Arrival of the Ipred

Today the new Ipred law will go into action. It was initially a directive from the European Union made in 2004, now interpreted and transformed into a Swedish law.

The short version is that the movie companies can now force operators to give away customer information, if some sort of evidence of criminal activity can be produced. Thanks to techniques such as torrents, a large part of European citizens are suddenly guilty of such an act.

If I recall correctly there was a similar discussion when the video recorder was introduced, when the first mp3 portable player arrived, and so on. Some artists have adapted to the new technology, Nine Inch Nails being a prime example, while some are desperately clinging on to old business models (Metallica, I’m looking at you).

Naturally there are several things to consider. What if somebody sits at a coffee shop with free wi-fi and happens to download something? It’s the owner of the wi-fi that gets attention, not the actual downloader. Same thing applies to all people with open networks at home. Your neighbor might earn you a hefty fine right this minute. Open networks, beware.

And this is just the beginning. Something called Ipred 2 is stirring at the horizon, as well as the trade decree Acta. It concerns outlawing anonymizing services and removing the court prerogative. At first glance it reads like a tasteless April’s fool joke. A brave new world.