Overview

As technology continues to evolve, legislation is needed to protect privacy and property as well as regulate new markets. As part of the European Union, Sweden has a responsibility to adhere to their regulations regarding Piracy, Privacy and Intellectual Property. Throughout my research, it appears that Sweden is generally on target with meeting these requirements, while implementing a good deal of their own legislation. 

Piracy

According to the 7 th Annual BSA Global Software Piracy Study (26) , Sweden had a piracy rate of 31% in 2001 with $49,929,000 in lost revenue for retail software. This is much lower than the 47% piracy rate in 1996. In comparison, Norway 's piracy rate is 34% which has also dropped dramatically since 1996, and Finland 's rate has fallen to 27%. The United States has remained stable for the last 7 years at approx. 25%.

This article attributes the declining rates of piracy to many factors, including the increased presence of legitimate software sales, increased user support, a reduction in software prices, an increase in legal ramifications associated with the use of unlicensed software, and government's role in protecting intellectual property. It appears to me that there is a direct correlation between countries that were not severely impacted by the economic slowdown and the continued decrease in piracy rates. Sweden has remained in a steady decline of piracy, which I believe is a result of its relatively stable economic status and the presence of the factors listed above.

Privacy

FreedomInfo.org published a comprehensive report about the laws relating to freedom of information in countries across the world. The following information was gathered from this report (27) . Sweden has always been known for encouraging full disclosure of government documents to its citizens and this is re-enforced by the various laws they have adopted since the 18 th century. They began with the Freedom of the Press Act in 1766 which requested that official documents be made available upon request at no charge. The current version of this law, Freedom of the Press Act was entered into the constitution in 1949 (amended in 1976) and also states that Swedes will have access to every official document. The most recent action taken was the Open Sweden Campaign in 2002, which was created to increase public awareness of government transparency and information disclosure policies.

As with any set of regulations, there were some problems that came up involving limited access to public documents. From what I have read, it seems that this problem stemmed from an unrefined process of disclosing appropriate information. To solve this problem, the government merged the Secrecy Act and the Public Records Act in 2002, so that all distribution of public documents would be handled with a consistent method. (27)

Electronic Communications Act 2003: Protection of Privacy

In terms of ensuring privacy when using electronic communications, this new Act reinforces the Personal Data Act of 1998 with a few additional stipulations. These include requirements that providers of e-communications operate with sufficient security measures in place, protection with regards to electronic mail, the processing of location data, and non-itemized bills. For more information regarding the specifics of this Act, please see http://naring.regeringen.se/fragor/ekom/ekomprop/pdf/n3012.pdf (2).

Overall, I believe the Swedish government is very conscious and effective in maintaining appropriate levels of privacy for both public and private parties.

Intellectual Property

The following is an excerpt from the Country Commercial Guide(17) regarding the Protection of Property Rights. Sweden has a very comprehensive system in place to protect Intellectual Property.

Protection of Property Rights

Swedish law generally provides adequate protection of all property rights, including intellectual property. As a member of the European Union, Sweden adheres to a series of multilateral conventions on industrial, intellectual, and commercial property. On January 1, 1995 , Sweden signed the 1989 Madrid Protocol on the International Registration of Trademarks.

Patents - Patents are adequately protected under the terms of the EU Agreement, in which member states have agreed to comply with the substantive provisions of the European Patent Convention of 1973, which Sweden ratified in 1980. Protection in all areas of technology may be obtained for 20 years.

Copyrights - Sweden is a signatory to various multilateral conventions on the protection of copyrights, including the Berne Convention of 1971, the Rome Convention of 1961, and the WTO's Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIPS) convention. Swedish copyright law protects computer programs and databases. Enforcement of the law, however, has been less than ideal, although a contradiction between Sweden 's constitution and its international obligations to protect unpublished, copyrighted material has been resolved in a satisfactory manner

Trademarks - Sweden protects trademarks under a specific Trademark Act (1960:644) and is a signatory to the 1989 Madrid Protocol.

Trade Secrets - Proprietary information is protected under Sweden 's patent and copyright laws, unless acquired by a government ministry or authority, in which case it may be made available to the public on demand."

Source : Country Commercial Guide (17)