Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Judge Who Ordered Pirate Bay Censorship Found To Be Corrupt

Posted by Soulskill on from the conflict-of-interest dept.

TheGift73 writes "TorrentFreak reports that 'This week yet another court order was handed down in Europe with the aim of censoring The Pirate Bay. The ruling forbids the Dutch Pirate Party from not only running a direct proxy, but also telling people how to circumvent an earlier court ordered blockade. However, according to Pirate Party founder Rick Falkvinge, the judge in the case has a history of corruption relating to another file-sharing case he presided over in the Netherlands. The Court of The Hague in the Netherlands has been particularly busy this work with Pirate Bay-related cases.' Falkvinge wrote, '... not only was the plaintiff and judge personally and closely acquainted, the plaintiff in a controversial copyright monopoly case was running a commercial anti-piracy outfit together with the judge in the case. Money was involved. Commercial interest was involved. The judge was, as it appears from this brochure for the quite expensive course, getting money. Shortly after the case. In a directly related matter together with the plaintiff. That makes the judge not only corrupt, but textbook corrupt.'"

7 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why was the judge allowed to continue being a judge after being found corrupt? Judges, like police, should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us, not given a free pass because of their status.

    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Because no legal body found him to be corrupt. These are accusations being made.

    2. Re:Why? by longk · · Score: 5, Informative

      The argument seems to be that "we prefer knowledgable judges over unknowledgeable ones and that being 'involved' in the industry is simply the best way to become and/or stay knowledgable". BS, IMHO.

    3. Re:Why? by xelah · · Score: 5, Informative

      Because, of course, he hasn't been found corrupt. Even if the summary were taken at face value it still wouldn't be corruption...'having a financial interest in the outcome', although clearly not acceptable for a judge in a case, is not the same as 'accepting an offer of money in exchange for not carrying out your duties properly'. And, as one of the links says, '“It’s not just any course they do together, it’s part of the Dutch bar association’s official training program for lawyers.”'. Corruption? Really? The only question the article appears to raise is the level of personal connection between plaintiff and judge, and even then it's rabid enough to be hard to take seriously.

  2. Court Orders Are Too Subtle by TemperedAlchemist · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Man, it's a good thing these Dutch guys aren't in the US, or else the FBI would storm their houses with swat teams under charges of conspiring with file sharers.

    ---

    But then again, nothing says America like a getting bent over and fucked by an agency with your tax dollars.

  3. Vacate? by Aesculapius · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Does this give the Dutch Pirate Party reasonable grounds to vacate the decision? (IANAL)

    --
    -A
  4. Re:You think? by king+neckbeard · · Score: 5, Funny

    I dunno, Arkham Asylum has notoriously horrible security. Pretty much any other such facility would be better.

    --
    This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.