The 60-year-old was given a suspended sentence and a 10,000 kronor ($1,570) fine for downloading 2,880 songs from the internet using the file sharing program Direct Connect, according to daily newspaper Aftonbladet.
Current regulations in Sweden limits police to being allowed to demand traffic information from internet suppliers in cases where a prison sentence is a possible outcome of a conviction.
This case therefore sets an interesting precedent, said prosecutor Henrik Rasmusson.
“A suspended sentence corresponds to prison time. Therefore, we now know that if anyone has been sharing files to the same extent as the 60-year-old, we can demand their information from suppliers,” said Rasmusson to Aftonbladet.
Without the man’s confession, he might have walked away scot-free, as police only had a list of the songs he allegedly downloaded, according to the paper.
“If he hadn’t confessed, the evidence would’ve been shaky. We haven’t searched his house, because it was two years since the songs were downloaded,” said Rasmusson to Aftonbladet.
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