The government has proposed a new copyright law to make it illegal for Norwegians to copy songs from their own CDs onto MP-3 players, but legal to do so for making a CD duplicate.
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The proposal, intended to bring Norway's law in line with European Union rules, drew immediate praise from the music and film industry as well as criticism from opponents.
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Even though Norway is has remained outside the EU, it is bound by most of the bloc's directives through the European Economic Area Agreement.
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The new proposal would allow fines and a maximum penalty of three years in prison for violating copyrights and engaging in computer piracy.
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The amendment, which requires parliament's approval, would make it illegal to crack security codes on DVD and CDs or to provide software or hardware for doing so, a news release said. It would still be legal for a person to make a copy of their own CD or DVD for private use, even if that means cracking the code, as long as it was being copied onto the same digital medium and not onto another one.