File Sharing Pioneers Sentenced to Jail and Damages

The four founders of the popular file-sharing site Pirate Bay will face a year in jail and $4.5 million in damages after they were found guilty of violating copyright law last Friday. They vowed to appeal.

Even though record and film companies will receive the damages, the verdict could also affect the future of digital books and how they are circulated. As GalleyCat reported last year, one of the Pirate Bay founders was looking for a Kindle–fueling speculation that the site would turn to digital books next.

Here’s more from the BBC: “Record companies welcomed the verdict but the men are to appeal and [co-founder Peter Sunde] said they would refuse to pay the fine. Speaking at an online press conference, he described the verdict as ‘bizarre’… ‘The court said we were organised. I can’t get [co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg] out of bed in the morning. If you’re going to convict us, convict us of disorganised crime.’”

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