Pirate Bay prosecutor tosses infringement charges overboard Half of the charges made against the four men behind the notorious file-sharing website The Pirate Bay have been sensationally dropped on day two of the trial. Prosecutor Håkan Roswall made the surprise move this morning, according to reports on The Local and TorrentFreak. He has amended the charges against Carl Lundström, …
I hate to say it, after a ping pong match between a solicitor and an friend of mine, I can only assume that the legal teams have no idea how torrents work or how that glowing box on their desk functions for that matter.
I look forward to seeing the boys from the Bay sail off in to the sunset with out being found guilty.
The next time the MPA(A)/etc try suing anyone, they should at least have the decency to employ lawyers (sic) that actually know what BitTorrent is, or the difference between a bit and a byte for that matter.
It's a crying shame to see the whole shebang is nearly over now, as I was readying myself for a lengthy, fun trial - popcorn and nachos by my side. Shame on them for ruining my spring entertainment.
I'm not a Pirate Bay fan, but the prosecution is basically trying to do the equivalent of going after someone because their web page may have links that can eventually lead someone to other sites that contain material that might infringe on someones copyrighted material. The fact that Amazon, MSN, Google, etc all have similar links that can eventually lead someone to other sites that contain material that might infringe on someones copyrighted material not withstanding. The prosecution knows that if they went after, say, Google, he'd have his head handed to him on a platter. Basically, this is a waste of taxpayer's money in the hopes of exploiting the technical ignorance of the courts.
I'm not a lawyer, but as I far as I understand, you break the law when you actually DISTRIBUTE copyrighted material without the copyright's holder approval. I'm not so sure they have a strong case against the Pirate Bay with just the "making available" claim.
The fact the prosecution ever charged TPB with "complicity in the production of copyrighted material" is absurd, as is their tenuous 'evidence'.
Bearing in mind that the accused are a smart bunch of guys expect the defence to make mincemeat of the remaining charges - unless the prosecutor has a dynamite PowerPoint presentation on that useless laptop of his!
The entire point of a search engine is to point at something. Google, as an example, does not make the sites it indexes available, it merely simplifies finding them. This is what TPB does. Amend the law to 'facilitating copyright infringement' and you'd have a case. Be prepared to go after some companies with very deep pockets if you do though...
It's pretty obvious that before this issue went to court, no-one on the prosecution side really did any research into into what a torrent is or what TPB actually does; they were just mesmerised by the big sack o cash the Industry was waving around.
Now they actually have (because of the defence using technical terms like "internet", "file-sharing" and - possibly - "computer"), they realised there wasn't really any *actual* infringement of copyright performed by TPB themselves.
Damn them for changing the charges. I was looking forward to a fortnight of comedy watching the smug prosecution lawyer systematically get torn a new one. Oh well...
But Pirate bay DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
CDs may be overpriced. The RIAA may be idiots and The Labels may be ripping off Artists. But free is too cheap and would mean the end of new music.
I hope they do get prosecuted and shut down. But with charge of aiding copyright infringement.
I find myself asking questions about the logic of the case. Those in the know are clear on the pro's and cons of a torrent related file sharing protocol. If TPB are complicit, then so are the ISP's OEM's and O/S vendors.
Clearly, the solicitors involved in this case believe they have a winner on their hands. They would not take the case on if they didn't. Is it a case of these people believing their own propaganda, solas system sized egos or just plain old greed?
TPB are no more guilty of copyright infringement than my dog is and the suits know it. I can only assume that there is no mention of a "No win, no fee" clause!
Aren't they guilty of aiding in this if they developed the software being used?
And what about all the computer manufacturers and component makers who have aided in this by supplying the equipment for the copyrighted material to be downloaded to or uploaded from?
And what about the ISP?
How about the planet Earth for making life, which has done this foul deed?
Or if you believe in such things, what about the gods for not putting "thou shalt not use Pirate Bay", in their holy books, or for just making it possible for this to be done and not smiting anyone who has done it?
It's the Universe's fault for existing.
I think I finally figured out where the recording industry Ass and movie industry is losing their millions of dollars of revenue a year. There losing it paying stupid ass lawyers to chase people down and sue em just think of how much money they would not lose by just halting the mindless lawsuits. Only people I truly seeing the need to prosecute and sue are the people who sell the bootleg DVD's for $10 of movies still in the theaters, and $5 for new CD's, because that actually does hurt their sales when the actual product hits the shelves.
And with the new savings with my idea they could go and hire people who can actually sing without computer assistance to make them sound good, or hire someone with a new idea for a movie instead of rehashes.
And for the record I don't use TPB at all seeing there has not been one thing released in recent years I actually found worth wasting my bandwidth downloading and hard drive space storing, let alone worth paying to see.
Hey, no-one has piped in with the anti freetard rant yet ! Capitalist scumbags must be out of fashion, what with the economic collapse and all :-) OK so here goes...........
