Slashdot Mirror


Sweden To Outlaw File Sharing, Crypto Breaking?

Martin Kallisti writes "The Swedish Department of Justice has today proposed a bill to be put into effect, if it passes Parliament, on the 1st of January, 2004. It is in accordance to EU directives, but will also criminalize the downloading of material from the Internet without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. Furthermore, it will become illegal to break cryptos, circumvent copy protection (mod chips et al), copy books, and as I understand it, use software that is designed to help with any of these tasks, and many other things." An anonymous reader points to an English-language article about this Swedish EUCD proposal, which also mentions a hefty $4 levy on blank digital media such as CD-ROMs.

8 of 578 comments (clear)

  1. Good by MisterFancypants · · Score: 3, Funny

    It is about time a government started taking intellectual property rights seriously. I hope this same attitude will take hold in the US, where we are in danger of the creative people who bring us movies and records going bankrupt due to all of the digital pirating of their content.

  2. pr0n by eniu!uine · · Score: 4, Funny

    This isn't going to affect Swedish porn is it?

    1. Re:pr0n by coupland · · Score: 3, Funny

      This isn't going to affect Swedish porn is it?

      Dunno, could undoing a bra stap be considered a circumvention technique?

  3. Obl Simpsons by Hogwash+McFly · · Score: 5, Funny

    And there'll be file sharing barons who'll send you your Britney Spears audio tracks in an iPod stashed in a bowling ball that rolls through a series of underground tunnels, with the authorities none the wiser

    --
    Mother, do you think they'll like this sig?
  4. un enforceble by jr87 · · Score: 5, Funny

    there is no possible way for them to enforce this.Even if they did I could imagine the headline... 1/3 of population rounded up in latest crackdown on downloading.... story at 11

  5. New Business Plan! by mrklin · · Score: 3, Funny
    1. Hoard CD-ROMs now.

    2. Sell in Sweden after 1/1/2004.

    3. Profit!!!

    1. Re:New Business Plan! by Chairboy · · Score: 3, Funny

      Hey... you gave all the steps. You're SUPPOSED to leave one blank, or else it looks real. A legit, profitable business model has no place on slashdot.

      Shame on you....

  6. (c) by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hereby copyright this post. I expressly forbid these words from being read anywhere inside of Sweden.

    Man I can't wait to see how many people end up in jail now.

    --
    "Derp de derp."