Andre Yoskowitz
25 Oct 2008 15:29
Sweden's Council on Legislation has suggested that it will not stop a new law that will make it much easier to arrest suspected Internet pirates. The law will go into effect during April 2009.
The government -backed law would give copyright holders the ability to request personal information of any suspected pirate based on their IP address.
The law itself is based on a broader EU directive but the Council on Legislation stated that Sweden's regulation goes much further than is required by the directive.
Sweden's proposal would allow the copyright holders to request the personal information if they believe there is "probable cause" of a copyright law being broken. They can then use the info to begin legal proceedings seeking monetary damages.
The EU directive only states however that "people should have the right to access information in connection with a trial."