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Is it in your best interests to get the very people who put bread on your table in very very hot water?

Swedish law and EU law places a very high value on, and for, an individual’s privacy.

So should it all be sacrificed to support failing business models of very wealthy industries and a select few?

These were just a few of the questions faced by ISPs such Tele2 and Bahnhof in Sweden when it decided to introduce the IPRED law which, “demands ISPs reveal subscribers` IP addresses to copyright holders when a court finds sufficient evidence of alleged illegal activity”.

Bahnhof’s management not only openly condemned this invasion of privacy but also stated that this is clearly big content influenced and not in the interests of the people.

Perhaps it was the exodus of people running to an ISP with nads, perhaps their conscience finally got to them?

First it was All Tele. Then Tele2 (one of Sweden’s largest ISPs with over 600,000 subscribers) said they’re going to be following suit by destroying customers’ IP address data a short time later rather than archive it, and in the process rendering the new IPRED laws toothless!

Since I myself am not on Bahnhof, I decided to call and ask a few other ISPs for details (this should be especially informative for Swedish residents looking to switch).

Here’s what I found out:

Most of the small ones are thinking of going this route because I was not the only one who called them about this — their own subscribers were threatening to leave. Good news if you were thinking of moving, if you like your ISP (or want to avoid the mass of paperwork that is common in Sweden when changing from anything) stay a bit longer as they, too, are most likely to go this route.

And if they take too long you can always call them and tell them you’re leaving. Or just leave.

Bahnof told me they keep logs for just one week for internal usage then it’s Bye-bye to them.

All Tele is about the same (but from what I read, support sucks so I didn’t try calling them).

Bredbandsbolaget (for non Swedish speakers: The broadband company) keeps data for three weeks max before it, too, goes to meet Bahnhof’s old data in data-hell. And they told me they’d fight tooth and nail for their clients if they ever got a complaint and would’t give out user details unless they had “absolutely no choice”.

Sounds good but I (personally) still prefer Bahnhof’s method.

Tele 2 told me it deletes pretty much immediately. They have no use for these data so, they go to meet the deleted data from Bahnhof and Tele2.

For Swedish ISPs, the writing is clear on the wall: either you start deleting user IP data, or your subscribers are going to be going to your rival ISP.

Because, unlike in the US and Canada, there’s healthy competition, here, and prices are about the same with no data caps of course.

IPRED always was a joke. But as any comedian can tell you, it’s all in the timing. So it looks like we too can start laughing now —- a mere month later.

Ryan S www.eZee.se

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April, 2009