Pirate Bay retrial motion

Taking action on earlier accusations, lawyers for The Pirate Bay have submitted a petition for a retrial, according to Reuters. Four of the people behind the website were each sentenced to a year in prison on April 17th, as well as paying $3.6 million in compensation to copyright holders. The judge for the case was unfairly biased however, claims Pirate Bay laywer Per Samuelson.

"[Judge] Tomas Norstrom was biased during the trial," Samuelson alleges. "Secondly, he neglected to inform the defendants and their lawyers of the facts that constituted the bias."

Norstrom is noted to be a member of the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property, and the Swedish Association for Copyright, both of which are strong opponents of sites such as The Pirate Bay. The SAC's board also includes Peter Danowsky, who represented the music and film industries during the trial. Supporting Danowsky were corporations such as Fox, Warner, Sony, Columbia, Universal and EMI, demanding the equivalent of $12 million in what they consider lost revenue.

By Electronista Staff