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"The BBC reports that four men involved with the file sharing site The Pirate Bay -- including three of its founders -- have been found guilty in a Swedish court for breaking copyright law. The four men, Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde have been sentenced to a year in prison and fined $4.5 million* in damages, well short of the $17.5 million sought by entertainment companies allegedly harmed by the site. The men plan to appeal the verdict.In a statement given to GI.biz, Entertainment Software Association CEO Michael D. Gallagher said, \"This decision confirms that the harm being inflicted on creators of digital works by BitTorrent sites like The Pirate Bay will not be tolerated, and that such actions are subject to criminal sanctions.\" Gallagher calls piracy \"the single greatest threat\" to the entetainment software industry, adding, \"It's a job killer in an economy that needs millions more jobs, not less.\"It should be noted that The Pirate Bay doesn't actually host files for download, but rather lists torrent links hosted by its users. With game piracy as prevalent as ever, today's verdict could have major ramifications for illegal software distribution.*While the BBC reports that the fine was $4.5 million, other sources -- including GI.biz and CNN -- note that it was 30 million kronor, which converts to roughly $3.6 million.Source - BBC News: Court jails Pirate Bay FoundersSource - GI.biz: ESA appaluds conviction of Pirate Bay operators[Original image: marcusrg]"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/17/pirate-bay-founders-convicted-esa-praises-decision/>