AfterDawn: News

Swedish file sharing case causes confusion

The first case in Sweden regarding file sharing of copyrighted works closed on Tuesday with confusion having raised more questions than answers. Along with the confusion and unclear text of the old copyright law in the country, the 28 year old defendant also shocked the court by retracting an admission he had reportedly made in police interviews. The police said the man had admitted to making a Swedish film called Hip Hip Hora available on a P2P hub for other users to download, however the man told the court there had been a misunderstanding.

The man said that he believed that he was being charged with downloading the copyrighted movie, which actually was not illegal until July 1st this year. During police interviews the man wasn't questioned about the film the case was based but in court he continued to shock by saying "I have never had that film at home - I have never downloaded that." The evidence against the man was provided mostly by Antipiratbyrå (APB), a Swedish anti-piracy firm representing the films and games industries.



APB had been searching for sharers of copyrighted files using DC, and when it found the film Hip Hip Hora available, the IP address was recorded and handed to police. The Police then got the details of the 28 year old from the Internet service provider, Bredbandsbolaget. Torbjörn Persson, the defendant's lawyer, spent hours explaining to the court, the lack of certainty when an IP address is used as evidence, pointing out that many blocks of flats have unencrypted wireless networks that anyone could use to access the Internet.

He explained such terms as spoofing and hijacking to the Judges whom are all in their late middle ages, describing how one could exploit another's network. He described APB as "informers" and "provocateurs" and criticised the police for failings in their investigation. There are an estimated 800,000 people constantly sharing files in Sweden. This case is therefore front page news in the country.

A verdict is expected on October 25th.

Source:
The Local

Thanks to venomX05 for sending us a News Submission.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 12 Oct 2005 14:01

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• 7 comments

• gamename

  800,000 in sweden alone? looks like they have there job cut out for them. i think this stuff is going to be a big mess. if it goese anything like the war on drugs. back in the 80's there was a war declared on drugs and now there cheaper than ever and found on every street corner. it seems like when u tell people they cant do something they just want to do it more. besides that most people wouldnt buy anymore music or movies if they couldnt dl anyway. i would just have to do with out and so would most of my friends. i mean if u like something ur going to buy it anyway. p2p just lets u figure out what u like before u spend 15-20 bucks.

  12.10.2005 14:57 #1

• j0j081

  so whats the ruling? if he got off, you would think it's a good sign, as his lawyers defense sounded like something one ought to try here in the States.

  12.10.2005 15:34 #2

• Dela

  Thanks a lot j0j081, i just realised i left out the fact that a verdict is expected on October 25th, id have never noticed! *shakes hand*

  12.10.2005 16:11 #3

• venomX05

  @gamename
  Quote:p2p just lets u figure out what u like before u spend 15-20 bucks.Well that is true...and not true.
  
  Here is why I say that.
  
  Although you can say that you want to try something out before you buy it, most don't. Like you said in your post. So I definately agree. This is like a major stint in their (MPAA and RIAA) profits...so they say. About 6 years ago, nobody said anything, but obviously, with the advancement of technology and able to "copy" practically ANYTHING digital, they are worried that they are not going to be able to buy their new 2007 Porsche or their 100ft yacht in the Bahamas.
  
  Just my thoughts on it.

  12.10.2005 22:46 #4

• erommel

  agreed gamename, most movies cant be downloaded with special features anyway so i guess even with P2P, you get what you pay for
  
  i really hate those who think that 5 billion isnt enough money

  13.10.2005 04:34 #5

• mystic

  its a sad day for sweden when they go after someone downloading a movie.... this is the country where hookers are state santioned and might I add inspected monthy by the board of health.. and where drug use is tolerated smoking hash in public is a daily accurance so now they are going to get tough on filesharing... and they dont even know you can highjack someones connection... and they dont know about masking your ip address , this is to much.... hey even I can put stuff like black ice on my machine to hide the ip address and what about the website that claim u can surf anomusly if you use their stuff... Imean really does this mean you have to change you static ip address to a server assigned one... and just let it keep chaning everytime you loog in? wow Sweden should lighten up.....

  13.10.2005 08:17 #6

• S2K

  mystic this has nothing to do with "downloading" he is charged with uploading. the only way to be convicted of downloading is to admit you did so with knowledge.

  26.10.2005 16:29 #7