TorrentFreak

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.

A new law designed to make it easier for copyright holders to go after file-sharers came into force in Sweden on April 1st. The feared IPRED legislation resulted in a major drop in Internet traffic but 6 months after its introduction, not a single complaint has been issued against music sharers. But IFPI says this is the calm before the storm.

A police investigation is underway after an unreleased track, believed to be from Leona Lewis’s new album, leaked onto the Internet. Hackers allegedly managed to gain access to computers at Simon Cowell’s Syco – part of Sony BMG – and get their hands on the track, which sees Lewis team up with Justin Timberlake. IFPI are helping with the investigation.

An Italian anti-piracy group is claiming a “major offensive” against nternet links to infringing music. Created by IFPI, the Federation Against Music Piracy (FPM) says that 20K torrents were removed from Mininova and another 10K links on other sites, along with 12 eD2K and Direct Connect servers.

Norway’s largest Internet provider ‘Telenor’ was dragged to court by the movie and music industries last month, after it refused an earlier request to disable customer access to The Pirate Bay. Today, Telenor explains why it didn’t cave in to the legal pressure and says it wants the courts to rule on the issue instead.

With the Pirate Bay verdict in hand, the music industry lobby group IFPI are threatening the hosting providers of torrent sites to take down everything BitTorrent related, or else. While some have complied with these demands, the Swedish web host Portlane refuses to do so and uses commercial marketing legislation in its defense.

In the aftermath of the Pirate Bay verdict, Sweden has witnessed the demise of many other BitTorrent trackers. But not quite enough according to music industry lobby group IFPI, who are now threatening the hosting providers of torrent sites. The host of private BitTorrent tracker TorrentBytes appears to be one of the first targets.