What is it with Swedes and Norwegians? Despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that the rest of the world views them as similar, these countries seem to compete like sibling rivals.
Copyright reform is no exception. Not to be outdone by Sweden's Pirate Party (which wants to make all non-commercial use of content free, limit the term of copyright to five years, ban DRM, abolish the patent system, and strengthen privacy), the Liberal Party of Norway has announced that it espouses a similar platform -- free file sharing, free sampling, shorter copyright terms, and the banning of DRM.
Would such an approach ever fly in the U.S.? As Pete Ashdown explained during his Senate run against Orrin Hatch, there are plenty of issues more important than digital rights, many of them related to petroleum. But perhaps a politician in more peaceful times will realize the potential for mobilizing new segments of the voting populace by borrowing from these Scandinavian platforms.
