Denmark pulls VPN wording from anti-piracy draft
The article says Denmark’s Ministry of Culture will remove controversial wording about VPN use from a draft piracy bill after public debate that it could be read as criminalising legitimate VPN services. Culture Minister Jakob Engel Schmidt said he does not want to criminalise ordinary and legal VPN use, and confirmed the VPN section will be taken out before any parliamentary submission.
It adds that another part of the package stays on track: copyright licensing reforms that would strengthen the role of the Ophavsretslicensnævnet, aiming to make it the main dispute resolution route for disagreements over licensing terms and tariffs, with court action generally coming after tribunal consideration if requested.
The wider online piracy package is being taken back for more work. The draft proposals had focused on rewriting Section 91 of the Radio and Television Broadcasting Act into a broad ban covering tools intended to provide unauthorised access to encrypted or access restricted content services, including private use, plus a ban on advertising and promotion, with fines and possible imprisonment up to 1 year and 6 months in aggravated cases. The consultation on the combined package was published on December 10, 2025 and runs until January 9, 2026, with an indicative effective date of July 1, 2026, though the timeline for the piracy section is now less certain.
