Swedish Judge In Charge Of Determining Bias Of Pirate Bay Judge Removed... For Bias

from the but-why-did-this-happen-in-the-first-place? dept

A few folks have sent in various version of this story about how the judge assigned to review whether or not the original judge in The Pirate Bay trial was biased, by belonging to two separate groups in favor of stronger copyright laws, has herself been removed from the case because she belonged to the same two groups. This raises all sorts of questions -- including how the hell she was put in charge of the review in the first place. Did no one think to ask if she was in the same groups? Or did she not volunteer the info when handed the case? In the meantime, how difficult is it to find an unbiased judge in Sweden?

Filed Under: bias, copyright, lawsuits, sweden
Companies: the pirate bay

Music Labels Trying To Force Pirate Bay Offline Now

from the hmm dept

Earlier this month, we noted that the record labels were already stretching The Pirate Bay ruling to use it to go after web hosting firms who clearly were far separated from the actions of their clients. And, of course, the ruling itself is both being disputed, due to conflicts of interest, and also being appealed. But, it appears that the record labels are so freaked out by how badly the ruling has backfired on the industry that they're trying to do anything to regain what they think (incorrectly) is the moral victory. Among the web hosting firms they're approaching is the one that provides bandwidth to The Pirate Bay, and the music labels are demanding it to stop. Also, the labels are demanding more money. This is notable because for all the problems with the original ruling, it didn't do two things: order the site shut down or provide any guidelines regarding future infringement. So, now it appears that the labels are simply taking that matter into their own hands and interpreting the ruling beyond what it actually said. At some point, will they actually realize that everything they do here is just making things worse for themselves?

Filed Under: copyright, lawsuits, sweden
Companies: the pirate bay

Person In Charge Of Determining If Pirate Bay Judge Is Biased... May Be Biased

from the well,-look-at-that dept

As Swedish officials are looking into charges that the judge in The Pirate Bay trial was biased, there's now some concern that the person in charge of figuring out whether he was biased... might be biased as well. Apparently, he serves on a board with the main lawyers who argued the case for the entertainment industry (and two of their main assistants). Of course, in legal circles you do end up getting to know others in the field, but as brokep from The Pirate Bay notes: "Not any of OUR lawyers are on that board. But two of the opponents lawyers in the same board." Considering that officials should be trying to make it clear that there's no bias, it seems like they should pick someone who has no direct ties to the attorneys involved in the case. Brokep also has some fun in noting that it was simple to find this info on Google, and he's surprised that no one else had done such a simple search yet.

Filed Under: anders eka, bias, copyright, lawsuits, sweden
Companies: the pirate bay

IFPI Using Disputed Pirate Bay Verdict To Claim Web Hosting Companies Are Liable

from the stretch-the-truth-much? dept

After the entertainment industry partially won its Supreme Court decision against Grokster, it didn't take long at all for the RIAA to start claiming the ruling said stuff it didn't. Specifically, the Supreme Court ruling said that a site could be found liable if it induced infringement by encouraging such uses. This was already quite surprising to many because the idea of an "inducement" standard for copyright is not found in the law (in fact, some in Congress had introduced an "INDUCE Act" to try to put it into the law -- suggesting that even Congress didn't think copyright law includes an inducement standard). However, the RIAA falsely started claiming that the Supreme Court ruling made all sorts of file sharing apps -- even those that did not encourage unauthorized copying -- guilty of infringing copyrights.

So, it should come as little surprise that the RIAA's international wing, the IFPI, appears to be doing the exact same thing with the recent Pirate Bay ruling (which, of course, is still being appealed and is highly disputed due to conflicts of interest with the judge in the case). The IFPI is apparently going around to web hosting firms who host other torrent trackers, and claiming that The Pirate Bay ruling makes them potentially criminally liable if they don't take down the tracker sites. But, of course, The Pirate Bay ruling was specific to the facts in that case, which are somewhat different from a random web host hosting a website for someone. Still, it just goes to show the lengths that the industry will go to in order to twist any legal ruling to try to shut down sites it doesn't like.

Filed Under: inducement, liability, sweden, trial
Companies: ifpi

Pirate Bay Judge Accused Of Conflict In Another Case As Well

from the oops dept

Following the revelation that the judge in The Pirate Bay case may have had a serious conflict of interest, it looks like the Swedish press has decided to investigate some of his other decisions as well. So now they've turned up another recent case (article in Swedish, here's the Google translation), this time involving BMW, where the judge appears to have been connected to the lawyers representing BMW as well. It's not clear how close the connection was, but it does bring into question why a judge, who's in charge of interpreting laws, should be associated with any group that is advocating a specific change in the law -- because it's difficult to see how he could be impartial in any related case.

Filed Under: conflict of interest, judge, pirate bay, sweden

Pirate Bay Verdict May Actually Lead To Pirate Party Official Joining European Parliament

from the you've-started-a-movement dept

While the entertainment industry still really seems to think that the disputed verdict in the Pirate Bay trial was a victory, most folks who can look beyond the immediate ruling have recognized what a horrific loss this has been for the industry. On the technology side, it's done nothing of importance. Even if The Pirate Bay is eventually shut down, there are at least a dozen other sites to step in and take up the slack. On the business model side, shutting down The Pirate Bay will do nothing to fix a seriously broken business model. But, perhaps most important of all, the industry is pushing more and more people over the edge, from indifferent to the industry, to actively working against the industry. I expected the uselessness of the verdict when it came to tech and business models, but I didn't realize that it would energize people on the political side as well.

