Norway, along with the rest of the Nordic countries is a great place for internet. With superb general availability both in and outside the country’s borders, the Norwegian online situation can barely be called a “situation” in the problematic sense of the word. Add to this that in Europe the fastest internet is probably supplied in Norway, and you get a recipe for an inviting VPN connection to make your surfing secure. There are few restrictions and blocks of online content in Norway. This is great to know, but similarly to Denmark and Sweden, the country uses DNS filters against some issues, but The Pirate Bay is not blocked in Norway – unlike in most surrounding countries.
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Norway is very keen on granting internet access to its people. So keen in fact, that almost the whole population can surf the web: about 95% is covered. This combined with the statistical fact that Norway hosts some of the fastest internet in Europe makes the country already a viable place to connect to. Therefore, if you seek an ideal location to connect to the rest of Europe from – and particularly northern Europe – then Norway is your best shot. Still, we advise utilizing the help of a VPN service: a “better safe than sorry” approach is rewarding. Pick the nearest by available Norwegian VPN server to minimize the loss of connectivity speed, and you’re safe to go while you can still enjoy a fast connection.
There is one significant television-based channel that was geoblocked in Norway: NRK TV. Otherwise, you are free to view the country’s online content in the vast majority of cases, though unexpected exceptions are present in all countries. We must also note here that Norway switches off all FM transmitters by 2017, becoming the first country in the world that transmits digital radio only in the process.
Copyright is the pinpoint of Nordic countries. In the case of Norway, the legal background is almost as good as Finland, with both of the countries providing some of the freest, state supported press on the planet. The Norwegian government does not restrict “academic freedom or cultural events”, nor does it monitor “chat rooms or e-mail without appropriate legal authority”. (U.S. Dept. of State) The legal system is what you should expect from a country that has such high standards of living. Few restrictions exist, but those that are in effect are subject to censorship.
Carrying on the last line of thought, Norway’s online content is filtered in a limited number of ways. By law, hate speech is retaliated, although few examples exist of extremist opinions’ online rebuttal. Constant action is taken against the distribution of child pornography. Norway applies DNS filters to the sites that have such content, and ISPs of the country use it on a voluntary basis. However, since there is a ban on all child pornography, ISPs can be forced to apply the filter if they do not install it themselves. Even better news is that Norway does not block The Pirate Bay. It is classified as a “private company” (OSnews, Online) and the case of whether to block the site or not has even survived a court case.
Despite Norway not being part of the European Union, it is still a member of the Schengen Area and the European Economic Area. This means that in terms of streaming services, Norway receives the same mixed treatment as the European Union’s countries. As a result, Spotify is out there and ready to stream music. SoundCloud is also good to go, while Apple Music is available for Android and iOS only. You can use Beatport on the PC too, though. Amazon Prime Music however, is restricted to the US and UK. Pandora is only available in the US, Australia and New Zealand, while Napster can only accessed from within the UK or Germany. For your favorite movies and series, Netflix is open for customers, but Hulu is restricted to North America. BBC iPlayer is a UK-only service, so Norway is excluded from that service also. If you still wish to access these restricted contents, VPN providers are adept at providing smart DNS solutions necessary for unblocking while also keeping your data traffic fast and secure.
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