The Pirate Bay News - The Drunken stepFORUM - A place to discuss your worthless opinions

Fever · #1 04-17-2009, 11:58 AM

No, not some broke-ass Somali's, but the 'Pirate Bay Four':

Pirate Bay four jailed for breaking copyright in Swedish file-sharing trial

The founders of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay have been sentenced to a year in jail in Sweden for breaking copyright laws by helping millions of users download music, movies and computer games for free.

By Rupert Neate
Last Updated: 4:01PM BST 17 Apr 2009

Experts believe the ruling could be the first step towards ending illegal downloading, which has cost music and film companies billions of dollars in lost revenue.
Founders Peter Sunde and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, along with two other employees Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstr?m, were sentenced to a year in jail after being found guilty in a Swedish court of making 33 copyright-protected files accessible for illegal downloading on the website Piratebay.org.
The four were also ordered to pay $3.6 m (?2.4m) in damages to copyright holders, including Warner Brothers, MGM, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox Films, Sony and Universal, according to Swedish media reports.
In a Twitter posting before sentencing, Mr Sunde said: "Nothing will happen to TPB [the Pirate Bay], this is just theatre for the media."
The Pirate Bay provides a forum for its estimated 22 million users to download content. The site has become the entertainment industry's enemy No. 1 after successful court actions against file-swapping sites such as Grokster and Kazaa.
Defence lawyers had argued the men should be acquitted because The Pirate Bay does not host any copyright-protected material. Instead, it provides a forum for its users to download content through so-called torrent files. The technology allows users to transfer parts of a large file from several different users, increasing download speeds.
But the court found the defendants guilty of helping users commit copyright violations "by providing a website with ... sophisticated search functions, simple download and storage capabilities, and through the tracker linked to the website".
Judge Tomas Norstrom told reporters that the court took into account that the site was "commercially driven" when it made the ruling. The defendants have denied any commercial motives behind the site.
John Kennedy, the head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said the verdict was "good news for everyone, in Sweden and internationally, who is making a living or a business from creative activity and who needs to know their rights will be protected by law."
Supporters set up a website dedicated to the trial, and the defendants sent updates from the court hearings through social network Twitter.
Forrester Research analyst Mark Mulligan said: ?The music industry has come out of this with a ruling that is more positive for them than many had been expected." But he warned that the epidemic of file sharing will continue to grow via instant messaging, email and blogs, as well as file sharing websites.
He said the verdict could have implications for Google, as it provides links to illegal content.
Dawn Osborne, copyright lawyer at intellectual property firm Rouse, said: ?Pirate Bay have been thumbing their nose at the establishment for too long and the view of many content owners will be that they have finally got what they deserved.
?Copyright protection is crucial to ensuring that creativity and innovation continue and much needed economic prosperity returns. The case shows that breach of these rights potentially has very serious consequences."

Code:

Content, Pictures  and Download links visible to registered users only. 

REGISTER NOW to access all areas that are invisible to non-members.

Fuck 'em.

#2 04-17-2009, 12:09 PM

"During the trial, they argued that they hadn?t earned a single krona from The Pirate Bay and that the site was more of a hobby. "

that's bullshit i bet.... they were getting rich. What kind of an idiot would spend time dealing with a website and not make any money from it?!

...wait, what?

jcaf41 · #3 04-17-2009, 12:19 PM

Go to their site, they have a few vids up answering questions and what not. But long and short, the appeal process in Sweden apparently is a long one (that's what she said) and could take upwards of 4 years or so. They might not even serve a day, but the fine they were saddled with they already said they will never pay. Not too sure if you are just starting an appeal process if these types of comments are the best for your defense.

They did make a good point regarding Google, and the fact they might be a possible target in the near future, due in part that Google does host content on their own servers.

Either way - this will not stop the overall nor slow the file sharing world.

Good job Hollywood - you won. Now pat yourself on the back, and realize you won nothing!!

jo_dile · #4 04-17-2009, 12:44 PM

Code:

Content, Pictures  and Download links visible to registered users only. 

REGISTER NOW to access all areas that are invisible to non-members.

*Dead on floor laughing*

Choppie · #5 04-17-2009, 12:50 PM

They've been attempting to stop this shit since it started. They shut something down, we move. All they are doing it keeping it interesting.

Carlos Spicy Wiener · #6 04-17-2009, 02:17 PM

Code:

Content, Pictures  and Download links visible to registered users only. 

REGISTER NOW to access all areas that are invisible to non-members.

Yea I wonder! Fuck the man............

MillyMc · #7 04-17-2009, 07:57 PM

Its def the beginning of the end. Im thinking that pretty soon the MPAA will be able to access IPs to target who is going there bc it will have legally been deemed an "illegal" site. theres no way this time period can go on forever. has there ever been a time where technology has created such a glorious loophole for so long?

...only thing i can think of is the black box converters for free cable......but even that didnt go on for so long.

nachos1345 · #8 04-17-2009, 07:58 PM

^^^ What a downer.

MillyMc · #9 04-17-2009, 08:00 PM

haha, what can i say, im bitter. but ive also had like 3 years of every single movie, tv show, album, and book ive wanted*. i cant complain.

i still buy cds, itunes, books, go to concert shows and buy shirts, etc....

DontSnatch · #10 04-17-2009, 09:51 PM

its such a big loophole because of the massive number of people that keep it open. they'll have to censor the entire internet before they completely get rid of pirating shit. for the millions of dollars the man spends on taking these claims to court, all it takes is a few 19 yr old wiz kids somewhere in the world to pop up a new site.