There's been lots of talk about how the verdict massively increased the number of Swedes joining The Pirate Party, but the big question is whether or not it will be enough people to make a difference, and will they actually follow through. The initial showings are impressive. A new political poll shows that the party's popularity has grown tremendously, to the point that if a vote were held today, The Pirate Party would gain a seat in the European Parliament. It's now become the second largest party for voters in the 18 to 29 age group. This isn't just a random fringe group that the industry (and other politicians) can completely dismiss. It is still small, but what's amazing is how the industry's blatant shortsightedness has given rise to an entire political movement that keeps attracting more and more members. It seems likely that the entertainment industry still doesn't realize what sort of backlash it's creating, but at some point, it might want to start paying attention.

Filed Under: europe, european parliament, pirate party, sweden
Companies: the pirate bay

More Swedish ISPs Decide To Keep No Logs To Protect Users

from the consumer-demand... dept

We recently noted that a Swedish ISP was advertising the fact that it doesn't keep log files of its users, following the newly implemented Swedish law, IPRED, that requires ISPs to hand over log files if users are accused of copyright infringement online. It appears that the attention generated by that one ISP has now lead multiple Swedish ISPs to also promise to delete all user data, so that there would be nothing to turn over. As a representative from Tele2 noted: "It's a strong wish from our customers, so we decided not to store information on customers' IP numbers anymore." Between this and the new interest in encryption and VPN software in Sweden, you have to wonder why the entertainment industry was so excited about the IPRED law passing in the first place.

Filed Under: isps, log files, privacy, sweden
Companies: tele2

Judge In Pirate Bay Case Appears To Have Ties To The Copyright Lobby

from the ooops dept

Via Martin Thornkvist, we find out that Swedish Public radio has discovered that the judge in The Pirate Bay case apparently has some ties to the copyright lobby (that's a Google translation -- if you know Swedish, the original is here). Apparently, he's a member of a few organizations that work towards strengthening copyright laws, and even holds a board position in one of those organizations. The lawyers representing the entertainment industry also belonged to one of the pro-copyright organizations in which the judge is a member. Experts quoted in the article note that this is highly irregular, and the judge should have recused himself for conflict of interest. The judge, of course, claims that he doesn't believe he was biased at all, but others note that any hint of bias is a problem in such a legal case (let alone such a high profile one).

Filed Under: conflict of interest, copyright, copyright lobby, judge, sweden, trial
Companies: the pirate bay

Swedish ISP Starts Deleting Log Files To Protect Users From IPRED Law

from the and-so-it-goes dept

There's been plenty of attention paid to Sweden's new IPRED law, which requires ISPs to hand over identifying information on those accused of file sharing -- but we've already noted that all the law is really doing is driving people to alternatives, such as encryption. And, now, it appears that even ISPs are recognizing that it just makes good business sense to better protect their users. Broadband Reports points out that a Swedish ISP, Bahnhof, has started destroying its own log files, rather than hand them over to authorities. The company's CEO notes that nothing in the law requires ISPs to keep log files -- but only to turn over what info has been retained. It seems likely that Bahnhof may have just convinced a bunch of folks to see if they can sign up for new broadband from the company. Any bets on how long it takes Sweden to pass a new law requiring ISPs to retain data for a certain period of time? Even the CEO admits that's likely -- but notes that it will show this is nothing more than a witch hunt by the entertainment industry:

"And then the legislators will have to step up and say they want to have data storage, not to catch terrorists but to help record companies and the movie industry in the hunt for file sharers."

Filed Under: ipred, log files, sweden
Companies: bahnhof

Pirate Bay Loses A Lawsuit; Entertainment Industry Loses An Opportunity

from the appeals-on-the-way dept

Well, the verdict has come down in the trial against The Pirate Bay in Sweden, and it appears The Pirate Bay has been found guilty and each of the defendants has been sentenced to a year in jail and told to pay $3.6 million in damages (less than a third of what the entertainment industry asked for). There will be appeals, of course, so this particular ruling isn't entirely meaningful, even if it's quite disappointing. The trial did certainly include plenty of theatrics, but the core question was an important one: should a site that is, effectively, a search engine, be liable for the content that is linked from that search engine, given that it hosted no infringing works itself. It is in many ways, the same question that was raised in the US in the Grokster case, where the Supreme Court sided with the entertainment industry. It looks like this initial ruling is similar, and that's troubling for the same reasons. The idea that a toolmaker can be liable for the actions of its users should trouble everyone -- especially when the tools have plenty of legitimate uses as well.

But, of course, what happened post Grokster should give you an indication of what will happen here: basically, the entertainment industry will gleefully declare victory, and make statements about how this is a major victory against "piracy." But, in actuality, the exact opposite of that will occur. Unauthorized file sharing continues (or even increases) and it becomes that much more difficult for the legacy industries to win back customers and embrace these new, useful and efficient tools of distribution and promotion. It's a classic case of winning the battle and losing the war. The ultimate problem, of course, is that the entertainment industry still (amazingly) thinks this is a legal issue, not a business model one. It can win as many legal battles as it wants, but in thinking it's a legal issue, it will never recognize how its business models need to change.

The folks behind The Pirate Bay insist that the site will live on and the verdict means nothing, but it may create an inconvenience for users of the site -- especially if other nations use this as yet another excuse to ban the site. The folks this will hurt the most are those content creators who actually do value The Pirate Bay -- such as best selling author Paulo Coehlo, who found that "pirating" his own book helped him tremendously, and who recently spoke out about what a useful tool The Pirate Bay has been. It's a shame that because some big lumbering companies are unable to change their business models that they get to use the legal system to disrupt and annoy those who have figured it out.

In the meantime, one amusing bit that came out as this story was breaking... one of the defendants, Peter "brokep" Sunde, was informed about the verdict early, and joked that: "It used to be only movies, now even verdicts are out before the official release." So... does that mean whoever leaked the verdict is guilty of piracy?

Filed Under: copyright, liability, sweden, verdict
Companies: the pirate bay