y2k103
04-04-2005, 11:47 AM
.... A crackdown is underway in a country where file swapping is accepted as the norm.
STOCKHOLM ? Workers stepped through the shattered glass doors of Antipiratbyra one day last week, busy installing new alarms and security systems in the Swedish film and games industry's anti-piracy bureau here.
"We are under siege," said Henrik Ponten, a lawyer with the bureau, himself labeled Sweden's most hated man by one of the country's largest newspapers.
Aside from the vandalism of the Antipiratbyra office, hackers recently crippled the bureau's computers and put its website out of action. Ponten has received death threats, and his children have been subjected to abusive phone calls. (WOW)
What distinguishes Sweden is the scale of the problem. Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia have one of the highest penetrations of broadband Internet access in the world, enabling private users to download entire feature films in minutes. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that 77% of 15-to-25-year-olds who have broadband connections at home are involved. Not surprisingly, sales of CDs in Sweden fell 18% in 2004, the sharpest drop in Western Europe.
In an effort to break the trend, the anti-piracy bureau last month raided the Stockholm offices of Bahnhof, one of the country's oldest and largest Internet service providers. Police seized servers alleged to contain enough pirated digital film and music for 3 1/2 years of continuous play.
Complete Story: http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-ft-sweden4apr04,1,6315670.story?coll=la-headlines-technology
STOCKHOLM ? Workers stepped through the shattered glass doors of Antipiratbyra one day last week, busy installing new alarms and security systems in the Swedish film and games industry's anti-piracy bureau here.
"We are under siege," said Henrik Ponten, a lawyer with the bureau, himself labeled Sweden's most hated man by one of the country's largest newspapers.
Aside from the vandalism of the Antipiratbyra office, hackers recently crippled the bureau's computers and put its website out of action. Ponten has received death threats, and his children have been subjected to abusive phone calls. (WOW)
What distinguishes Sweden is the scale of the problem. Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia have one of the highest penetrations of broadband Internet access in the world, enabling private users to download entire feature films in minutes. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry estimates that 77% of 15-to-25-year-olds who have broadband connections at home are involved. Not surprisingly, sales of CDs in Sweden fell 18% in 2004, the sharpest drop in Western Europe.
In an effort to break the trend, the anti-piracy bureau last month raided the Stockholm offices of Bahnhof, one of the country's oldest and largest Internet service providers. Police seized servers alleged to contain enough pirated digital film and music for 3 1/2 years of continuous play.
Complete Story: http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-ft-sweden4apr04,1,6315670.story?coll=la-headlines-technology