Norway's telecoms regulator has decided it is OK for ISPs to hand over the personal details of file sharers to the movie and music business.

So far the identities of these file-sharers has been kept secret as privacy rules have largely stopped copyright holders discovering real-life names behind IP addresses. However Norway's Post and Telecommunications Regulator has  decided that if a court feels there is good enough reason, it can order the ISPs to hand over any private details.

This means that the movie and film industry can conduct its standard tactic of getting the name and address of the fileshare and threatening to take them to court unless they pay up. Post and Telecommunications Regulator director Willy Jensen said the decision would make he Internet a civilised place where the rule of law triumphed over anarchy. He said that cultural life on the web is important, so we can't allow a situation where artists copyrights are broken.

However the ruling goes against the views of the Norwegian Minister of Education who believes that the music industry should embrace the Internet instead of fighting it. It will be interesting to see if he will actually insist that the watchdog back down.