Pirate Bay founders denied final appeal, sentenced to jail
updated 05:00 pm EST, Wed February 1, 2012
Swedish Pirate Bay case over after appeal denied
The years-long legal battle between the founders of file-sharing site Pirate Bay and copyrights holders in a Swedish Supreme Court has come to an end on Wednesday. The appeal of Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundström was denied by the judge, and the three were sentenced to various lengths of jail time. All were ordered to serve less than the original 12-month terms, however, though the fine was upped to $6.8 million.
Sunde was slapped with an eight-month term, Neij to a 10-month stint, and Lundstrom to a minimum four-month stay. The fourth co-founder, Gottfrid Svartholm, missed two hearings, the first apparently due to medical conditions, and was thus ordered with the first ruling of 12 months in jail and the original, $905,000 equivalent fine.
A possibility still remains that the founders won't face any jail time, as Swedish courts have been known to reduce prison sentences by as much as 12 months in cases that are over five years old. The sentences aren't scheduled to start for a few months.
One of the defendants said the group will appeal at the European Court of Justice, though the Swedish court ruling will stand. The Pirate Bay site continues to operate. [via TorrentFreak]
