The survey was carried out by the company Mediavision, which asked 1,000 Swedes between the ages of one and 74 whether they had watched films or series via illegal sites in the past month. Most recently, 25 percent of Swedes answered yes, and Mediavision also believes that there may be a number in the dark.
– Perhaps the biggest in this is that we do not cover all Swedes. We cannot talk to those under 15 and we know that this is most widespread among the young, says Natalia Borelius, Mediavision analyst.
– But I also have other illegal consumption that is outside. Sports, for example, are not covered by this measure, she continues.
New actors
The survey has been conducted over several years and there has been a clear downward trend from 2015 until 2021, when 17 percent responded.
In the last two years, the trend has reversed and the proportion is increasing. This despite the fact that affected companies are working to shut down the illegal services.
– Several have been closed down, but it is difficult. They pop up on new domains and there are new players. There is quite a lot of money in this as well, both advertising, but when it comes to illegal IP TV, the households actually pay, says Natalia Borelius.
Legal actions
The measures have so far been aimed at the streaming services themselves. The risk for the individual user has been low, but now there is a movement so that they too can be punished for illegal streaming.
– There are legal cases at the EU level where it has been opened up so that it should be possible to argue that even the use of a streaming service can constitute an infringement of the copyright of the work you are viewing at the time, says Maria Winckler, lawyer.