Is traffic dropping in Sweden after all?  That has been the focus on numerous reports this month, following the passage of anti-piracy law IPRED.  Except, the source of many of those reports does not really track Swedish traffic.  The company sourced within the articles, Netnod, somehow got tangled in a big misunderstanding.  "We do not have any data on 'web traffic in Sweden' and have not made any such statements," Netnod executive Nurani Nimpuno told Digital Music News on Wednesday. 

Instead, Netnod operates six internet exchange points (IXPs) in five
cities in Sweden.  An IXP is a physical hub that allows various ISPs to exchange traffic easily between their networks.  In the case of Netnod, a large number of non-Swedish ISPs participate, throwing the entire analysis into disarray.  "There is no way of knowing [what percentage of] Swedish internet traffic is present at the Netnod IX," Nimpuno continued.

Beyond that, Nimpuno noted that unlike the US, tracking Swedish-only traffic can be extremely difficult, simply because the net activity is rarely confined by political borders. 

But wait, what happened to the argument that Swedish traffic was dipping following the passage of IPRED?  Swedish anti-piracy group Antipiratbyran seized upon the alleged drop, though the broader trend remains entirely unclear.