The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
April 17, 2009
Just minutes ago the verdict in the case of The Pirate Bay Four was announced. All four defendants were accused of ‘assisting in making copyright content available’. Peter Sunde: Guilty. Fredrik Neij: Guilty. Gottfrid Svartholm: Guilty. Carl Lundström: Guilty. The four receive 1 year in jail each and fines totaling $3,620,000.
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. Here are the main points relating to each defendant (continually updated live);
brokep
Peter Sunde (born September 13, 1978) alias ‘brokep’:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...etersunde1.jpg
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
Peter Althin, brokep’s lawyer said, “I spoke to Peter and he wasn’t very surprised. A journalist he’d spoken to knew an hour before it was public that all four would be convicted. The verdict was leaked from the court. I have to think about what effects that can have on the sentence. It is unacceptable that the court is leaking.”
TiAMO
Fredrik Neij (born April 27, 1978) alias ‘TiAMO’:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...T3x/tiamo1.jpg
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
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Anakata
Gottfrid Svartholm (October 17, 1984) alias ‘Anakata’:
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...3x/anakata.jpg
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
Anakata’s lawyer Ola Salomonsson said, “We’re appealing. It’s very surprising that the court has chosen to treat the accused as a team.”
Carl Lundstrom
http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...llundstrom.jpg
Carl Lundström (born April 13, 1960)
Verdict: Guilty - 1 year in prison, damages to pay: $905,000
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The court said that the four defendants worked as a team, were aware that copyrighted material was being shared using The Pirate Bay and that they made it easy and assisted the infringements. It categorized the infringements as ’severe’. The judge said that the users of The Pirate Bay committed the first offense by sharing files and the four assisted this.
While the court did not agree with the plaintiff’s exaggerated estimates of losses, it still set the damages at 30 million SEK ($3,620,000). This a hugely significant amount and the court has ordered that the four should pay this amount between them.
The judge also stated that the usage of BitTorrent at The Pirate Bay is illegal. Rest assured, other torrent sites hosted in Sweden will be keeping a close eye on developments.
The defense put it to the judge that he had folded under intense political pressure. The judge denied this stating that the court made its decision based on the case presented to them.
At one point the judge was asked if he was concerned for his personal safety after handing down this decision. The judge said he hadn’t received any harassment and was quite surprised at the question.
While the judge won’t be getting any flowers for this verdict, Roger Wallis who spoke in favor of The Pirate Bay at their trial and received a mountain of floral tributes in return, noted, “This will cause a flood of court cases. Against all the ISPs. Because if these guys assisted in copyright infringements, then the ISPs also did. This will have huge consequences. The entire development of broadband may be stalled.”
Peter Sunde has already explained that this decision does not mean the end of the line in this case. There will be an appeal which means we are still far away from the ultimate decision - possibly years away. The case is now expected to move to the high court. Both sides have three weeks to file a written appeal.
Rasmus Fleischer, one of the founders of Piratbyrån commented, “The sentence has no formal consequence and no juridical value. We chose to treat the trial as a theater play and as such it’s been far better than we ever could have believed.”
As for the fate of the site, Peter has already promised that The Pirate Bay will continue. The site itself was never on trial, only the four individuals listed above.
This is a breaking news story, please check back frequently for updates.
:source: Source: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
lets wait for the appeal(s).
the court show the love by make a decision for assisting piracy... but
Quote:
“This will cause a flood of court cases. Against all the ISPs. Because if these guys assisted in copyright infringements, then the ISPs also did. This will have huge consequences. The entire development of broadband may be stalled.”
its a valid argument to reflect...
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
I knew this would be the decision. Based on the current state of the law, it is absolutely clear that running a tracker or just being a regular user is either directly or assisting infringement.
There is a huge difference with ISPs, who are a "mere conduit" and have been provided legal protection, "safe harbors" as long as they meet certain requirements when notified of infringement. They allow a lot more diverse traffic than a torrent tracker, "substantial noninfringing commercial uses" that have been clearly outlined in copyright law for decades.
If this came as a surprise to you, or if you're truly concerned about what this means for you ideals, I urge you to read further in order to fully comprehend what you are doing and also the proposals for policy changes.
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
That is a lot of money...
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
3 million USD is a load of money.
not even Sean Michael Breen paid as much as one of them.
but as expected this case will only be decided in the upper instances.
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
I recognize that this is a lot of money for any individual to pay. Heck, one of my former clients has judgments of about $7 Million against him, so I know it well. But given the circumstances, the amount of the money judgment is actually relatively small. It seems to be based on a very low estimate of compensatory damages, which is a positive sign from this decision.
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
Only 1 year eh? I was expecting more for these guys. But yeah that's a lot of money. Was TPB making money? I don't know if they can pay up.
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
The press conference was pretty good i thought.. way better than the formal ones after most trials.. this one was actually entertaining
Re: The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty
im sure they made tons of money, they had tons of ads at that site. Not to mention, didn't they try to buy an island?