Swedish dread over looming IPRED copyright law

TorrentFreak and other peer-to-peer-interested sites are taking a hard look at a controversial law that will make it easier for copyright holders to get personal information on people they claim are infringing on their rights. Despite massive public disapproval, rules based on the EU's Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) goes into effect on Wednesday, April 1. (No fooling.)

The law, which permits the rights holders to petition the court for the names of people associated with IP addresses via which infringement is alleged to have occurred, will also increase penalties and eventually criminalize large-scale infringement. In a recent poll, 48% of Swedes said they believe the new law is wrong, with just 32% approving. More memorably, Rikard Falkvinge, chairman of Sweden's Pirate Party and co-leader of the Facebook protest, castigated the digital literacy of the legislation's authors, telling TorrentFreak that "These laws are written by digital illiterates who behave like blindfolded, drunken elephants trumpeting about in an egg packaging facility."