EU Parliament Next Stop for Pro-Piracy Party

(NEWSER) - One of the men convicted in the Pirate Bay file-sharing case is demanding a retrial, claiming that the judge is in cahoots with copyright-protection organizations, the Local of Sweden reports. Judge Tomas Norstrom acknowledges being a member of such groups but denies any conflict of interest. Last week, he found four men guilty of making copyrighted files available for downloading on their website. More»

Buyers to remodel site so content providers 'get paid'

(NEWSER) - A Swedish software company has purchased file-sharing site Pirate Bay for $7.7 million after the site was fined $3.6 million, the Register reports. “We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site,” said the CEO of Global Gaming Factory X, which is set to take over the site next month. More»

File-sharing site team gets year in jail, must pay $3.6M to firms

(NEWSER) - In a big win for the movie and music business, four men behind the file-sharing service The Pirate Bay, including its two founders, have been found guilty of making copyrighted files available for downloading, CNET reports. A Swedish court sentenced each to a year in jail; the men must also pay $3.6 million to copyright holders like 20th Century Fox, Columbia and Warner Bros. Industry lawyers say they will also sue to get The Pirate Bay shut down. More»

But defiant Pirate Bay owners vow that nothing will change

(NEWSER) - Swedish authorities have taken action to sink Pirate Bay, one of the world's most popular file-sharing site, by leveling charges of copyright infringement against four of its administrators, DailyTech reports. Prosecutors allege the site, which boasts almost 15 million users, exploits copyrighted material like music and movies by collecting some $3 million in annual ad revenues for access to the media without paying any fees. Despite the charges, Pirate Bay remains defiant and is continuing to offer access to the material. More»

Copyright holders will finally get a shot at Swedish site

(NEWSER) - Wildly popular BitTorrent site The Pirate Bay will soon defend itself in court, after years of eluding international copyright interests, the Wall Street Journal reports. Swedish prosecutors will charge the site with “conspiracy to breach copyrights,” a technically-nuanced accusation that is heatedly disputed. The site itself hosts no actual copyrighted material, but instead provides an index of such files. More»