A new law designed to make it easier for copyright holders to go after illicit file-sharers will come into force April 1st in Sweden. The IPRED legislation will also increase penalties and ultimately criminalize large scale infringement but according to a new poll, the majority of Swedes are against it.
Swedish file-sharers have previously been protected from police action, since any offenses they commit do not generally carry a prison sentence. Now, the government is considering new legislation which will give the police powers to go after regular file-sharers, even if their actions were previously only punishable by a fine.
PiratPartiet, the Swedish Pirate Party, has started its march on Brussels with a bang. The party hopes to make a strong showing in June at the European Parliament elections, and has been bolstered in its aims by comments in major Swedish newspapers, which have termed the party “a classic civil rights movement.”
