Internet usage in Sweden has dropped more than 30 percent since Wednesday, after law designed to make it easier for copyright holders to go after illicit file-sharers came into effect. The new Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) law, based on a European Union directive, requires that ISPs turn over the IP addresses of file sharers to authorities in cases of suspected copyright infringement.
Many believe that after the initial scare effect traffic will pick up in a week or two - especially as more file sharers start using encryption to cover their tracks. Meanwhile, the first major bust helped by the new law has already been reported, with two men taken into police custody for allegedly operating an international ring of illegal file swapping. Regardless of the drop in traffic and police raids, in the last 24 hours almost 400,000 Swedes connected to the Pirate Bay tracker with no decline according to TorrentFreak.