Different copyright holder groups in Iceland are currently soliciting the government to create a national firewall which would block access to websites offering illegal downloads.
The idea, allegedly inspired by Norway, would be for copyright holders and independent citizens to register complaints about websites – both in Iceland and abroad – that offer pirated material. A government-run committee would then have the power to call upon telecoms in Iceland to block access to these sites.
Guðrún Björk Bjarnadóttir, director of The Performing Right Society of Iceland (STEF), told Vísir that her organisation has been trying to find ways to stem pirated downloads of music, and have looked to Norway as an example, where a government body could accept complaints and block access to the sites without having to take the matter before a judge first, thereby quickening the process.
However, the Norwegian model is fairly new and untested. It is also at this time uncertain by what criteria a website would be judged to be offering illegal downloads – whether a website where a user on the site posted a link to an illegal file would be considered the same as a website hosting illegal files, for example.
What concept the form will take has yet to be decided.
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