 961733 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @03:06AM (#30012812)
        From the Huffingtonpost article "Norway's consistently high rating for desirable living standards, is, in large part, the result of the discovery of offshore oil and gas deposits in the late 1960s."

        What isn't mentioned is that when oil and gas were discovered the Norwegian government decided to nationalize those resources (meaning state owned and operated) as the profit from such industry should benefit all the citizens of Norway. They then proceeded to borrow tons of money from various other nations with security in future revenue and spent that money (and the mentioned future revenue; now past and present revenue) to invest heavily in infrastructure (schools, hospitals, roads and etc). Also they offered public scholarships and decent student loans to everyone with the grades to get into a University; as a highly educated population was, and is, seen as beneficial to Norwegian society.

        Norway, as the other nations of Scandinavia (to a varying degree); are Social democracies [wikipedia.org] (as in Socialist Democracies); which is held, at least by the center->left side of politics (and to be fair some on the right in Norway are to the left of those on the left in nations like the US) as the reason for our high standard of living up to this point.
        • by Narpak ( 961733 )
          Forgot to add that Norway is today a so called mixed economical system [wikipedia.org] as we use democratic reforms and reason to mix socialistic and capitalistic ideas to achieve balance.
          • by hitmark ( 640295 )

            Tho lately it seems reason is heading out the door, thanks to at least one political party importing their style from USA...

            • by hkmwbz ( 531650 )
              The party you are probably referring to is closer to the Democrats than the Republicans, though. They want nationalized health care, in that even though they open up for private health care, the government still pays the bill. In US terms, that party is a left-leaning party.
        • by Logopop ( 234246 )

          Today, though, public spending in Norway is a bit out of control, while revenue from oil and gas is likely to dwindle over the next decades. Unless, og course, we do as we have already started - to invest heavily in oil and gas exploration in poorer countries where the resources are not nationalized to the benefit of the people. The system is rapidly getting less sustainable. Add to this the ethical side of basing your welfare on having to supply massive amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere. It's a great place

        • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Us Norwegians really come out in full on slashdot whenever we're mentioned, don't we.

          Anyway, we have to realize that much of our "success" has been pure luck, in the form of the above mentioned oil. I for one am not so sure how well our social democracy will fare once the oil runs out. It's a fantastic place to live while it lasts, but when it ends there's no substantial source of income to replace it with.

          • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

            by Narpak ( 961733 )

            Anyway, we have to realize that much of our "success" has been pure luck, in the form of the above mentioned oil. I for one am not so sure how well our social democracy will fare once the oil runs out. It's a fantastic place to live while it lasts, but when it ends there's no substantial source of income to replace it with.

            The presence of oil and gas and the benefit to the Norwegian economy could be said to be luck; how that profit was managed was not however. Though I do agree that the oil have made our nation somewhat more complacent than we should.

            However at this point oil export is about half the total exports of the country which is fairly substantial; but we are by no means without other "sources of income". Though I shall agree that some of our other industries have been neglected as our focus was on oil and gas. Ther

        • by Mascot ( 120795 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @05:36AM (#30013198)

          It should be added, that since then we have barely spent any money on roads (cars are evil, we should all be waiting for trains that never run instead).

          Which means we're juddering along on roads with 1960s standards much of the time.

          • by Narpak ( 961733 )
            On the subject of roads it can be added that a lot of different regions initiate road building projects that are abandoned by the next local administration before they are finished. Resulting in a not insignificant amount of roads leading to absolutely nowhere; or to a mountain wall where a tunnel was planned but never started, or finished.
        • by hkmwbz ( 531650 )
          So what you are saying is that Norway manages to be an awesome country because it can basically suck money straight out of the ground.

          What happens when the supply of money runs out?

