3 Apr 2009

Anti-piracy laws depress Sweden's internet use

8:38 am on 3 April 2009

Internet traffic in Sweden may have fallen by as much as a third as the country's anti-piracy laws take effect.

Sweden now allows copyright holders to force internet service providers to reveal details of users' sharing files.

According to figures released by the government statistics agency, 8% of the population use peer-to-peer sharing.

The new law, which is based on the European Union's Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, allows copyright holders to obtain a court order forcing internet service providers to provide addresses identifying which computers have been sharing material.