The Norwegian Consumer Council (NCC) is advising Internet users not to sign letters admitting guilt for sharing movies on P2P networks. Some file sharers have been targeted with letters from Norway's Simonsen Advokatfirma DA on behalf of the movie industry, but these letters have all only reached ISPs so far, who have yet to budge.
The law firm wants the ISPs to forward the letters on to the users in question, who presumably are only known by Internet Protocol (IP) address now. The Norwegian ISP industry association is currently advising all of its members not to forward the letters to its customers at this point.
If they did actually reach a user, then the NCC advises the user not to sign them. "The statement deprives the consumer of due process and puts him in a state of critical legal uncertainty, with practically unlimited legal responsibility. We cannot imagine that this law firm would ever advise their own clients to sign such a letter!"
As well as admitting guilt, a user who signs is also making a pledge not to engage in illicit file-swapping again. The NCC notes that copyright needs to be protected and respected, but that only a court of law can determined questions of guilt, innocence, and penalties. It takes the stance that punishing users for mere allegations of file-sharing would be a "violation of that person's human right to participate in society."
You might remember the NCC for its award-winning campaign against anti-consumer elements of the iTunes music store, which included potential license changes for already-purchased music and the iPod-iTunes exclusivity tie. That campaign was named the "European Consumer Campaign of the Year" by the EU after its efforts spread to other nations, eventually encouraging Apple to make some changes.
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If they did actually reach a user, then the NCC advises the user not to sign them. "The statement deprives the consumer of due process and puts him in a state of critical legal uncertainty, with practically unlimited legal responsibility. We cannot imagine that this law firm would ever advise their own clients to sign such a letter!"
As well as admitting guilt, a user who signs is also making a pledge not to engage in illicit file-swapping again. The NCC notes that copyright needs to be protected and respected, but that only a court of law can determined questions of guilt, innocence, and penalties. It takes the stance that punishing users for mere allegations of file-sharing would be a "violation of that person's human right to participate in society."
You might remember the NCC for its award-winning campaign against anti-consumer elements of the iTunes music store, which included potential license changes for already-purchased music and the iPod-iTunes exclusivity tie. That campaign was named the "European Consumer Campaign of the Year" by the EU after its efforts spread to other nations, eventually encouraging Apple to make some changes.
Get regular news updates from AfterDawn.com by subscribing to our RSS feeds using the Subscribe button below. If you have been living in a cave for a few years now and don't know how to use RSS feeds, then Click Here to read a Guide on how to use RSS (and other) feeds.
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