        • Exactly, the rest of Scandinavia has no oil and the standard of living is very comparable to Norway. Of course the oil helps but all about politics. Norway prioritizes the common good before private profit. That is why you are likely to have courts that doesn't look upon copyright infringement as to be so serious as to need special treatment. That's why they have free health care, nice prisons (criminals are also people) and strict laws on alcohol. /Swede

        • Well! Finally someone has solved the "where will the neverending flow of new money come from" aspect of socialism that has bedeviled so many attempts to implement it.
      • by C4st13v4n14 ( 1001121 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @04:34AM (#30013084)

        Hi, I just wanted to clarify a couple of things about Norway here. I've done this before, you can see a rather lengthy post about Norway here [slashdot.org]. I hope you find it useful in your immigration plans or at least interesting. I wrote uncommon sense when I posted the article because Norway has the habit of banning everything and making life really boring. Some things do make sense, and I really think my home country, the good old USA, could learn a lot from them. If you've been following the Norwegian news at all, you'll find that Norwegian judges and politicians try to do what they think is best for the people. They're not by any means pro-pirate, but they refuse to give into pressure from big business to make decisions that will compromise the freedom of the people. This is one thing I like about my new home.

        I moved to Norway a little more than two years ago. I'm a doctor here, working as a GP/family doctor, I'm originally from the United States. I meet hundreds of Norwegians every week, a new one about every 20 minutes for 9-10 hours a day, so I feel if there's one thing I can comment on, it's the people. In submitting the article, I called it uncommon sense. This is because Norway generally bans everything and brainwashes its people to become suspicious little watch dogs. The fines are so stiff that it scares people into even trying something new or foreign. Take driving, for instance, they are so afraid of going over the speed limit that they drive under it. Norwegian speed limits are notoriously low for the conditions. A straight divided highway in the middle of nowhere will have a speed limit of 80 kph (about 49 mph) and people will drive 70. It drives me insane, especially because I've just switched jobs and have to commute 130 km a day. Turns a 30 min drive into almost an hour. In areas where it's safe and legal to pass, people freak out and call the police because it's something people don't really have the balls to do. I've gotten pulled over a few times for "impolite driving". I know, it sounds ridiculous.

        Norway is quite isolated both geographically and socially. This has created a national suspicious and xenophobic attitude towards foreigners and new things. They were also in "unions" with Denmark and Sweden for hundreds of years, which is why they are very nationalistic and haven't joined the European Union. Up until around the 1970s, which is when they found oil, they were little more than farmers without any higher education or purpose. There weren't even roads connecting all the different parts of Norway until the mid 20th century, which is why more than 100 dialects of the Norwegian language survive until today and make learning the Norwegian language difficult. They didn't know a thing about oil so they enlisted an American company to help them find the reserves under the sea and develop the industry. Now they're the richest country in the world. They've avoided the mistakes of other countries and invested the money. Now they're the richest country in the world in terms of money in the bank. They invested a lot of money in socialism, which is why Norwegians don't really worry about anything and have a pretty relaxed attitude towards everything because they're always taken care of.

        Health care is also something I can comment on due to my profession, and I believe I've done so here [slashdot.org].

        Norwegian women are typically not hot. They also suffer from what I call Norway's form of "Westernism". Many of them don't really watch their weight or what they eat. The hot ones know they're hot. Contemporary Norwegian women have also a peculiar trait I'd never seen before moving here, they are much stronger than the Norwegian men and have most of the power in a relationship. This isn't true of the older generation. I lived in Eastern Europe for several years between the US and Norway and those women are the hottest in t

        • Seriously, this is enlightenment from the Norwegian fjords!

        • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07, 2009 @05:54AM (#30013222)

          It sounds like you live somewhere out in the sticks and have not been able to fit in. You almost sound a little bitter.

          I have lived in Oslo for the past ten years and what you are describing is unfamiliar to me. It's like I should move to Arkansas and write a generalization of the US based on my experiences there.

          Specifically;
          - The women are often very hot and generally take good care of themselves. But they can be quite stuck up and demanding.
          - It is not true that they were just uneducated farmers before the oil. They had one of the worlds largest fleets long before that.
          - It is true that the prices are high, but not compared to their income. Their PPP is one of the highest in the world.
          - Most people dont want the EU because the country is so wealthy there is very little the EU can offer. I dont think Xenophoby comes into it
          - "They invested a lot of money in socialism" .. What does that even mean? Are you talking about the welfare state?
          - "This is because Norway generally bans everything and brainwashes its people to become suspicious little watch dogs." - I cant think what you mean with this. Norwat is pretty liberal compared to the country you come from. (Except for alcohol and speed limits)

          Mod parent down

          • Please mod this up TOO - it looks that (as usual) there is room in a whole country for more than one way of life, and this one is as worthy of being known as the one that got posted first. Together they're really useful - thanks.

