The kings of the BitTorrent file-sharing world were punched in the face by the angry fist of internet justice. See what I mean inside…

The Pirate Bay Co-Founders Found Guilty and will serve jail time for breaking Swedish copyright law, beware file sharing…

After a long court battle, the co-founders of the Swedish file-sharing site “The Pirate Bay” has concluded, and all four co-founders will serve one year in jail, and will have to pay $3.6 million in fines.

“The Pirate Bay” has been one of the most visible file-sharing sites since 2003, and they have been known as a huge source of BitTorrents for films, games and music. Back in February, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi, the co-founders of the site went on trial for violating Swedish copyright law.

Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi, one of the convicted co-founders had the following to say on the matter…

“It’s serious to actually be found guilty and get jail time. It’s really serious. And that’s a bit weird. It’s so bizarre that we were convicted at all and it’s even more bizarre that we were as a team. The court said we were organized. I can’t even get Gottfrid out of bed in the morning! If you’re going to convict us, convict us of disorganized crime.”

This doesnt seem to most like a huge matter to report on, but to all of the people who use BitTorrent clients to get music, movies, and games; this is huge news. We have always heard of single people who got caught seeding copyrighted materials like the guy who leaked the latest GnR album Chinese Democracy, and the ongoing hunt for the person or persons who leaked the unfinished copy of Wolverine. But this is the first time that a host site for the BitTorrent clients has be targeted and had actual ramifications for their actions. Only time will tell if this is just the first in a tidal wave of other possible suits to owners of other sites.

This entry was posted by James on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 9:57 am and is filed under Entertainment, Tech, Web. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.