Økokrim announced on June 27, 2023 that the investigation into Tidal has been dropped due to the state of the evidence. – We are confident that Økokrim has investigated the case properly, and take the drop for information, says CEO of TONO, Karl Vestli.
/ 30/06/2023 / Willy MartinsenTONO was one of several music organizations that reported Tidal to Økokrim in 2018. This was primarily based on a series of articles in Dagens Næringsliv in which serious and seemingly credible allegations of manipulation of streaming data were made.
– In 2018, TONO believed that the allegations made in Dagens Næringsliv's articles were so serious that they deserved proper treatment by Økokrim. TONO also believed that the report was in Tidal's interest as they claimed that the data had been stolen and manipulated. TONO is confident that Økokrim has investigated the case thoroughly, and takes the dismissal based on the evidence for information, says TONO CEO Karl Vestli.
In Økokrim's press release, the closure is justified as follows:
– After an overall assessment, the case has been dismissed based on the evidence. In order to bring charges, the prosecution must be convinced that criminal guilt can be proven in court beyond any reasonable doubt. The same evidentiary requirement applies to the prosecution as to the courts, says Senior State Prosecutor Elisabeth Harbo-Lervik in Økokrim.
TONO wrote on its website on May 9, 2018 that “It is important for TONO that we have neat and orderly relationships with all our customers. Any conceivable allegation of irregularities will therefore be something we look into more closely.” TONO justified the decision to report Tidal to Økokrim in this way on TONO’s website on May 14, 2018: “We must protect the interests of the rights holders we work for, but we believe that a report must also be in the interests of Tidal, who claims that the data has been stolen and manipulated.”
In 2019, the Supreme Court heard a case regarding whether Økokrim could seize documents about Tidal's streaming platform and business model, documents that Tidal claimed contained trade secrets. In this context, it emerged that Økokrim was investigating the case and that Tidal had the status of a suspect in aggravated data fraud.
Read Økokrim's press release here:
https://www.okokrim.no/henlegger-etterforskingen-av-tidal-saken.6610681-549344.html
TONO's comments on the Tidal case:
https://www.tono.no/pastander-uregelmessigheter-tidal/
https://www.tono.no/tono-anmelder-tidal-okokrim/
https://www.tono.no/tidal-mistenkt-for-grovt-databedrageri/