[x-pubpol] One court order could gag EVERY ISP in Denmark

[Joly MacFie]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/06/22/all_danish_isps_will_block_content_on_single_court_order_under_proposed_code/

Internet service providers (ISPs) and copyright holders in Denmark
have agreed on a framework that would see all ISPs in the country
block access to copyright-infringing content if one of the providers
is ordered to do so by a court.

The Danish Ministry of Culture said that it would work with ISPs and
rights holders groups to develop a new "written Code of Conduct" that
would "formalise" the agreement on content blocking.

The ministry's plans to issue "guidelines for blocking access to
illegal services on the internet" is just one of a raft of new
measures it announced it would take to help combat online copyright
infringement.

"Rightsholders can bring an action against a telecommunications
company in order to get the phone company to block customers' access
to an illegal service," the ministry said, according to an automated
translation of its plans (5-page Word document, in Danish). "If a
court comes to the phone company to block access to the service, the
decision will only apply to the telecommunications company.

"Telecommunications industry and rights-holders have entered into an
agreement about the procedure in cases involving blocking access to
illegal services on the Internet. The parties have indicated that they
will formalize this in the form of a written Code of Conduct," it
said. "The agreement assumes that all telecommunications companies
will respect the final decision of the courts that a
telecommunications company block customers' access to an illegal
service."

"This means that holders only need to take legal action against a
telecom company, then the other carriers follow the decision. This is
an automated process where the rights holders need only contact one
organization / one telephone company, which will then make sure to
communicate this decision to the other telcos. Additionally, the
parties indicated that they will try to spread the concept to other
relevant parties such as linking to the offending services," it added.

The measure is one of eight initiatives the Danish Ministry of Culture
has said it will pursue to combat internet piracy. The Ministry said
that it plans to lead a forum on "contractual enforcement solutions",
which would see online service providers obliged to remove illegal
content from their services if licensed to provide access to legal
content.

"Such solutions could contribute to the spread of legal services and
to reduce levels of piracy," the ministry said. "With the aim to
contribute to this development and accelerate the development of
voluntary agreements Ministry of Culture will launch a forum for
dialogue between rights holders and providers of network services with
creative content."

Other measures the ministry has committed to include efforts aimed at
developing more platforms for legal digital content and leading
awareness-raising campaigns on the legal services that are available
and the "consequences" that arise when individuals do access pirated
material.

Further plans include efforts to help internet users use more secure
internet connections to prevent others' using their connections to
download illegal content.

In announcing its initiatives the ministry said that the country had
backed away from a scheme that would have seen suspected copyright
infringers issued with warning letters about their activity from their
ISPs. However, it suggested that the 'letter model' may be deployed if
the package of measures the Ministry has outlined does not adequately
tackle infringement.

"The model assumes that the telecommunications companies on behalf of
rights holders send information letters to Internet subscribers whose
Internet connection can be associated with copyright infringement on
the internet," the ministry said. "Minister of Cultural Affairs has
decided not to introduce a letter model in Denmark at present.
Minister of Culture would instead await the effect of the other
initiatives in efforts to combat piracy on the internet."

Annual assessments of "the development of creative content on the
Internet" will be conducted and evaluation made of whether further
measures are needed to "contribute to a stronger enforcement of
copyright," the ministry's plans said.

"With this package of initiatives, we focus on some initiatives that
can strengthen the development of more legal services and which also
may motivate consumers to choose their legal solutions," Danish
Culture Minister Uffe Elbaek said in a statement. "I believe that it
is the right way to go. The initiatives also focus on the licensees'
efforts to reduce piracy. We have also decided not to introduce the
so-called letter model at this time."

In the UK the government has said that a new code of practice setting
out new anti-piracy measures and procedures is expected to be
published later this month.

In its draft code of practice previously published, telecoms regulator
Ofcom said that internet users should receive three warning letters
from their ISP if they are suspected of copyright infringement online.

Details of illegal file-sharers that receive more than three letters
in a year would be added to a blacklist, the draft code said.
Copyright holders would have access to the list to enable them to
identify infringers.

The government has also facilitated discussions aimed at establishing
other voluntary frameworks for combating internet piracy.

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