Some other pirates get jail time
Four of the founders of the file-sharing network PirateBay were sentenced to stiff fines and one year each of jail time.
From
TorrentFreak:
The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
While only a few weeks ago, it seems like an eternity since the trial of The Pirate Bay Four ended and the court retired to consider its verdict. The prosecution claimed that the four defendants were �assisting in making copyright content available� and demanded millions of dollars in damages. The defense did not agree, and all pleaded not guilty - backed up by the inimitable King Kong defense.
Today, Friday April 17, the court issued its decision:�The court has found that by using Pirate Bay�s services there has been file-sharing of music, films and computer games to the extent the prosecutor has stated in his case,� said the district court. �This file-sharing constitutes an unlawful transfer to the public of copyrighted performances.�
Crap -- this is strictly manipulation of the court system by large Media companies. Torrents are used for a lot of legitimate file sharing, the few examples of pirated work throw the whole system into a bad light. Any software you download has a 99% chance of being infected with malware anyway so why bother...
And yes, the "King Kong" defense has legal standing:
The defense has argued that they are not �assisting�, and dragged a giant primate into court to prove it. On the third day of the trial Carl Lundstr�m�s lawyer, Per E Samuelsson pointed out that the prosecution failed to prove that Lundstr�m had been involved in any transfers of any copyrighted material. This became known as the now famous King Kong defense.
�The admins of The Pirate Bay don�t initiate transfers. It�s the users that do and they are physically identifiable people. They call themselves names like King Kong,� Samuelsson told the court.
�According to legal procedure, the accusations must be against an individual and there must be a close tie between the perpetrators of a crime and those who are assisting. This tie has not been shown. The prosecutor must show that Carl Lundstr�m has personally interacted with the user King Kong, who may very well be found in the jungles of Cambodia,� the lawyer added.
Appeals time...
And be sure to scan the over 1,000 comments -- this has hit a big nerve.
Posted by DaveH at April 17, 2009 7:12 PM