Swedish Teenager Turned Over To Police By School Headmaster For File Sharing Acquitted By Court

from the one-part-of-this-is-absurd dept

Tue, Aug 30th 2011 12:58pm — Mike Masnick

Last week, there was a lot of attention to criminal charges brought against a 15-year-old kid in Sweden, after his school's headmaster turned him over to the police after discovering some downloaded films and file sharing software on his computer. It did seem absurd to charge him with a crime, rather than civil infringement, but that's what happened, and the prosecutor in the case seemed almost gleeful about the possibility of convicting the boy of a crime. Except... it took just a few days for the court to acquit the boy. The ruling involved a head judge and three "lay judges." From my understanding of the Swedish judicial system, "lay judges" are somewhat (though not exactly) akin to a jury in the US (Swedes feel free to chime in and clarify). There was apparently a split among the lay judges, with two voting against conviction and one being in favor. The split resulted in acquittal. The prosecutor, rather than recognizing the sheer absurdity of the case, instead insists that it's "absurd" the kid was acquitted, and now vows to appeal. Because there's nothing more important than convicting someone of a crime for sharing a couple movies. Honestly, if Swedish prosecutors wanted to draw more support for the Swedish Pirate Party, I don't think they could have picked a better strategy.

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Filed Under: acquittal, copyright, crime, school, sweden

35 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:02pm

Bork Bork Bork
Bork Bork Bork Bork
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Rick Falkvinge, 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:14pm

Lay Judges
For once, I'll try to be a bit informative. :)

The Swedish system works like this: you have an educated judge who went to law school in a panel of four at the lowest court. The other three are politically appointed from the municipal level.

They vote on the verdict. In the case of a 2-2 split, the option that favors the defendant wins. Here, two out of four wanted to acquit, so acquittal it is.

The idea with this is that if a law is obviously bonkers and out of touch with reality and, as it's called, "the public perception of justice", then the lay judges are able to overrule the schooled judge.

In terms of checks and balances achieved, it is therefore similar to the jury system.

However, the lay judges are in a minority in the appeals court, and absent from the supreme court.

Cheers,
Rick
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Thomas (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:15pm

Wonder how much..
the courts there are getting from the swedish equivalent of RIAA/MPAA to prosecute the kid?
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:16pm

Cue trolls crying about Mike 'defending piracy' in 3 2 1...
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:Lobo Santo (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:18pm

Re: Bork Bork Bork
Great, now I got to run this thru Babelfish to get an answer to that judicial question...
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Fushta (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:44pm

Re: Bork Bork Bork
Per Google Translate: No definitions found. Please reply in English :)
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Mumfi., 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:46pm

Will never hold in the appeal court.
If the Judges had ruled according to the law they would have convicted the kid. He has confessed to the factual circumstances and he has "ups�t" (intent to commit the crime) or at least likgiltighetsups�t which implies that he probably would have done it even if he knew it was illegal. An upper court will convict.

Also, even if he is not convicted for lack of intent (dolus), the copyright holders may still drive the case in a civilian court for damages, as he after all has confessed the circumstances (culpa). And really the damages is the real punishment here.
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JesseJ, 30 Aug 2011 @ 1:48pm

Swedish Courts
Your description is fairly consistent with Stieg Larson's when they are trying Salander toward the end of "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest".
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 2:02pm

"Because there's nothing more important than convicting someone of a crime for sharing a couple movies"

No, it is "Because there's nothing more important than convicting someone of a crime."

Mike, you have become a real apologist for all sorts of illegal behaviour recently. What gives?
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 2:03pm

Re: Will never hold in the appeal court.
I'd say the damage is already done at this point, the whole '15 year old kid' part will further dehumanize the pro-copyright people in the eyes of the Swedish public.
It's a win-win for the Pirate Party regardless of the outcome of the case, and a PR nightmare for anyone arguing for stronger copyright.
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Ven, 30 Aug 2011 @ 2:21pm

Re:
No, it is "Because there's nothing more important than convicting someone of a crime."

And here I thought that seeing that justice is done was more important.
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ASTROBOI, 30 Aug 2011 @ 2:57pm

Ironic
The irony is; we can't show you a picture of the kid or even tell you his name because his privacy is so important. But we can put him in jail or screw up his life. But only in private.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:16pm

Re:
AC, you've been using more and more strawmen lately. What gives?
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TheBigH (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:21pm

Re: Lay Judges
Thanks for the info. This seems like a sensible system that can defend itself to some extent against the letter of the law being used to obtain clearly perverse results.
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btr1701 (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:24pm

Appeal
> The prosecutor, rather than recognizing the
> sheer absurdity of the case, instead insists
> that it's "absurd" the kid was acquitted,
> and now vows to appeal.

The government can appeal an acquittal in Sweden?

Holy crap. That's much more troublesome than an inappropriate application of copyright law.
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el_segfaulto (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:25pm

Re: Lay Judges
Excellent explanation. Very much appreciated.
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el_segfaulto (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:29pm

Re:
So, as a United Statsian I am obviously for convicting people of crimes provided that they are proven guilty AND that the punishment is in proportion. This is equivalent to ruining somebody's life for running a stop sign (a crime with more serious repercussions than any non-commercial IP infringement).

