It is estimated - but nobody really knows - that at least one in 10 Swedes swap music illegally via BitTorrent file-sharing websites like Sweden's notorious Pirate Bay, and it is thought that in 2008, some 15m films were illegally downloaded by Swedish internet users.
Such internet activity as propelled the country into the biggest political debate for 20 years. At its heart is a controversial law passed in parliament last year. Known as the FRA Law, in honour of the Swedish electronic intelligence agency, it permits the monitoring of international phone calls, e-mail and internet traffic.
Some of the world's most powerful computers will scan all cross-border e-traffic in real time for a quarter of a million trigger words and phrases that the security services believe warrant further investigation.
While Finland has Nokia, Sweden gave us Ericsson. Swedes enjoy some of the highest - and fastest - rates of connectivity in the world, a development that has been spurred by necessity because of the country's sparsely populated geography, and a key factor in driving the discussion around the new law. Cultural differences also play a part, for example Sweden's liberal culture, part of which is the principle of Allemansratten.
Allemansratten means everyone's right to roam and it's an important part of Swedish culture and identity and a major factor dividing people for and against the new law.
Monday, 3 August 2009
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Sweden pushes EU climate action
Sweden has called on the European Union to take the lead in fighting climate change despite facing the worst economic downturn since the 1930s.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said the EU should reach a common position ahead of a major international climate conference in Copenhagen in December.
Climate change is “coming quicker and earlier than we thought” and our way of living is “not sustainable”, he said.
Sweden has taken over the revolving presidency of the EU. Mr Reinfeldt, during the presidency, will also try to make headway on financial regulation, the fate of the stalled Lisbon treaty and admitting new members.
The slogan of the Swedish presidency is “taking on the challenge” and Mr Reinfeldt sees a lot of challenges over the next six months. His priority is to persuade all 27 EU countries to speak with one voice on climate change, in order to get the US and other major polluters such as China to sign up to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in December.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said the EU should reach a common position ahead of a major international climate conference in Copenhagen in December.
Climate change is “coming quicker and earlier than we thought” and our way of living is “not sustainable”, he said.
Sweden has taken over the revolving presidency of the EU. Mr Reinfeldt, during the presidency, will also try to make headway on financial regulation, the fate of the stalled Lisbon treaty and admitting new members.
The slogan of the Swedish presidency is “taking on the challenge” and Mr Reinfeldt sees a lot of challenges over the next six months. His priority is to persuade all 27 EU countries to speak with one voice on climate change, in order to get the US and other major polluters such as China to sign up to substantial cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in December.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Swedish Customs and Culture - Food
No one visiting Sweden in August can fail to notice how shop window displays from variations on the theme of crayfish.
Nowhere is the crayfish so ardently worshipped as in Sweden. Eating of crayfish has expanded into a ritual meal surrounded by all manner of accessories, preferably with an authentic full moon thrown in. The decorations consist mostly of colored paper lanterns in the form of smiling moon-faces suspended over the table.
A hundred years ago, the catching of crayfish was forbidden except for a couple of months every autumn. At one time the lakes of central Sweden teemed with this black gold, which was exported to the high-class restaurants of Paris, London and Berlin, but over-fishing was threatening to annihilate them.
In 1907 the Swedish crayfish enthusiasts were struck by a disaster: the “crayfish plague” which was a lethal parasitic mould, which eliminated rare crayfish from most of Sweden’s fishing waters. The Swedes imported crayfish, first from Turkey and then from Spain and today from the US. making Sweden the world’s biggest crayfish importer.
Eating crayfish the Swedish way is not easy, but the experience of a crayfish party can very well modify the myth of Swedish uprightness.
Nowhere is the crayfish so ardently worshipped as in Sweden. Eating of crayfish has expanded into a ritual meal surrounded by all manner of accessories, preferably with an authentic full moon thrown in. The decorations consist mostly of colored paper lanterns in the form of smiling moon-faces suspended over the table.
A hundred years ago, the catching of crayfish was forbidden except for a couple of months every autumn. At one time the lakes of central Sweden teemed with this black gold, which was exported to the high-class restaurants of Paris, London and Berlin, but over-fishing was threatening to annihilate them.
In 1907 the Swedish crayfish enthusiasts were struck by a disaster: the “crayfish plague” which was a lethal parasitic mould, which eliminated rare crayfish from most of Sweden’s fishing waters. The Swedes imported crayfish, first from Turkey and then from Spain and today from the US. making Sweden the world’s biggest crayfish importer.
Eating crayfish the Swedish way is not easy, but the experience of a crayfish party can very well modify the myth of Swedish uprightness.
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