This morning, Sweden’s Supreme Court announced that it would not be granting leave to appeal in the Pirate Bay case. This means that the prison sentences and millions of dollars in fines previously handed out to the four defendants will stand.
Unsurprisingly, the entertainment and anti-piracy companies behind the long-running case are celebrating and planning for the future.
“The rule of law has spoken and this is a defining moment in the lengthy discussion of copyright on the Internet,” says Henrik Pontén, lawyer at Antipiratbyrån.
“The Supreme Court has made clear to all involved in copyright violations, including those that provide them with Internet connections, must now assume their responsibilities.”
Local Hollywood lawyer Monique Wadsted said that the final verdict against the defendants in the Pirate Bay case sends a clear signal – those who operate illegal file-sharing services or provide them with Swedish Internet access face prison and substantial damages.
“I assume that the first thing that will happen is that those who continue to operate small or large illegal file-sharing services or provide Internet access to such will voluntarily cease their activities today,” says Wadsted.
Antipiratbyrån say that those who don’t will have to face the consequences.
“With the support of the sentence, Antipiratbyrån will act against the nearly 150 illegal file-sharing services that have a Swedish connection. Legal action will be taken against all that contribute to crime in different ways,” Pontén concludes.
Following the original TPB “guilty” verdict in 2009, Antipiratbyrån tried a similar a tactic when it contacted many sites and ordered them to close. Some did, but most didn’t.
There are indeed dozens of file-sharing sites that are either operated by Swedes, are hosted in Sweden, utilize Swedish bandwidth in some way, or have Swedish domains. Whether or not they will heed this latest warning remains to be seen.
