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
Peter Sunde (born September 13, 1978) alias ‘brokep’:
Verdict: Guilty – 1 year in prison
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Fredrik Neij (born April 27, 1978) alias ‘TiAMO’:
Verdict: Guilty – 1 year in prison
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Gottfrid Svartholm (October 17, 1984) alias ‘Anakata’:
Verdict:Guilty – 1 year in prison
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Carl Lundstr?m (born April 13, 1960)
VerdictGuilty – 1 year in prison
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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.
While the court did not agree with the plaintiff’s estimates of losses (around $12m), 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.
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.
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.
Post from: TorrentFreak