Over the past year, Europe has become a minefield for internet piracy.
"Europe is above and beyond other places both in terms of piracy and its thirst for American content," Pam Allison, head of business intelligence division DtecNet, a provider of piracy-detection services, told TheWrap.
Indeed, recent studies have shown just how bad the problem is. Television piracy, for instance, increasing fourfold over the fall, according to a recent study by DtecNet. And a report by Forrester Research found that a staggering 14 percent of European internet users engage in illegal file-sharing.
Part of the reason, is that there are a lot of English language speakers -- not just in the U.K., but in places like Spain and Italy. And there is a seemingly insatiable appetite for American popular culture.
Under pressure from worried studios, television networks and record companies, European governments have begun to institute harsher penalties for people who trade movies, music and shows illegally.
Among the moves embraced in countries like France and Sweden are so-called "three-strikes" rules that disconnect illegal downloaders from their networks after two warnings. Also in France, those who violate intellectual property rules risk imprisonment of up to two years and face a fine of $415,000.
And in England, there is pressure to get legislation effectively adapting the three-strikes approach passed before elections are held. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour government, which has been supportive of the move, is widely expected to get the boot.
As in the U.S., such moves have drawn fire from groups who claim that stricter rules cater to large multi-national corporations at the expense of individual rights.
In England, for example, a full 33 percent of participants in a recent poll said they would vote against a party that support internet disconnection for copyright infringement.
“People’s rights are at stake," Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group said in a statement. "The bill doesn’t require any test of evidence before harsh punishments are imposed on people accused of copyright infringement, and opens the door to a ratcheting up of unwarranted powers without democratic scrutiny.
"You're not banned from using telephones, postal service, just the internet," said Christian Engstrom, a member of the Swedish parliament who opposes the legislation. "The internet has become a fundamental part of society, and it must be treated as such. Politicians and record companies see it as a toy you can take away from a child misbehaving. It's unreasonable to shut anybody off."
Engstrom and other like-minded Swedes have been so incensed over the new rules that they have formed a political group called the Pirate Party, which numbers 50,000 members, making it the third largest party in Sweden. It currently has two members in the European Parliament.
Supporters of the harsh rules dispute the complaints of critics like the Pirate Party and Open Rights Group.
"We're engaging in a public education program," Geraldine Moloney, a spokesperson for the Motion Picture Association in Europe, told TheWrap.
