No To Three Strikes

The difficulties in trying to frame pan-European legislation have become more apparent, with the Finnish government deciding not to adopt a “three strikes” policy.

The country’s legislation effort to reduce illicit file-sharing will do no more than require Internet service providers to send letters to customers suspected of unauthorized sharing.

The warnings will be initiated by copyright owners, but at no stage will Internet subscribers’ identities be compromised.

In common with most countries around Europe, Finland has been under pressure from the entertainment industries to do something about unauthorized file-sharing.

The legislation presented to parliament Oct. 29 proposes an alternative to expensive court proceedings initiated by copyright holders.
After infringers are tracked on file-sharing networks by copyright holders, allegations of infringement will be sent to the ISPs. They will be required to forward them to the appropriate subscriber.

“The proposed approach is taken to guarantee that the subscriber’s identity data stays with the Internet service provider and is not disclosed to the copyright holder,” Finnish education minister Jorma Walden said in a statement.

So far the exact text of the letters hasn’t been revealed, but it is believed they will not carry outright allegations of wrongdoing.
The Finnish government hopes its approach to dealing with file-sharers will reduce the need for police involvement in simple file-sharing cases and the subsequent load on the courts.

The proposed new law is a continuation of negotiations started in 2008 to promote e-commerce and content creation. It’s expected to come into force during spring 2011.