Although the Netherlands is a small country, with just about 17.5 million citizens, recent research reveals it has a significant role in the distribution of  illegal content via The Pirate Bay. 

The Netherlands, after the U.S. and Canada, appeared to be the third country in regards of initial seeders of torrent files published on The Pirate Bay. Even though uploading of illegal content is considered copyright infringement, downloading from an illegal source is considered to be legal in the Netherlands, under the private copying exception. Judging from the research, the positive climate to downloading in the Netherlands could influence the perceptions on file sharing in general. 

Even more remarkable, is that the Dutch regional University of Tilburg (15,000 students in 2010) shows up as the ninth largest ISP in regard of torrent uploads to The Pirate Bay, competing against ISP-giants such as Comcast Cable or Verizon Internet Services. The fact that the Netherlands is one of the top countries in regards of broadband Internet density and speed, the prime internet connections and the young audience of the Dutch universities, might give some explanation to the high use of Dutch university networks for uploading and downloading to file-sharing websites. 

Earlier this year, the Dutch University of Groningen received over 3,500 notifications of illegal file sharing – of which 400 were valid – after which they decided to block all BitTorrent traffic from student apartments. 

The political debate on downloading in the Netherlands is still in progress. Upcoming elections might influence the future of copyright law and enforcement policies in the Netherlands. While some Dutch political parties aim to preserve the private copy exception, other parties are investigating other solutions to illegal downloading, such as reforming the copying levy or a Internet tax.  

The original research conducted by the Carlos III University of Madrid in collaboration with the IMDEA Networks Insitute and other research groups, can be found here.

Read more about this topic on Future of Copyright:

• Dutch university blocks BitTorrent traffic of their students
• Dutch Minister reacts to questions about Dutch university blocking BitTorrent
• Dutch Socialist Party proposes to reform private copying levy

Sources: TorrentFreak

Written by: Nathalie Falot