Pirate bay found guilty, fined 4.5 million

[competent123]

A court in Sweden has jailed four men behind The Pirate Bay (TPB), the world's most high-profile file-sharing website, in a landmark case.

Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde were found guilty of breaking copyright law and were sentenced to a year in jail.

They were also ordered to pay $4.5m (£3m) in damages.

Record companies welcomed the verdict but the men are to appeal and Sunde said they would refuse to pay the fine.

Speaking at an online press conference, he described the verdict as "bizarre".

"It's serious to actually be found guilty and get jail time. It's really serious. And that's a bit weird," Sunde said.

"It's so bizarre that we were convicted at all and it's even more bizarre that we were [convicted] as a team. The court said we were organised. I can't get Gottfrid out of bed in the morning. If you're going to convict us, convict us of disorganised crime.

"We can't pay and we wouldn't pay. Even if I had the money I would rather burn everything I owned, and I wouldn't even give them the ashes."

The damages were awarded to a number of entertainment companies, including Warner Bros, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, and Columbia Pictures.

However, the total awarded fell short of the $17.5m in damages and interest the firms were seeking.

Speaking to the BBC, the chairman of industry body the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) John Kennedy said the verdict sent out a clear message.

"These guys weren't making a principled stand, they were out to line their own pockets. There was nothing meritorious about their behaviour, it was reprehensible.

"The Pirate Bay did immense harm and the damages awarded doesn't even get close to compensation, but we never claimed it did.

"There has been a perception that piracy is OK and that the music industry should just have to accept it. This verdict will change that," he said.
The four men denied the charges throughout the trial, saying that because they did not actually host any files, they were not doing anything wrong.

Speaking on Swedish Radio, assistant judge Klarius explained how the court reached its findings.

"The court first tried whether there was any question of breach of copyright by the file-sharing application and that has been proved, that the offence was committed.

"The court then moved on to look at those who acted as a team to operate the Pirate Bay file-sharing service, and the court found that they knew that material which was protected by copyright but continued to operate the service," he said.

A lawyer for Carl Lundstrom, Per Samuelson, told journalists he was shocked by the guilty verdict and the severity of the sentence.

"That's outrageous, in my point of view. Of course we will appeal," he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. "This is the first word, not the last. The last word will be ours."

Political issue

Rickard Falkvinge, leader of The Pirate Party - which is trying to reform laws around copyright and patents in the digital age - told the BBC that the verdict was "a gross injustice".

"This wasn't a criminal trial, it was a political trial. It is just gross beyond description that you can jail four people for providing infrastructure.

"There is a lot of anger in Sweden right now. File-sharing is an institution here and while I can't encourage people to break copyright law, I'm not following it and I don't agree with it.

"Today's events make file-sharing a hot political issue and we're going to take this to the European Parliament."

The Pirate Bay is the world's most high profile file-sharing website and was set up in 2003 by anti-copyright organisation Piratbyran, but for the last five years it has been run by individuals.

Millions of files are exchanged using the service every day.

No copyright content is hosted on The Pirate Bay's web servers; instead the site hosts "torrent" links to TV, film and music files held on its users' computers.



does that means an end to the interent as we know...

oh my god what are we going to do...

i guess i'll find another site. ...

[swalihmcmr]

yeah...I just read the news on BBC website..

anyhow the site wont go down I guess

the website will be up and may be controlled by some one else...

[Refresher]

Originally Posted by competent123

i guess i'll find another site. ...

Can you? Is it possible to find another torrent site of that size and popularity?

Just let me know if you DO manage to find one.

[hbl]

They are the King of piracy.

[competent123]

@refresher

come on , one thing we don't learn from history is that we dont' learn from history.

it was pirate bay today
it will be somethign else tomorrow.

it has been going on since forever, it will go on forever.


companies/govts /nations die, people remain.

if pirate bay dies, there will be some other site somewhere else who is going to fill in the shoes.

it's not like sharing was not going on when pirate bay was not there.

you really underestimate the ingenuity of humans , they'll find a place /way to steal stuff.. always..

[Refresher]

Originally Posted by competent123

@refresher

come on , one thing we don't learn from history is that we dont' learn from history.

it was pirate bay today
it will be somethign else tomorrow.

it has been going on since forever, it will go on forever.


companies/govts /nations die, people remain.

if pirate bay dies, there will be some other site somewhere else who is going to fill in the shoes.

it's not like sharing was not going on when pirate bay was not there.

you really underestimate the ingenuity of humans , they'll find a place /way to steal stuff.. always..

"Men will come and men will go, but Business goes on forever"
I know it's true, but there are some things which are not easily forgotten. Tomorrow Google gets shut down, then it will take time for others to be in the shoes of Google.
Same way, people might shift to other sites, but something that will always remind us is that "This X is nothing like PB"

I feel I am talking as if someone's dead. LOL

[competent123]

yeah well there is nothing ' we" can do about it, so why waste time thinking over something /someone else.

there is always going to be liek that, that's why it's called history.

somone might take some more time to fil in the shoes, but it will be something for the better.

[BadBoyzStudioZ]

File-sharing website founders convicted
The Pirate Bay logo

Peter Sunde of The Pirate Bay described the verdict as 'bizarre'

A court in Sweden has found four men guilty of promoting copyright infringement by running The Pirate Bay website, one of the world's top file-sharing sites.

They have each been sentenced to a year in prison and they have been ordered to pay total damages of $4.5m to the recording industry.

