Telenor won't be ordered to block The Pirate Bay, says Norwegian Court

Thanks to Stine Helén Pettersen and Rune Opdahl (Wiersholm, Mellbye & Bech, advokatfirma AS, Oslo), here comes news of a 6 November decision by a Norwegian District Court which concluded that there were no grounds for ordering internet service supplier Telenor to block internet access to The Pirate Bay. According to our informants:

"In June 2009 the music and film industry filed a petition for a preliminary injunction requiring Telenor to block its customers’ access to The Pirate Bay. The Asker og Bærum District Court delivered its decision 6 November in favour of Telenor. The court concluded that Telenor did not unlawfully contribute to copyright infringements that take place by its customers’ use of The Pirate Bay. Accordingly, the court held that that there was no legal basis for ordering Telenor to block access to the website.

Telenor has repeatedly emphasized that it does not support infringements that take place through use of The Pirate Bay. On the contrary, Telenor co-operates closely with rights holders by establishing solutions for legal downloads and streaming of content. The case did not concern the question of whether customers of Telenor infringed copyright by using The Pirate Bay, but whether Telenor -- by granting access to The Pirate Bay -- committed an illegal act.

... In its assessment the court emphasized the unfortunate consequences of imposing blocking obligations on internet service providers. The decision is not yet legally in force. The music and film industry are considering appealing against the decision".

Wiersholm's team of John S. Gulbrandsen and Rune Opdahl, who acted for Telenor in this action, has kindly provided the 1709 Blog with an English translation of the court's decision which you can read here.