In Sweden, for the first time an individual internet user is prosecuted for file-sharing. A young man from Västerås has shared the film 'Hip Hip Hora' via the Internet and is theoretically facing a maximum of 2 years prison sentence. But the public prosecutor doesn't have a lot of confidence in the case. “As these cases do not involve criminals, but instead quite ordinary people who share their files, any prison sentence would certainly be suspended,” Uppsala prosecutor Katrin Rudström told the newspaper Aftonbladet. Most likely, the case will result in a fine. In that case, the Swedish right-holders will have a hard time starting mass court cases against Swedish file-sharers, because they cannot demand identifying information in case of offences that can be settled with financial penalties.

Meanwhile, Bahnhof, the oldest and largest Swedish ISP, has reached an agreement with the Swedish anti-piracy group Antipiratbyrån (APB), thus ending a hilarious P.R. battle between the two. On 10 March 2005, APB convinced police enforcement to raid the offices of the ISP without prior notice and confiscate 4 servers. Triumphantly, the MPA issued a press release announcing 'the file-sharing industry in Sweden was crippled'. But Bahnhof hit back, and accused the anti-piracy group of uploading the illegal material themselves. The rest of the material was allegedly uploaded by employees who acted without their employers knowledge. Bahnhof fired them.

First Swede prosecuted for sharing files on net (24.03.2005)
http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=1172&date=20050324

MPAA: Raid on Sweden’s Oldest and Largest ISP Cripples European Piracy Scene (in MS-word only, 11.03.2005)
http://www.mpaa.org/MPAAPress/2005/2005_03_11.doc

Aftonbladet: Case against internet-provider terminated (Swedish, 04.04.2005)
http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/it/story/0,2789,626694,00.html