European Union

Researchers from the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control tracked user activities on torrent trackers for 103 days, collecting 148 million IP addresses and identifying 2 billion copies of files, many of which were unlicensed. They observed the distribution of 500,000 to 750,000 files at any moment and identified 1.4 million unique .torrent files, noting that a small number of individuals shared the majority of these files. The UK has enacted legislation requiring internet service providers to disconnect users accused of downloading pirated content, while the Supreme Court of Ireland upheld the legality of disconnecting users accused of music piracy. In 2008, Europeans downloaded €10 billion worth of copyrighted materials without charge, resulting in 185,000 job losses in the creative sectors. The European Parliament is reviewing statistics related to digital piracy, and several EU countries are drafting anti-piracy legislation. UNESCO announced the launch of the "Global Anti-Piracy Observatory" on World Book and Copyright Day.