Swedish ISPs Stop Retaining User Data in Wake of Piracy Law

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 28, 2009 - 12:24pm.

Stockholm, Sweden - Two Swedish Internet service providers have said they will no longer store identifying IP address data on their subscribers, in the wake of a new anti-piracy law that compels them to turn over any such data they have to copyright holders in the face of an infringement complaint, TorrentFreak reported.

The first, Banhof, said recently that ISPs are not legally bound to store such information, with CEO Jon Karlung stating that the new IPRED law "makes spies out of the ISPs."

Now, Tele2, which counts over 600,000 customers, said it will follow suit.

"There's is nothing in the Electronic Communications Law that decides what we should store, only what we shouldn't store. We have analyzed the legislation carefully and found that we have no obligations at all to store information about our customers' IP addresses," Tele2 Swedish CEO Niclas Palmstierna told the local SvD.

Ars Technica noted that the tactic may not work forever, as the EU Data Retention Directive passed in 2006 would require companies to retain user data from six months to two years.

Sweden has not yet implemented the law, though, as a challenge is pending in the EU courts.

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/gycvq (TorrentFreak)

http://snipurl.com/gyd3z (Ars Technica)

http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_2804863.svd

http://snipurl.com/gyd6e (DMW previous coverage)