Finance24 reports that Sweden’s new copyright law came into effect on Friday. The law makes downloading via P2P networks illegal. Previously uploading had been considered to infringe copyright but downloading had not. Swedes have been among the most voracious nationals for file-sharing, with one in ten having been estimated to have indulged. There are fears though that the habit is so ingrained that changing the law won’t make a difference.
The IPKat says that it makes a lot of sense for the Swedes to have eliminated this anomaly in their law. The previous position makes about as much sense as the UK Government’s position on drugs: selling is considered a serious crime while taking is considered a minor crime. If one is going to take the position that using isn’t such a big problem, why should disseminating something that is treated as if it were innocuous be subject to such serious censure?
Swedish downloads here
Swedish drugs here and here