          • by C4st13v4n14 ( 1001121 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @08:32AM (#30013712)

            It's interesting to me that every single person I've ever met in Norway who lives in Oslo regards the rest of Norway as "the sticks". I have lived in three different parts of Norway, Oslo being one of them. I'm from a large city and Oslo was more like a village than city. I didn't even know how to describe it before a Norwegian called it that. Oslo is okay, there are things happening there and interesting people, there are good restaurants, shops, bars, clubs, cinemas. People outside of Oslo tell me "Oslo is not Norway" whilst people from Oslo tell me "Norway is Oslo". It's all your point of view. I'm reporting on my experiences alone. I have quite a few friends here, but they're all foreigners. I am not intellectually stimulated by Norwegians at the least. The conversations doctors have at lunch revolve around one or two topics. At this time of year, it's cross country skiing. I work with four other doctors in a practice and all we can talk about at lunch is that or swineflu. It was the same when I was working at a major hospital.

            The women, in perfect honesty, beat out most American women almost every single time. But I've travelled extensively and I have lived in many places, not just here and in Eastern Europe. The women here pale in comparison to most other European women. Take another country I've lived in, a small one called Iceland. The people there are spectacular. I love them to death. The women? Absolutely fabulous. They refer to Norwegian women as "burger butts". They are a very open and warm people who speak English very well. I felt very accepted there. The bad? Well, they're broke for one. Also, it's impossible to get a job there.

            One pet peeve of mine here in Norway is that about 90% of Norwegians don't even try to pronounce my typical English name correctly. When I introduce myself, many of them look down and say "ja vel" (translation: um, okay). It often seems like a put down a lot of the time because many people I have daily dealings with repeatedly mispronounce it. Please. It's a very easy name to pronounce. I've been told that the reason for this is that Norwegians don't like to make mistakes, so they won't try to pronounce my name right for fear of that. When I take a patient into my office for a consultation, about 50% react in the stereotypical xenophobic way when I shake their hands and introduce myself as their doctor and tell them my name. About 30% are embarrassed and try to say it. 10% are just happy I'm there and enthusiastic about getting seen. 10% get it right and become interested in me as a person and ask me where I'm from. I'm of course not here to be asked where I'm from, but it's nice once in a while when someone takes an interest in you. That's a major issue in this culture. I haven't figured out if it's egotism or what, but no one seems interested in each other. I feel like I have good contact with and form a bond with a very small percentage of my patients. There's a good book that describes the people here exactly. I read it in German, the title was Pferden stehlen (Stealing Horses). It might be that in English. Anyway, at one point in the story it's summer and a guy moves into a house out in the country. He looks out his window and sees his neighbour's house and says to himself "hmmm, I think I'll drop by and say hello after Christmas." Haha. To me, that's unbelievable. It takes people here a very long time to warm up to you and people are very happy to stay in the same job in the same place for 30 years. It's almost admired. Someone like me who likes to see the world, experience different cultures, and meet different people are seen with suspicion. I think that having an understand or at least experience with many different cultures is an asset. People here don't see it like that. Since people here travel very little aside from countries like Turkey, Greece, and Spain, they really have nothing to talk about with me.

            The other thing that gets me about this first 50% of people who see me with suspicion or loo

            • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

              by IrquiM ( 471313 )

              I'm sorry, but you're not describing the Norway I live in. I work with a lot of foreign people from all over the world, and their opinion is quite the opposite of what you're saying.

              The only part you got correct is the fear of EU, which is mostly just people that doesn't know what they're arguing against.

            • by Omestes ( 471991 )

              When I take a patient into my office for a consultation, about 50% react in the stereotypical xenophobic way when I shake their hands and introduce myself as their doctor and tell them my name. About 30% are embarrassed and try to say it. 10% are just happy I'm there and enthusiastic about getting seen. 10% get it right and become interested in me as a person and ask me where I'm from. I'm of course not here to be asked where I'm from, but it's nice once in a while when someone takes an interest in you.

