21.6.2006
US threats revealed by Swedish TV make headlines
As soon as Swedish TV's Rapport program had
revealed that the US government had threatened Sweden with WTO sanctions unless they shut down Pirate Bay website, the news made it to the top headlines of several major Swedish newspapers. "US threatened Sweden with commerce sanctions", captions
Svenska Dagbladet. "US threat behind filesharing raid", shouts
Aftonbladet's front page with big letters;
Dagens Nyheter uses precisely same wording. "US threatened with sanctions", puts
Sydsvenskan it. And so on.
That every headline mentions words 'US' and 'threat' together is descriptive of the response of the Swedish press. The press is taking a clear national stand, treating the officials that allowed the MPAA and the US government to have an influence on the Swedish Police as traitors. US has not enjoyed much public sympathy in Sweden in recent years, and particularly the Iraq War has damaged its public image seriously in the eyes of the Swedes. So the press does not hesitate to put even more pressure on Swedish Justice Minister Thomas Bodström and his right hand man, state secretary Dan Eliasson, both pointed out by the Swedish TV program as key persons in causing the raid to happen.
This may well be the beginning of a second major backslash to the MPAA in Sweden, with some collateral damage to the Swedish-US political relations as well. The actions of Justice Minister Bodström will be subjected to a special parliamentary inquiry demanded by several parliament members. The Swedish law is strict about not allowing ministers and other public officials to intervene into the specifics of any particular law enforcement operations. Should the inquiry find that Bodström had overstepped his limits and pressured the Swedish Police to particularly attack Pirate Bay in its general copyright law enforcement work, he might be forced to leave his job. The inquiry will take place after the September election though, so until that Bodström can hold his seat.