Swedish court upholds conviction of file sharing website co-founders
27 Nov 2010
An appeals court in Sweden has upheld the decision that three of the co-founders of the Pirate Bay website were guilty of encouraging illegal file sharing, for which they were convicted of last year.
According to a report in the Telegraph, the case was brought by the music and film industry and ended up increasing the fine levied on the architects of the Pirate Bay. Earlier they had been fined £2.8 million, which was increased almost 50 per cent to £4.1 million later. However, the three men had their sentences reduced with Fredrik Neij having his sentence reduced to 10 months, Peter Sunde to eight and Carl Lundstron to four.
The Pirate Bay is a search engine that online file sharers can use to locate pirated copies of films, music, games, software, and other digital content. The site enjoys much support among those opposed to corporate owners, who, they believe, have priced content unfairly and whose policies have hampered the creative commons.
The industry has, meanwhile, welcomed the court decision, although the Pirate Bay continues to be operational as of date. According to Fraces Moore, CEO of the IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry representing the music industry globally, the judgment confirmed the illegality of the Pirate Bay and the seriousness of the crimes of those involved.
He added it was time for the Pirate Bay, whose operators had twice been convicted in court, to close. The industry now looked to governments and ISPs to take note of the judgment, do the responsible thing and take the necessary steps to get the Pirate Bay shut down, he added.
Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Pirate Party in Sweden and intellectual property reform activists, commented: "This was a political trial from the start and it must be resolved politically. The public has lost all confidence in the justice system in these matters, and it is beyond sad that the courts still persist in running special-interest justice."
