Sweden is currently involved in establishing a widespread Infrastructure for digital aspects of the information age.  In the government bill “Measures to Broaden and Develop the Use of Information Technology” passed in 1996, the government laid out a road map of key strategic initiatives for IT Infrastructure and Policy. 

The Swedish government, similar to most of the developing IT nations has not formalized clear policy on many legal issues associated with the Internet, but many iniativies are underway. The Data Act, deals with a variety of questions of legal protection in the IT environment. 

Software Piracy 

Software piracy in Sweden, as in the rest of the world, remains an important issue.  The piracy rate in Sweden is higher than the average for the rest of Western Europe. The average for Western Europe declined this year by four percentage points, to 39%.  The software piracy rate in Sweden has been on the decline in recent years as well from 54% in 1994 down to 43% for 1997.  According to the Business Software Alliance (SBA) this represents a current loss of approximately $127,051,000 in revenue for the software industry as a result of piracy in Sweden.

The estimates for the last four years according to SBA statistics are as follows: 
 

Year	Piracy Rate	Estimated Revenue Losses  (USD 1,000s)
1994	54%	$151,993
1995	54%	$206,332
1996	47%	$112,498
1997	43%	$127,051

 (Source: The Software Business Alliance) 

Freedom of Speech 

There is a government concern over the misuse of the Internet as a means of communication,  although few cases have come up before the courts.  It is not clear whether the Swedish Freedom of Press Act and the Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression (both part of Swedish consitutional law) apply to statements on the Internet.  Of specific concern, are issues associated with cases of racial incitement, libel, and defamation..  As a result, the applicability of these laws to this new medium is currently under review by the government. 

Copyright 

Several different projects which are underway at the moment are aimed at facilitating copyright management on the Internet and in other digital contexts in Sweden.  Since the Internet is a global market, most of the projects began as a result of some form of international cooperation. Copyright is of international relevance and is an important trading commodity. There are several international conventions which coordinate the national copyright legislation of different countries. The need for international agreements has increased in recent years and at the end of 1996 the WIPO Conference revised some sections of the biggest international agreement, the Bern Convention, which was drawn up in the 1880s.  Sweden is increasingly involved in this and other international iniatives. (Source: Digital Signatures) 

In 1995, Sweden conducted a project called the “Strategic co-operation relating to electronic ID within the bank and finance sector”.  The objective of this project was to develop a shared technical solution for electronic identification.  The project involved cooperation from the Swedish National Police Board, the Swedish Defence Authority, the Swedish State Office, the Swedish Insurance Office, National Tax Office, and the Data Inspectorate.  This study is one of several in Sweden that focus upon the use of smart cards and encryption technologies to ensure personal data protection. 

Later that year, the Secure Electronic Information in Society Association was formed (SEIS).  Through this group, work is continuing toward developing a framework for a widely accepted practical economic security solution. Topics addressed by this group include the adoption of a common digital signature standard. (Source: Digital Signatures)