Survey reveals effects of Swedish anti-piracy law

On April first of this year, a tough anti-piracy law went into effect in Sweden. A recent survey by Swedish research agency SIFO has taken stock of it’s effect. This reports Swedish newspaper The Local.

The results show a mixed bag. Still, 11% of the Swedish population downloads illicitly. In the most ‘download sensitive’ age bracket of 15-29 year olds, about a quarter does so. Males (16%) are more prone to file sharing than are females (5%).

Still, there is a strong decline. 16% of the respondents hasn’t downloaded since the implementation of the law.

Respondents further indicate that there remains a strong need for good legal alternatives to file sharing. Of file sharers, 46% indicates they would stop if better alternatives were available. Only a quarter of respondents is satisfied with the current offering of legal digital download services.