'Streaming overtakes file sharing': report
Although file sharing over the internet continues to grow in Sweden it is becoming dwarfed by online streaming of TV shows and films, according to a new report by the internet company Cisco.
In the wake of the Pirate Bay court case in Sweden last year, which saw the conviction of the founders of the file sharing website, there was a sharp drop in the numbers of Swedes sharing films and music online.
But with increasingly faster broadband internet, more are now turning to services which offer streaming video, and eliminate the need for users to download copyrighted files and run the risk of prosecution.
"We calculate that file sharing will become less important, even though the actual numbers doing it will still increase," Henrik Bergqvist, technical manager at Cisco Sweden told news agency TT.
Inspired by the music service Spotify and the video streaming site Voddler, a new service, Video Bay, by Sweden's most well known file sharing advocates - the founders of the Pirate Bay - will be unveiled in the coming months. Streaming services are not illegal to watch under Swedish law but are illegal to upload.
While file sharing is expected to continue to grow at about 80 per cent per year in the coming years, Cisco predicts that it will be overtaken by online streaming which is expected to grow at about 130 per cent annually.
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In the wake of the Pirate Bay court case in Sweden last year, which saw the conviction of the founders of the file sharing website, there was a sharp drop in the numbers of Swedes sharing films and music online.
But with increasingly faster broadband internet, more are now turning to services which offer streaming video, and eliminate the need for users to download copyrighted files and run the risk of prosecution.
"We calculate that file sharing will become less important, even though the actual numbers doing it will still increase," Henrik Bergqvist, technical manager at Cisco Sweden told news agency TT.
Inspired by the music service Spotify and the video streaming site Voddler, a new service, Video Bay, by Sweden's most well known file sharing advocates - the founders of the Pirate Bay - will be unveiled in the coming months. Streaming services are not illegal to watch under Swedish law but are illegal to upload.
While file sharing is expected to continue to grow at about 80 per cent per year in the coming years, Cisco predicts that it will be overtaken by online streaming which is expected to grow at about 130 per cent annually.
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