Europeans are just not as well connected. File sharing works best with good broadband connections, but only 8 percent of European households have broadband, compared with 15 percent in the United States. Surfers in the United States are also more likely to download music, and do it in much greater volume, according to Forrester Research. Most of the people sued last week had amassed huge music libraries. And one of the driving forces behind file sharing is college-dorm broadband connections, which are much more common in the States than in Europe.
All this is changing fast, however. In 2002, the number of broadband users rose 92 percent in Europe. Grokster says that as many as 30 percent of its estimated 10 million users are in Western Europe, and London is its biggest urban market with 300,000 users. They are also relatively hard to find. Under U.S. law, the music companies could subpoena Internet service providers to cough up the names of major Grokster customers. They can do the same in Europe, but the laws on file sharing are often not clear, copyright laws aren’t yet harmonized across borders, and courts are often more protective of individual privacy. Says Latika Sharma, head of IT practice at Landwell, a London law firm: “It’s definitely an obstacle.”
Still, Europeans are not immune. Cases have already been brought against file swappers in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark. The IFPI has no immediate plans to sue Europeans or Asians, but Dixon warns that if anyone imagines he can hide in Europe, “that’s a severe misapprehension.” Clearly, the lawsuits last week were meant to be a threat heard round the world, which was another reason to file suit in the United States. “If you start prosecuting somebody in France, that’s ‘‘probably not going to worry the Americans,” says Forrester analyst Rebecca Jennings. “If you prosecute an American, it worries the Europeans.” They may not be as well connected to the Internet, but Europeans are more closely attuned to global news.
