The Pirate Bay founders 'banned'
According to TorrentFreak, two of The Pirate Bay (TPB) founders have been banned from operating the website by the District court in Stockholm. Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij will each face a fine of US$71,600 (±R553,000) should they not comply with the ruling.
The site has not been hosted in Sweden since the beginning of October when they were ordered by the same court to disconnect the tracker from the internet. True to form, TPB simply made another plan, with reports of the site hopping between the Ukraine and The Netherlands.
Ex-Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde was not included in the ruling and he weighed in with his opinion on the judgment, telling TorrentFreak that: “It means nothing.”
“The Stockholm City Court is located in Stockholm. Stockholm is in Sweden. Swedish borders apply. Fredrik and Gottfrid live outside Sweden, even outside the EU. The Pirate Bay is outside the EU. How then can the Stockholm District Court, Sweden, get to decide that people abroad must not work on a site in another country?” he questioned.
In a related story, a ruling in a case between the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and Norwegian ISP Telenor has been delayed. Telenor was given a warning from the IFPI back in March, that if they did not block TPB traffic they would be sued.
Telenor refused as there was no legal basis for them to do so. “This would be the same as demanding that the postal service should open all letters, and decide which ones should be delivered,” said Ragnar Kårhus of Telenor. The IFPI followed through on its threats.
The legal proceedings began on 12 October. Telenor argued that Norwegian law protects ISPs from the activities of its users. IFPI argued that TPB is illegal and should be blocked regardless.
A verdict was due to be handed down today, but the judge in the case has taken ill and will only issue a ruling next week.
Loading ...