              You

            • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

              by Khenke ( 710763 )

              Lucky us non english speaking people you american's would never insult us if we spell of pronounce anything wrong. And we really look up to how you treat Mexican/Indian/Chinese/Black/European/Arab/Poor/African people.
              And we are really thankful for everything you push on us since we don't understand better.

              I wish we was so open and understanding as you are. I'm really trying as you can see, but forgive me if I'm not good enough.
               

            • by Lavene ( 1025400 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @05:57PM (#30017078)

              When I take a patient into my office for a consultation, about 50% react in the stereotypical xenophobic way when I shake their hands and introduce myself as their doctor and tell them my name.

              This might be the reason: We hate foreign doctors. So when you introduce yourself they're going "Oh fuck... another one of those!" And the reason we hate foreign doctors is that they don't understand when they really need to.

              It is not racism, it has nothing to do with skin color or anything. If you had been a carpenter or a tram driver no one would care. But as a doctor we need to talk to you. Not only that; you need to understand us if we one day is really sick, in horrible pain and speak with a dialect that's almost incomprehensible even for the locals. So when we shake hands with a foreign doctor, either his name is Singh or Jhonny, we go "Fuck!" in our mind hoping there will be a Norwegian doctor available to save us at the hospital after you have failed to understand what we try to say.

              It doesn't matter how well you think you know Norwegians, or even how well you speak Norwegian. Because we have all met with the foreign doctor from hell. The doctor that pretend to understand everything, maybe he even think he does. But when you are at the pharmacy to pick up the prescription you get painkillers instead of birthcontrol pills. And you are that doctor... until you prove otherwise.

            • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

              by hkmwbz ( 531650 )

              I am not intellectually stimulated by Norwegians at the least. The conversations doctors have at lunch revolve around one or two topics.

              Maybe you are just hanging around with the wrong crowd. It seems odd to describe 4-5 million Norwegian based on a bunch of rich dudes around a table.

              Take another country I've lived in, a small one called Iceland. The people there are spectacular. I love them to death. The women? Absolutely fabulous. They refer to Norwegian women as "burger butts".

              Burger butts? Sounds like

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by Sheen ( 1180801 )
          I do not know where in norway you live, but what you describe...doesnt sound like the same country i live in, here in western norway ( bergen ) people push the speedlimit, average speed on a 80 kph highway is about 85, police wont bother you until you're over 90-95. The same city in question, has historicly been a major trading city, even before americas was discovered ( Hanseatic League 1200 AD->), and is still one of the most visited ports in the world, in trade and in tourism. There has also been all
          • by hkmwbz ( 531650 )

            average speed on a 80 kph highway is about 85, police wont bother you until you're over 90-95

            That's not true from what I hear. If you drive too fast, you drive too fast.

        • Take driving, for instance, they are so afraid of going over the speed limit that they drive under it.

          It's a speed limit, isn't it? Isn't it common sense to drive below a limit? I've lived for many years in a country where drivers are too often killers. The courts are lenient towards drivers that cause accidents. Drivers drive too fast too often, but nothing changes.

          Norway sounds like heaven, from your description. The fact that you think breaking the law by driving over the limit is "common sense", speaks volumes about yourself.

        • by hkmwbz ( 531650 )

          Norwegian speed limits are notoriously low for the conditions. A straight divided highway in the middle of nowhere will have a speed limit of 80 kph (about 49 mph) and people will drive 70.

          Huh? That's not my experience. Some roads have a 110 (or 120?) kph speed limit, and the traffic generally flows well above the limit.

          Up until around the 1970s, which is when they found oil, they were little more than farmers without any higher education or purpose.

