James Delahunty
20 Apr 2009 19:28
The four founders of The Pirate Bay torrent tracker, Peter Sunde, Carl Lundström, Frederik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, have filed an official appeal against a ruling that found them guilty of assisting copyright infringement, sentenced to one-year in prison and fined $3.6 million. The four always had planned to appeal a guilty verdict from day one of the trial, which kicked off in February 2009.
The case will now be referred to the Swedish Supreme Court, which may take a number of years to deliver a final decision on the case. Since the verdict was announced, there have been a number of DDoS attacks against the IFPI, demonstrations in Swedish cities and outside the country and a boost in membership for the country's Pirate Party, which hopes to win a seat in the European Parliament.
The reaction from the entertainment industry was exactly what you would expect, as we reported earlier. Also, Paul McCartney is one celebrity who decided to comment on the decision, calling it "fair". "If you get on a bus you've got to pay. And I think it's fair you should pay your ticket," he said.
For now, the site continues to be completely operational with no signs of it halting. "You, our beloved users, know that this little speedbump on the information super highway is nothing more than just, a little bump," reads a defiant blog posting on the site.