The court case was closely watched by internet enthusiasts the world over, but what exactly is file sharing and what are the implications of the ruling?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/ne...ay_nh_sl.shtml

FINALLY GOT 'EM hahahahahahahahahahaha


Now HONEST people can finally make a buck! Justice has been served.... ah hahahahahahahahahahahaha

This is a dupe thread, I just realized it... So what?

Check this out... Pirate Bay is the scum of the earth. These guys steal from honest people and make their living as scumbag Pirate hosters. Don't get me wrong, I have downloaded a thing or two, I may be scum too, but these guys are facilitators. They should have got the needle as many lives as they have ruined. Sorry, but Somalia has nothing on these scumbags, they just thought they were golden... Wrong answer scumbag! ah hahahahahahaha yar har har.

Now... Here is the deal. Bit Torrent? Fantastic technology. Could be used in so many great ways too. For delivery of legit software, for legit music, all that. Great stuff.

What I think is hilarious is that advertisers are gonna be running for the hills man! These guys won't be able to get a freakin' Porn site to advertise on their scumbag pirate site! aH HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I think I am gonna have an org...

Ok, I'm good.

[!nfamous]

You are stuffed in the head, mate.

They are not going to prison for another few years they still have appeals and such.

[BadBoyzStudioZ]

So what? Point has been made "mate". And no need for profanity unless I did something to you personally.

Anyway... Yeah, I'm the one that is "blanked up" in the head, yeah. I know. Pirates steal from honest hardworking people and make millions, but I'm the one. Yeah, uh huh. I hear ya.

That's better. No need to disrespect me anyway. I really did nothing to you. Profanity is not necessary, so I am glad you decided to change it to something more sensible like calling me something else. Whatever Bro, if it makes you happy then I guess that's OK.

[swalihmcmr]

these websites are never gonna stop........

[!nfamous]

Originally Posted by BadBoyzStudioZ

That's better. No need to disrespect me anyway. I really did nothing to you. Profanity is not necessary, so I am glad you decided to change it to something more sensible like calling me something else. Whatever Bro, if it makes you happy then I guess that's OK.

In all seriousness, i didn't actually say what you thought i said. I just put four * and left it up to your imagination.

[Bear Grylls]

Originally Posted by Refresher

Can you? Is it possible to find another torrent site of that size and popularity?

Just let me know if you DO manage to find one.

There are so many other popular torrent sites like Demonoid

[competent123]

or mininova for that matter, and if you can't get it from torrent, then warez forums are way to go....

no shortage of pirates in this world..

[BadBoyzStudioZ]

It's cool man. You're an OK guy, I have no beef with you. Just delirious over the fact that musicians are finally being recognized as a group of honest hard working human beings that deserve to make a living entertaining you all. Some of these guys and gals spend 20-30 years honing their craft, and it costs REAL money and years of experience to produce great music! I have been in the business myself for a lot of years and I feel very excited that these criminals are finally being put to the test! Whether or not they actually do the time, the message is loud and clear. We deserve to make money on our product... Our music is our work. We deserve to make a living.

[TheLab]

LOL, torrent is not the only hole of piracy in this digital world, so no worries about this matter

[terminator69]

Originally Posted by BadBoyzStudioZ

It's cool man. You're an OK guy, I have no beef with you. Just delirious over the fact that musicians are finally being recognized as a group of honest hard working human beings that deserve to make a living entertaining you all. Some of these guys and gals spend 20-30 years honing their craft, and it costs REAL money and years of experience to produce great music! I have been in the business myself for a lot of years and I feel very excited that these criminals are finally being put to the test! Whether or not they actually do the time, the message is loud and clear. We deserve to make money on our product... Our music is our work. We deserve to make a living.

There are no plans for anything to happen to their website you nub.

[knight10]

I guess they deserved it. Considering the losses suffered by industry because of them it is just an ordinary satisfaction.

[Bohra]

lol... so u hate people downloading... ?? um why dont u see the other part of the story where the people from film industry make millions and want to over price thier stuff so they can earn more ? thats not fair i guess

[BadBoyzStudioZ]

Originally Posted by terminator69

There are no plans for anything to happen to their website you nub.

Whatever Dude. Nub, huh? I was on the "Internet" in 1979 my man. Not hardly a Nub. You didn't even know there was one then, that would be my guess. We used it in the military for forward command operations in the event of a nuclear exchange.

What's up with people calling other people names around here this morning? Especially guys from Australia. Oh, that's right... Criminal colony minds think alike. Forgot about your DNA... Never mind.

Obviously some serious Bit Torrent pirates about. No worries man, I don't hold your criminal activity against you. Not one bit. I mug grandmothers for pocket change. Any problem with that? Probably not, as long as it isn't your grandmother... Right? No harm to you. In fact her blueberry muffins stink anyway right... So steal her purse, who cares!

Whatever the movie industry does with their movies is their business. If you don't like them, then don't watch them. Personally, I think all entertainers should quit producing anything for a year or two, let all the cheap freeloaders download themselves silly until they all of a sudden realize nothing new has been out for awhile. That would be funny. Comical... Could write a whole movie about that I bet. hahahahahahahahahahahaha lmao hahahahahahahahaahahahaha Very charming indeed.

My solution to that dilemma is read a book. Oh wait... Those cost money too, I forgot. Scrap that. Those greedy publishers. Heck, feeding their kids and paying their mortgage.... How dare them! Let's see, well we could make origami out of toilet paper. Oh, wait... Can't download toilet paper. That won't do! Those greedy S.O.B's have a monopoly on TOILET PAPER! I mean, what is going on here? There is nothing I can do anymore 'cause I can't get it on a Bit Torrent network for free then I just don't want it... Imagine! You always have your hand.