The International Olympic Committee asked Sweden to help stop a file-sharing Web site from spreading illegal downloads of ceremonies at the Beijing Games, government officials said Tuesday.
IOC Vice President Gunilla Lindberg urged Swedish Justice Minister Beatrice Ask to help prevent what she called "the rampant piracy of the opening ceremony," in a letter dated Aug. 18., which was made available to The Associated Press.
Lindberg said the piracy was directly harming the interests of the IOC and its licensees, and that up to 1 million illegal copies had already been made available for download since the Aug. 8 opening ceremony.
Most of the downloads had been traced to The Pirate Bay file-sharing Web site whose operators and servers are located in Sweden, the letter said.
The Web site, currently calling itself "The Beijing Bay," had not responded to requests to remove the files, the IOC said, adding that it was "gravely concerned" about possible new copyright infringements over the upcoming closing ceremony on Aug. 24.
Ask was not immediately available for comment, but she told Swedish news agency TT that the government was not able to act in individual cases and that the IOC should turn to police and prosecutors.
The Pirate Bay started in 2004 and allows up to 15 million users around the world to share films, music and other copyright-protected material.
Earlier this year, the operators of the site faced a lawsuit filed by Hollywood production houses for violating copyright laws.
Last week, an Italian judge ordered the country's Internet service providers to block access to The Pirate Bay site as part of a probe into violations of copyright law.
