New anti-piracy law in Sweden boosts sales of legal content

The implementation of the Intellectual Property Right Enforcement Directive (IPRED) in Sweden initially caused a significant drop in Swedish internet activity. However, within a week of the new law being in force, online music sales have doubled compared to previous weeks, according to InProdicon, a provider of online music stores.

The IPR Enforcement Directive harmonises European Member States law and applies to all infringements of intellectual property rights. It also gives rights holders the power to demand infringers’ identities from ISPs. However, the Swedish Pirate Bay has already announced a new tool for the controversial BitTorrent service, which allows users to download anonymously.

Although InProdicon could not verify if the increased legal downloads are a direct result of the new law, an increase of 100% does indicate that with a higher probability of getting caught, paid-for, legal music does become a substitute for free, illegal downloads