Swedish internet traffic plummets after new anti-piracy law
Internet traffic dropped sharply in Sweden this week after a law cracking down on online copyright violation went into force, Industry sources said on Friday.
The new law under the European Union's Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, makes it easier to prosecute file-sharers because it requires internet service providers to disclose the internet protocol addresses of suspected violators to copyright owners.
Hours after it came into force, five Swedish audio-book publishers representing 15 authors filed a request for details of a server suspected of containing 2,000 illegally downloaded works. Netnod Internet Exchange, a company monitoring internet traffic, reported that daily online usage had dropped in excess of 40 per cent since the law took effect last Wednesday.
