New Pirate Bay ‘conflict of interest’ charge
p2pnet news view | P2P | Music:- Accusations of conflict of interest are already hanging darkly over the The Pirate Bay ruling in which the owners of the net’s most popular indexing site were each sentenced to a year in jail and ordered to pay damages of 30 million kronor ($4.3 million).
The case is under appeal with a hearing slated for November. Presiding will be judge Ulrika Ihrfelt.
Now, “It is thought that one of the lay judges set to hear the case is currently employed by Spotify, an online music service and alternative to illegal file sharing,” says The Local, also noting, “Several large recording companies are also known to share in partial ownership of Spotify”.
Under attack were Fredrik Neij (TiAMO), Gottfrid Svartholm (Anakata) Warg, Peter Sunde (Brokep) and financer Carl Lundström who together ran The Pirate Bay.
Attacking them were Warner Bros, MGM, EMI, Colombia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Sony BMG and Universal.
“I would not say if there is a problem, but we have definitely considered it a factor which we must draw the attention of the parties, given that Spotify is a company that provides online music,” Sveriges Radio has Ihrfeldt stating.
In May, the judge originally scheduled to hear the case turned out to be a member of several pro-copyright groups, says OS News, going on »»»
To make matters worse, the lawyers working for the entertainment industry in this case were members of the same groups, which obviously meant that the judge was simply not a good fit for the case. So, the search began for a new judge, one without any affiliations, to investigate the conflict-of-interest.
Well, this turns out to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. Judge Ulrika Ihrfeldt was appointed by Court President Fredrik Wersäll to investigate the conflict-of-interest, but Ihrfeldt herself soon revealed that she has also been a member of the Swedish Copyright Association, making her unfit to preside over this case.
Judge Anders Eka was then moved forward, but Eka, too, is connected to the lawyers working for the entertainment industry. Eka is part of the Stockholm Center for Commercial Law, and who are also affiliated with this research centre? Exactly, Monique Wadsted and Peter Danowsky, lawyers who represent the entertainment industry in this court case. Eka says he has no background in copyright law, and that he is not friends with the two lawyers, but he does acknowledge that an investigation into possible bias on his end should be undertaken.
“If you ever need proof that the entertainment industry is a good lobbyist, here you have it,” adds the story.
Stay tuned.
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hanging darkly - Pirate Bay judge Norström `unbiased`, June 9, 2009
The Local – New bias suspicions in Pirate Bay legal battle, September 21, 2009
Sveriges Radio – Peter Sunde: “Uppenbart jäv”, September 21, 2009
OS News – The Pirate Bay and a Never-Ending Search for an Unbiased Judge, May 24, 2009
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September 22nd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
No justice no peace.
September 22nd, 2009 at 6:13 pm
He should have done better research. He has now thrown out a friend.