GNASH GNASH NOOooOO you freetarded morons JUST DONT REALIZE that us overlords must have our tribute, it is our right to exist by taking 99% from the public because in our boundless generosity we deign to give 1% back to the artists !! THERE IS NO OTHER POSSIBLE DISTRIBUTION MODEL !!!! Every artist LOVES THE CORPORATE OVERLORDS, not just metallica.......god dammit, satan dammit WE DEMAND TRIBUTE......WE ARE THE OVERLORDS.......Freetards and file sharers are ALL SIMPLE THIEVES and most of them are TERRORIST KIDDIE FIDDLERS too !!! Every recording shared ever is clearly a sale lost to us. EVERY transaction must be brought into the commercial sphere. We own every breath, every move EVERYTHING. WE ARE THE OVERLORDS.....WE OWN EVERYTHING....AIR, WATER, EVERY THOUGHT, EVERYTHING.........commie freetards caused the recession.....WITHOUT YOUR OVERLORDS YOU ARE NOTHING. GNASH GNASH......YOU ARE SCUM ! On your knees and worship the free market, worship the invisible hand, worship your global corporate masters. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A NUMBER !! NEVER A FREE MAN !! Without us to tell you, how will you ever know what to do ? what to think ? MONITOR !! CONTROL !! EXTRACT !! LEVERAGE !! PUNISH!! EXTERMINATE !!! LITIGATE!!! SQUEEEEEZEE!!!! GRRRrrrrrRRR PAY PAY PAY!!!!!!!! No breath without payment, no word, no thought GRAHHHHHAgggHHHHHHHHHHHghhhhhhhhhhhhnrrg
so if this is the measuring stick then surely car manufacturers should be prosecuted for 'complicity' in every hit'n'run, every drive'by shooting, and every armed robbery using a vehicle, AND the appropiate gun manu's should be charged with 'complicity' in every gun crime, AND all computer manu's for 'complicity' in providing suitable kit for use in every computer based fraud, and hacking, AND lets not forget every ISP for 'complicity' in aiding every illegal download and hacking,... i could go on but i'm bored now, but you get my point
so much money is being wasted on this ill thought out prosecution ? and what idiot(s) thought it would be a good idea
PS - please remember to support Ubuntu, Open Office, and other legit quality software by making them available on the legal distribution system known as BitTorrent via sites like Pirate Bay (err,.. hope thats not inappropiate)
mine the one,... 20 epsom,.. pocket
"Clearly, the solicitors involved in this case believe they have a winner on their hands. They would not take the case on if they didn't. Is it a case of these people believing their own propaganda, solas system sized egos or just plain old greed?"
I'm guessing the huge bags of cash they'll get from the music and film companies could be a firm inducement, aside from any prospect of winning.
Call me a silly optimist but you know I have hope that some day the recording industries and all these people constantly suing downloaders and places like pirate bay will wake up. They are tilting at windmills instead of stopping for a moment and asking themselves the obvious question. That is why are people downloading, why do services like pirate bay exist, and what can we do that will not only stem the tide of useless prosecution but at the same time start bringing money back into our pockets.
I don't claim to have the ideal solution but it starts with offering people the product they are looking for at a reasonable price (and NO 20 bucks a pop for a CD is NOT a reasonable price) at a decent quality. Some day maybe they will clue in on this, but I'm not holding my breath. Admittedly it wont stop pirating all together as that is a part of human nature and will always exist in some form some where. However figuring out an equitable solution all around would reduce it a great deal and perhaps in the process give rise to a better quality of entertainment for our dollar/yen/euro/pound/etc.
"But Pirate bay DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright.."
So do most electronics companies for creating computers, so does Microsoft/Apple for creating a user friendly OS, so does Google for allowing you to also search for torrents, so do all ISPs for allowing you to connect to the net where you can download copies, so does the music industry for allowing their songs to be played on the radio so I know what copyrights there are out there. Fuck it, let's send everyone down for aiding copyright infringement!
"I hope they do get prosecuted and shut down. But with charge of aiding copyright infringement."
I hope people like you get a clue, but unfortunately things we want like this are unlikely I'm afraid.
As far as I can tell this isn't a civil suit, since the public prosecutor is involved. "Conspiracy" might be a crime under Swedish law, but "Complicity" in committing a offence that is punishable only by a fine and isn't on it's own grounds for even a search warrant is likely to get thrown out of court.
I bet the R. Ass. don't want their bastard dirty cop dragged through the wringer either.
The defense has already spent the time and money to prepare for the trial. While trial lawyers are paid a higher rate for time in court, it's still only a few days compared to the larger set people involved in the months of preparation.
Not to speak of the stress on the people involved. I've been in that situation -- a meritless civil case where the other side delayed and did everything to raise our cost. The personal stress was immense. And even a meritless case is a lottery ticket.
Sanctioning the prosecution doesn't do anything positive here. They didn't have anything at risk. The only effective balance would be prosecuting the people or companies that put them up to the original prosecution, but those people are out of reach.
This isn't a victory. It's another lesson in how an industry can use the legal system to harass, thus create de facto rights even beyond copyright laws. And a lesson that it happens all over, not just in the U.S.
"But Pirate bay DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright.."
But Google DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But Microsoft DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But Yahoo DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But Flikr DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But Dell DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But the 'leccy company DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But Toshiba DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But your local library DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
But every TV/radio station DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
Actually, any record company DOES make it easier for people to infringe copyright..
I could go on and on, it's all true. Heck, you, Mage, DO make it easier for people to infringe copyright. I can hack into your wireless and use it to distribute copyrighted material. Off to jail you go, my dear sir.
PLR is a widely adopted system for paying authors (but not publishers) every time a book is loaned. It's worth something like 6p for each loan, up to a maximum of about £6000. Perhaps it's time for a similar system for the internet, to pay back all the creative types who lose out every time their stuff gets downloaded.
http://www.plr.uk.com/
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