Blackmoor Vituperative

The Norway Liberal Party (Venstre) which is holding 6% of the seats in parliament has issued a resolution stating that “Copyright law is outdated”.

“A society where culture and knowledge is free and accessible by everyone on equal terms is a common good. Large distributors and copyright owners systematically and widely misuse copyright, and thereby stall artistic development and innovation.”

Here are some changes proposed by the party “to reinstate the balance in copyright law”:

– Free file sharing for personal use “Laws and regulations, both national and international, need to be changed so they only regulate limitations of use and distribution in a commercial for-profit context.”
– Shorter commercial copyright term (the current span in Norway is 70 years).
– Ban on DRM – “…anyone who has bought the right to use a product needs a technologically neutral way of using it. This means that distributors can not control how citizens wish to play back legally bought digital music.”

“It is wrong to make an entire generation of criminals,” said vice chairwoman of the Liberal Party, Trine Skei Grande. “We managed to make compensation models when the photocopier was invented, but we haven’t managed to do anything about modern technology. The law must adapt to the citizens and the impact of technological innovation.”

(from The Register, Norwegian liberals call for relaxation of copyright laws)

Way to go, Norway. Well, 6% of Norway, anyway.