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A landmark court ruling in Sweden could have dire consequences for those using torrent sites like the Pirate Bay to download pirate films and TV shows.

One of the country's main internet service providers (ISP) will soon be forced to hand over the names of customers using its services to download illegal material.

Bahnhof is a popular ISP in Sweden and is proud of its ability to keep its customer data private. But the Administrative Court in Stockholm has decided it must hand over all the personal details of those who infringe on copyright.

The court made a statement about the judgement on its website: “The administrative court in Stockholm has found that today the Swedish provisions on disclosure of subscription data to law enforcement agencies do not contravene EU law.

“The court therefore considers that the Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) has been prepared to instruct the operator Bahnhof to disclose subscription information in accordance with the provisions of the Electronic Communications Act."

Bahnhof responded to say that it will appeal the decision. But it could have ramifications to other ISPs beyond Sweden.

(Image: Getty)

Here in the UK, ISPs have issued warnings to anyone using torrent sites like the Pirate Bay or KickassTorrents as part of the Get It Right campaign .

The new campaign is being run by the government, after it emerged that an estimated 6.7 million people consumed at least one item of illegal content in 2016.

Previous attempts to fight the flow of illegal content onto torrent sites has involved browsers blocking their IP addresses. However, thanks to tools like proxies and VPNs, they are often still accessible.

The reason torrent sites have continued to flourish is that they can also be used to share perfectly legal files. In a similar manner to Wikipedia, the content is completely user-generated.