If it was a slap-on-the-wrist and/or some community service it would be one thing. I will certainly grant the European system hasn't been doling out excessive penalties like the **AA lackeys on this side of the pond, but anything more than 10x the lowest commercial price for the films in question is completely disproportionate to the actual damage done to society by his "crime".
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:36pm

Re: Will never hold in the appeal court.
I am more curious how they got statements from a minor who had no one there to make sure this rights were being upheld.

I don't claim to understand the differences in the legal systems from the US to Sweden, but one would expect that a teacher demanding answers from a student to use in a criminal case would be looked upon poorly.
You have someone in authority demanding answers - or else.

Can anyone share information about how the system works in Sweden per the rights of the accused and such please?
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Ed, 30 Aug 2011 @ 3:53pm

Re:
Oh come on, be real !! We are not talking about murder or kidnapping or assault. So, according to you, let's build thousands of jails with tax payers money for the millions who at least once in a lifetime downloaded a movie for private viewing. There are zillions of more important things in life, stop being uptight.
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Anonymous Coward, 30 Aug 2011 @ 5:02pm

Re:
And you are out of touch with reality if you believe sharing anything is any kind of crime.

Apologist for authoritarianism?
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abc gum, 30 Aug 2011 @ 5:05pm

Re: Appeal
double jeopardy?

I'll take Full-Retard for 500 Alex.
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Steve R. (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 6:24pm

Re: Swedish Courts
In watching the three movies I was very intrigued by the machinations of the Swedish judicial system.
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TN, 30 Aug 2011 @ 9:15pm

Re: Will never hold in the appeal court.
I just HAD to Google Translate 'likgiltighetsups�t' to hear what it sounds like :)
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Paul, 30 Aug 2011 @ 11:04pm

Re:
It's a civil matter not a criminal one.
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 11:42pm

Re: Re: Appeal
One wonders if double jeopardy exists in Swedish courts.
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G Thompson (profile), 30 Aug 2011 @ 11:46pm

Re:
No, it is "Because there's nothing more important than convicting someone of a crime."

So therefore using your logic, the USG or the individuals in the DOJ should be charged with misprision because they have NOT charged anyone with the alleged crime in the 'Puerto 80' matter.

Think you will find the relevant Federal offence under 18 U.S.C. � 4:
Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
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Mumfi., 31 Aug 2011 @ 1:48am

Re: Re: Will never hold in the appeal court.
In Sweden there is no such thing as illegal evidence. All evidence may be used regardless of how it was obtained, even hearsay or illegal searches and such. Evidence is then evaluated by the Judges. If the boy was questioned without a parent percent, that�s another court case right there, it does not affect the admittance of the questioning protocols as evidence thought.
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WysiWyg (profile), 31 Aug 2011 @ 2:26am

Re: Re: Lay Judges
No, the system is not sensible. It just means that the political arm gets their fingers in the judicial arm.

It's an affront to democracy. Just because they for once ruled "the right way", does not mean that the system works. Even a blind squirrel you know...
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WysiWyg (profile), 31 Aug 2011 @ 2:28am

Re: Lay Judges
You forgot to mention that "the public" in "the public perception of justice" is defined as "whatever The Party says", not necessarily what the "general public" feels.

Your entry almost reads as a defense for this insanely broken system. Please tell me that I'm mistaken.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Aug 2011 @ 4:05am

Boy must understand that everything has a price, sharing is for criminals.

You want food? PAY.
You want water? PAY
You want help? PAY
You want culture? PAY

PAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAY PAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAYPAY

Now go to jail to be sodomized and think about it, muhahahahah.

Then come out as a true criminal.
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 31 Aug 2011 @ 5:36am

Re: Re: Re: Will never hold in the appeal court.
thank you for explaining that.

I'm shocked by it, but I think that is because we have a much different system in the US that we like to think is "fair" and from our point of view that is "wrong" to allow everything in even if it was gathered illegally.

But it seems like Sweden has things in place to help keep the scales balanced.
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DannyB (profile), 31 Aug 2011 @ 9:44am

Fixed that for you
> Honestly, if Swedish prosecutors wanted to draw more
> support for the Swedish Pirate Party, I don't think
> they could have picked a better strategy.

Honestly, if Swedish prosecutors wanted to draw more
support for the Swedish Pirate Party, I don't think
they could have picked a better TRAGEDY.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 31 Aug 2011 @ 11:57am

Re: Bork Bork Bork
Ok, I think I understand what happened, from the original article.

The content companies wanted the teenager to lay some eggs, via payment for watching/hearing their music/videos. Instead, the headmaster found out that the teenager instead had laid a bomb, which was in the form of pirated content in his computer. He chased the teenager with a rolling pin but he managed to get away, so he turned him in to the swedish prosecutor, who then put the teenager in a pot. But then the court opened the pot and let the teenager go free. And now the prosecutor is threatening to appeal and pursue the teenager with a meat cleaver.
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Sean, 31 Aug 2011 @ 3:19pm

Re:
I'll share something with you, You're a Troll...

Now sue me.
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Anonymous Coward, 31 Aug 2011 @ 6:15pm

Re: Re:
Troll not troll,

thank you
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