IFPI: 2.8 Million File-Sharers Break Law Daily In Sweden
According to new research carried out by music group IFPI, around 40% of Swedes between 15 and 74 illegally share files every single day. The research, carried out through a web survey, reveals that there are 2.8 million sharers in the group, an increase compared to earlier surveys.
There can be little doubt that Sweden is one of the most file-sharing aware countries in the world. The dramas surrounding The Pirate Bay and other file-sharing operations, coupled with the dramatic successes of the Pirate Party, means that there can hardly be anyone in the country who isn’t aware of downloading via the Internet.
Now Di.se reports that music group IFPI has completed new research which it says reveals the extent of file-sharing penetration in this Scandinavian country of 9.2 million citizens.
The IFPI survey claims that some 40 percent of Swedes aged between 15 and 74 engage in illicit file-sharing every day, a statistic which IFPI chairman Louis Werner says is “a very high figure” but one which does not surprise him.
The 40 percent of this group equates to around 2.8 million people. The figure would be even higher, says IFPI, if it had also counted the under 15 year olds who regularly share files.
The higher-than-expected results are being put down to the method employed by IFPI to collect the data. It says that traditionally such surveys are carried out using the telephone, but this time the data was gathered via the web.
The results come nowhere near those revealed by the earlier research carried out by SIFO on behalf of TV operator Viasat – their conclusion was that only 11% of Swedes download copyright works using the Internet.
Currently Sweden had around 7.3 million Internet users in a population of over 9.2 million, a penetration of around 81%.
