Four Indicted in Pirate Bay Case

paulraps writes "Suddenly the founders of the Pirate Bay are not so hearty. The four men behind the popular file-sharing site were indicted in Sweden on Thursday on charges of being accessories to breaking copyright law. And this is more than just a shot across the bows. The prosecutor reckons that they can be hooked for 'promoting other people's copyright breaches' but there will be no walking the plank: instead, they face fines of up to $200,000 and the confiscation of all their hardware. 'The Swedish prosecutor listed dozens of works that had been downloaded through The Pirate Bay site, including The Beatles' Let It Be, Robbie Williams' Intensive Care and the movie Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. Plaintiffs in the case include Warner, MGM, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox Films, Sony BMG, Universal and EMI.'"

Comments

Re:Done their homework?

[Hassman]

You people drive me crazy.

Is the MPAA evil? yes.
Is the RIAA evil? yes.
Is downloading movies and songs illegal? yes.

But you're right. Pirate Bay has done nothing wrong. Sure they haven't. I'm sure they make 0 money off their site. They just want to 'stick it to the man'.

Listen, I haven't bought a song in a store for about 8 or 9 years now. I buy from sites and labels where I know the artists aren't being screwed over (typically non-mainstream artists, some really good music out there that is probably never heard in the masses). And yes, I have illegally downloaded music and movies before. I use the if I like it, I'll most likely buy it defense there...however, that makes it no less illegal. If I get caught, I'm boned like anyone else.

The fact of the matter is there are ways of putting the RIAA and what not out of business, or insight them to change their ways using legal methods. It may take a while, but we're starting to see the fruits of our labor. If they don't change their business model, they will be the ones boned.

But no matter how evil they are, copyright infringement is still copyright infringement. Why don't you write a song or book or create a painting, and I'll copy it. Lets see how quick you change your tune.

Re:Accessories

[cunamara]

Violating the laws to try to get them change- as some people promote- is a stupid strategy. All it does is harden the positions of copyright holders, lawmakers and courts against such actions.

Yeah, I think it was poor strategy for all those black people to try and register to vote, go to high school and university, ride buses, and sit at lunch counters to eat their sandwiches. They would have been much better off if they had just asked Governor George Wallace nicely, to end segregation. That way they wouldn't have pissed so many people off.

This got modded as "insightful?" Criminy, standards at Slashdot are slipping. This is nothing more than a variant of an invocation of Godwin's law.

It's simply outrageous to conflate the struggle for equal rights in the American South with being able to download music, movies, TV shows, etc. without paying for them. By expecting you to pay for works of art, Da Man ain't keeping you down. You don't want to pay for "Harry Potter?" Don't. But don't steal a copy either.

What an idiotic equation to make, comparing PirateBay to the civil rights movement.

Re:YES. YES, YES, YES, YES ,YES! (At least in the

[illegalcortex]

Could it be that's why I put "(At least in the US)" in my subject line? Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Re:YES. YES, YES, YES, YES ,YES! (At least in the

[illegalcortex]

Oh, and one more thing. Notice that my post was in reply to a post that was in reply to one talking about the MPAA and RIAA and was addressed to the people of slashdot, which are statistically speaking, people in the USA.

Fucktard.