File sharers sentenced to prison

The entertainment industry scored a victory on the 17 April 2009 after a Swedish court found four men guilty of promoting copyright infringement by running Pirate Bay, the world’s biggest free file-sharing website, and sentenced them to a year in prison.

The related Pirate Party in Sweden saw a surge in membership in response to the judgement and hopes that it would secure at least one seat in the European Parliament election, June 2009.

France24, 24.4.09: Sweden's Pirate Party hopes to hoist its flag in Brussels http://www.france24.com/en/20090424-internet-sweden-pirate-party-piratpartiet-european-parliament-engstrom-digital-freedom-filesharing-

ESO: Background information: Trial of Pirate Bay website opens in Stockholm http://www.europeansources.info/record/trial-of-pirate-bay-website-opens-in-stockholm/

IFPI: Press Release, 17.4.09: International & Swedish music industry welcomes Pirate Bay judgment http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/20090417.html

BBC News, 17.4.09: Court jails Pirate Bay founders http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8003799.stm

Deutsche Welle, 17.4.09: Pirate Bay Four found guilty in file-sharing case http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4185900,00.html

France24, 17.4.09: Swedish court finds The Pirate Bay founders guilty http://www.france24.com/en/20090417-swedish-court-finds-pirate-bay-founders-guilty-piracy-internet-illegal-file-sharing

Sweden: The Local, 17.4.09: The Pirate Bay verdict: the reactions http://www.thelocal.se/18930/20090417/

Sweden: The Local, 20.4.09: Pirate Bay operator faces new probe http://www.thelocal.se/18974/20090420/

EurActiv, 22.4.09: Swedish 'Pirate Party' surges following P2P ruling http://www.euractiv.com/eu-elections/swedish-pirate-party-surges-foll-news-221571

Wikipedia: Pirate Party http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party

BBC News, 23.4.09: Pirate Bay lawyers demand retrial http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8014626.stm

BBC News, 28.7.09: Pirate Bay faces new legal threat http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8173388.stm

Sweden: The Local, 28.7.09: Pirate Bay facing new suit from US film giants http://www.thelocal.se/20954/20090728/

BBC News, 26.6.09: Pirate Bay retrial call rejected http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8121680.stm

---