Swedish file share farce
p2p news / p2pnet:- Sweden’s first file sharing trial ended in confusion, yesterday, with more questions than answers, says The Local.
“Not only is the old copyright law which the case was based upon unclear and the file sharing technology complicated, but the defendant retracted the admission he made in police interviews,” it says, going on:
“The 28 year old on trial at Västmanland district court in Västerås admitted to police that he had made the Swedish film Hip Hip Hora available to others via the file sharing programme DC in December last year. Or so investigators thought. In court, the 28 year old took back his apparent confession and explained that there had been a misunderstanding.”
The victim thought he was being charged with downloading copyright-protected material which, until July 1, when new Swedish copyright laws came into effect, waxs perfectly legal, says the story, going on:
“In the police interview, the man was never questioned directly about the film the case was based upon, but in his evidence to the court he was very clear: ‘I have never had that film at home – I have never downloaded that,’ he said.
The Local points out the case was based almost entirely on evidence from MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) enforcer Antipiratbyrå, (APB) which, “accessed a local network with the DC programme and found Hip Hip Hora available, recorded the distributor’s IP address and reported him to the police. The police turned to the internet service provider Bredbandsbolaget, which was able to confirm that the IP address belonged to the Västerås man.”
Antipiratbyrån was recently caught red-handed using a paid informer in an attack on Swedish ISP Bahnhof.
Sweden’s Arga Unga Hackare (Angry Young Hackers) returned the favour and Pontén and his friends at the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) saw their fulsome emails to each other splashed online.
Meanwhile, Torbjörn Persson, attacked APB as ‘informers’ and ‘provocateurs’ and criticised the police for failings in their investigation.
“The prosecutor made no specific demands regarding punishment, saying instead that it was up to the court whether a guilty verdict should result in a fine or a suspended prison sentence,” says The Local, adding that a verdict is expected on October 25.
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See:-
The Local – File sharing trial closes in confusion, March 19, 2005
Hip Hip Hora – Sweden’s 1st file sharing case, October 11, 2005
paid informer – Big Music’s Bahnhof Bust, March 22, 2005
caught red-handed – Will Bahnof sue Antipiratbyran?, March 30, 2005
returned the favour – Swedish anti-p2p site hacked: more, March 15, 2005
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi
Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local political representatives. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance.
