On Wednesday, internet traffic in Sweden dipped by around 40% percent as the country's new anti-file sharing measures came into force.

Two days ago, the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) passed in Sweden.

Internet traffic at 4pm on April 1st was 30% lower than on the last day of March. The figures come from Netnod, a company responsible for the operation of internet exchanges in five Swedish cities, while on government statistics showed a 33% drop.

Sweden's new policy poses a significant threat to illegal file-sharers. Two Swedish men have been arrested for sharing copyrighted filee. The arrests were part of an international operation headed by Europol, and the suspects are alleged to be part of an international network.

The new law based on the European Union's Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive (IPRED) requires that Internet service providers turn over the IP addresses of file sharers to authorities in cases of suspected copyright infringement via a court order.

Intellectual property law