Sweden edition

Second ISP undermines file sharing law

Published: 28 Apr 09 07:24 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19114/20090428/

Swedish telecom operator Tele2 announced on Monday it will erase data identifying their customers, a decision police claim may complicate their efforts to track down those who share copyrighted material illegally over the internet.

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"We will erase the IP addresses after they have been used for our internal use, starting today," Niclas Palmstierna, Tele2's managing director for Sweden, told AFP.

An IP address is a unique number that is used to identify each sender or receiver of information that is sent across the Internet.

Sweden recently adopted a new law April 1st, inspired by an EU directive on intellectual property, that allows authorities to request the identity of users suspected of downloading pirated material.

The move by Tele2 follows a similar policy introduced by Bahnhof, a smaller Swedish Internet firm, which said it would not reveal users' IP addresses.

A high-ranking police official told the TT news agency that this could have a serious impact on their bid to crack down on Internet pirates.

"In certain cases, this will make an investigation impossible," said Stefan Kronkvist, the head of Swedish police's internet crime unit.

Tele2 is one of Sweden's main telecom providers and counts 600,000 people among its Internet clients.

Internet piracy has become a hotly-debated subject in Sweden since the four founders of the file sharing site, The Pirate Bay, were sentenced to a year in prison on April 17th.

AFX/The Local (news@thelocal.se)

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10:10 April 28, 2009 by peropaco

Great move Tele2. I will run and renew my subscription with your company. Doubt Telia will have the balls to do the same.

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10:58 April 28, 2009 by byke

I am hoping that realistically ISP's are starting to realize that since they are part of the chain that it could be easy for the government to change its stance and turn on the ISP's (normally most notably if the companies post good profit reports) .

Its good to see that ISP's can clearly see the difference between civil liberties and free speech which should not be diluted by a few copyright breeches.

Hopefully this will send a clear message to both the governments and the entertainment industry that the ball lies in their court in ways they try to enforce protectionism to this industry that it can not be done at the expense of free liberties.

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11:33 April 28, 2009 by RARCA

So he says "We will erase the IP addresses after they have been used for our internal use, starting today," but how long do they keep them really? Is it days? Weeks? Months?

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11:39 April 28, 2009 by Markbase with an Invisible Q

I would guess that it's strictly for internal identification/billing purposes. Can't see it being for more than a few moments at a time.

But that's just a guess...

Anyone else?

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12:00 April 28, 2009 by Thebinary1

From a Political Science perspective, does this mean that ISPs are slowly climbing the ranks in being power-brokers or kingmakers?

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12:55 April 28, 2009 by christo

am sorry to say but,,, mr govt, the ball is in ure hands now. dont u see that its tricky now? telle2 rool on.

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17:56 April 28, 2009 by EvilTomte

Regarding the TPB trial - it will probably be redone as one of the judges wasn't honest about his personal interest in the case (being a member of certain groups that are against file-sharing and such) Also, even if they're sentenced they will appeal it to a higher instance.

Meaning that it's not yet over by a long shot.

Either way, good to hear that Tele2 are watching over their customers' interests.

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14:29 April 29, 2009 by hunter694

This has actually been going on for a lot longer than we seem to think ... :)

http://eclectrocution.blogspot.com/2009/04/music-piracy-circa-1897.html

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10:45 May 3, 2009 by POLO!

Anybody knows where Bredbandsbolaget stands on this issue? Do they give away their customers' IPs ?

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#10

15:32 May 3, 2009 by EngGent

Bredbandbolaget have said their current policy is to keep IP data for 3 weeks for 'user security' which is massive bullcrap. A few politicians from the left are leaning on them so perhaps they will change their policy soon.

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