At the beginning of February, we talked about what is considered a more successful attempt to identify and fine-tune file sharing than what Spridningskollen did between September and October 2016. It is becoming increasingly obvious that this attempt has both legislators in the back and more expertise in the baggage after, among other things, the verdict against Bredband 2 (Bredbandsbolaget) in February.
The verdict against Telia
Last week we wrote that Tele2 is forced to disclose information in search of pirates. Breakit now reports that Telia is also forced to disclose information about its customers.
"We believe the integrity of our customers is incredibly important, but now the court decision has come and we must follow that ”- Inger Gunterberg, Telia's press unit
The new verdict against Telia that came during the day includes over 5300 IP addresses. The next step is to send out a letter of claim to the people behind the addresses. According to Jeppe Brogaard Clausen at Njord Lawfirm, each case will be handled individually, and in more severe cases the refusal to pay the claim can lead to them taking it to court.
Great risk that others follow Njord
It is clear that all of Sweden's major telecom companies have now received a request of disclosure for customer information. What is more frightening, however, is that two judgments were ruled in favor of Njord in such a short time. It is reasonable to believe that more judgments against other major internet providers will come in the next few month, and it is also likely that other copyright owners and their representatives will see this as an opportunity to take up the hunt and attempt to hand out fines for their pirated material.
The verdict against Tele2 is written off
Somewhat contradictory, the verdict against Tele2 last week was written off. This is due to the IP addresses involved in the verdict being owned by subsidiaries of Tele2, and are thus not directly linked to the company that received the verdict. Only time can tell how long the victory will last, but subsidiaries of Tele2 (including the Broadband Company) will surely receive further requests shortly.