OPINION
Law Enforcement Wasting Resources to Protect 'Big Music'

Last month, Sweden made it illegal to download copyright-protected material without the owner's permission.

But file sharers are still sharing files as though nothing has happened, according to Sweden's The Local, which, in an article cites Niklas Jakobsson, an engineer at Netnod, Sweden's biggest Internet hub. The piece also has Peder Ramel, managing director of Bredbandsbolaget, saying, "We have seen no big change either upwards or downwards."

Bowing to Authorities

It doesn't seem as though Finland will learn from its neighbor's experience, however. That Nordic nation prefers instead to bow to the cartel's demands. An article in Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat says: "In keeping with moves in several other countries, steps are now being taken by Finnish authorities to stamp out illegal distribution of copyright music material via the Internet."

Suomen Ääni-ja kuvatallennetuottajat (ÄKT, the Finnish version of the IFPI, or International Federation of Phonographic Industry) has reportedly sent police requests for investigations of "28 individuals who they would like to see brought to justice for net piracy through the peer-to-peer file sharing networks," the agency has said.

"ÄKT wants prosecutions brought against persons who have been spreading music through file sharing applications such as BitTorrent, KaZaa, eDonkey, and eMule," the organization said in a statement recently.

Oh. Well, if that's what the record label cartel wants...

Elsewhere, in America, India, Britain and even in Communist China, it's also a given that when the music, movie and software industries say "Jump!" lawmakers and police agencies ask, "How High?"

Corporate Cops

The cartels are still making hay with Operation Site Down as they once again have highlighted their ability to raise purely commercial interests to the level of serious crime by co-opting international enforcement agencies to act as corporate cops in Australia, Israel, Germany, South Korea, Norway, France, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Canada and Hungary.

Under this program, the FBI and under-manned police forces with dwindling resources from 10 other countries took care of industry business with more than 90 searches worldwide.

But back to Sweden: While legislators are making sounds that are music to the ears of the Big Four, the people who'll actually have to do the work -- the Swedish police -- aren't listening.

"Sweden's police simply have more important things to be getting on with than checking up on kids swapping music and games files," The Local quotes IT police unit spokesman Anders Ahlqvist as saying. "This isn't an area which we are prioritizing today. We prioritize other crimes, such as serious violent crime, child pornography and drug crime."

Priorities in Order

While it was "possible that investigations would follow after specific reports of illegal downloading," Ahlqvist thought it "highly unlikely" that the police would actively hunt file-sharers.

Despite the fact that, under the new law, file sharers could face a prison sentence, Ahlqvist said that "this was not the kind of thing that people would be arrested for," adds The Local.

"This is a cultural thing," he said. "There's a whole generation which has grown up with file sharing -- I don't think it will stop just because there's a new law."

It seems in one country, at least, the police have their priorities in the right order. They exist to serve and protect their citizens, not the entertainment cartels.