          Actually, Norway was more of a fishing/shipping nation t

          • by hitmark ( 640295 )

            the default speed for open roads with few intersections are 80kph, 90 used on "highway" classed roads.

            there are however one or more stretches of recent completion where they have allowed 100 as a test bed for future projects.

            do note however that research have shown that while higher speed means the individual vehicle gets to its destination faster, lower speed allows more vehicles to pass a stretch of road in the same amount of time, as they can drive closer together.

            so speed limits will be a balance betwee

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Khenke ( 710763 )

      I'm from Sweden and have on and off for 20 years been thinking of moving to Norway
      A move for me would be easy, as we are close neighbors and a lot like each others. I understand them speaking and they me (almost like US and UK english).

      Why have I been thinking about a move?
      Several reasons.
      Easier to get a job than i Sweden (I been in IT for my whole life) is one reason.
      They actually go in the right direction in the development of their country. Sweden implements more and more stupid laws, so soon we have zer

      • by Khenke ( 710763 )

        I can tell a little story of a Norwegian girl I once meet.

        I had just started studying Computer Engineering in Linköping in Sweden when I meet a very lovely girl from Trondheim in Norway visiting a party over the weekend.
        To say the least I was a happy geek for 36 hours and doing non-geek stuff (illegally in public and legally in every other place we could find). ;)

        I/we fell in love but after she left I decided to focus on my studies instead of a girlfriend (I got her address and phone number) in another

      • by hitmark ( 640295 )

        i would wait some years, as right now the EØS agreement with EU makes norwegian politicians introduce more and more laws based on EU decisions, even tho said agreement has a veto clause.

        the reason for said clause not being used more is that said politicians are afraid that doing so will make EU declare the agreement void, and close the EU market for norwegian exports.

        to that i would glady say "fuck 'em, lets look for other markets!", like say how a furniture brand is selling their products to chinese c

  • OO (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:15AM (#30012558)

    Where's the link to send a donation to the judge?

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by chibiace ( 898665 )

      404 link not found.
      no wonder we won ;)
      id like to know how man judges are bribed to "fight" "piracy".

    • Re:OO (Score:4, Funny)

      by gzipped_tar ( 1151931 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:53AM (#30012646) Journal
      Finally, we've caught the infidel who has been bribing judges in all free countries in order harm the honest, starving capitalists! It's Anonymous Coward! Someone get him NOW! Think of the music industry!!1!
      • Think of the music industry!!1!

        I have been, but apparently I'm not the Lathe of Heaven, because they're still here.

  • Pirate Bay? (Score:5, Funny)

    by boudie2 ( 1134233 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @01:18AM (#30012564)

    Yesterday Pirate Bay was shut down never to return.
    Today they're back up.
    If there's one thing to admire about Pirates, it's
    there sticktoitiveness. Yarrr!

  • Good for them (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Myrcutio ( 1006333 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @02:25AM (#30012718)
    Sounds like great news for everyone. A precedent that helps stand against widespread banning of websites can only be a good thing for net neutrality. Means liability for illegal actions can't be retroactively inherited.
  • by Sheen ( 1180801 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @04:24AM (#30013064)
    I would like to add some information about Telenor. Telenor is state owned, 54% of the shares belong to the people/Norwegian state. They have close to 200 million customers worldwide. So this is a big operator in the Telecom world. They have about 43 000 employees. Today, I am proud to be Norwegian.
    • by hitmark ( 640295 )

      well it used to be 100% state owned (televerket) and the only supplier of phone services.

      i would say that the state is a silent partner these days, only there to get some returns on the initial investment, rather then getting involved in the day to day running of the company.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      The tracker hasn't worked for a few months, they switched to openbittorrent.com (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenBitTorrent).

      They said they wanted to separate the tracker from the website, so the tracker can't be liable (as it doesn't record the file names). Oh, and officially, no one knows who's the tracker owners :)

    • The TPB's own trackers have been down since forever, and are not likely to come back up.

      Just de-select the TPB's trackers in your BT client and use one of the others; all torrents listed at TPB include alternative trackers.

      Or at least this is what I have heard somewhere... ;)

  • by daveime ( 1253762 ) on Saturday November 07, 2009 @08:50AM (#30013786)

    What happened to the "safe harbour" provisions for ISPs ?

    It's okay to publish Scientology bullshit and bomb plans on the net, but woe betide any ISP who "assists in sharing" an mp3 ?

It is easier to write an incorrect program than understand a correct one.

Working...