STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 11 (UPI) -- Sweden has passed a law making it easier for police to force Internet service providers to reveal identities of users in the hunt for suspected file sharers.
Under the law passed by the country's Parliament Thursday, a person must now only be suspected of a finable offense for police to have the power to force ISPs to hand over names, telephone numbers, and IP addresses of individual subscribers, the Swedish news agency TT and The Local reported.
A previous law had stipulated someone must be suspected of a crime carrying a possible prison sentence before authorities could retrieve user information from Internet providers.
The new measure will make it easier for police to identify individuals suspected of file sharing and other online copyright infringement crimes, authorities said.
"It's a really good change which makes it possible for police to investigate copyright crimes that affect specific individuals," said Paul Pinter, the Swedish police's national coordinator for intellectual property crimes.
Some members of Parliament condemned passage of the new law.
"It's unacceptable to make changes that make it easier to access our personal information," Left Party MP Jens Holm said in a statement.
"All of our online communication should be as secure as when we write regular letters or talk on the telephone."
