The recent Digital Economy Bill has caused more ripples of controversy between the entertainment industry and Internet Service Providers over cracking down on illegal file sharers. The UK entertainment industry is now using Sweden as an example of what a crackdown on broadband file sharers could achieve.
The row between officials in the entertainment industry, Internet service providers, and campaigners over illegal file sharing between broadband users has been raging for some time now, and recent proposals in the Digital Economy Bill have caused further ripples of controversy to erupt over this issue. Campaigners and ISPs are against the proposals of disconnecting illegal file sharers but the entertainment industry insists that this is the only way in which this practice can be stopped and its profits can be regained.
As an example of how illegal file sharing is affecting the profits of the entertainment industry and artists officials from the entertainment sector have been looking at Sweden. According to recent reports the clamp down on illegal file sharing in Sweden has resulted in the sale of music soaring in the country, which is what the UK entertainment industry is hoping to achieve.
Just months after anti-piracy laws were introduced in Sweden figures were released that showed just how sharply music sales had increased. Sales are said to have risen by eighteen percent in the first nine months of this year alone. This followed seven consecutive years of decline in sales levels.
An official from IFPI, which represents the recording industry, said: “The increase in sales in Sweden, set against the backdrop of innovative new digital services and tighter copyright laws, is encouraging. It is too early to say if Sweden has permanently turned a corner, but we hope that users there will permanently switch from unlicensed filesharing networks that give nothing back to the music community to great value legal services whose operators recognise continuous investment is needed to discover and promote the talent of tomorrow.”
Source – Guardian
