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TPB: It's All Over

The trial of The Pirate Bay ended today.

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STOCKHOLM (Radsoft) -- The trial of The Pirate Bay ended today. It's all over. The decision of the court will be made available Friday 17 April 11:00 local time.

Samuelson the Teacher

In stark contrast to the rather childish summations heard yesterday by the prosecution and the plaintiffs defence counsel - and especially Per Samuelson - provided sober analysis and reflections on law and this case in particular.

Samuelson's summation was nearly two hours long and worth every minute of it. It's clear Samuelson is one who believes in the rule of law. He's had an impressive team of researchers to analyse the case from the beginning.

Samuelson pointed out that the court's decision would probably be the most important decision anywhere on the planet in this century. He also said the case would never have come to trial without the considerable and constant pressure from Hollywood.

Then he went and blasted the case apart bit by bit.

Day One

And one cannot forget in this context what staggering incompetence the prosecution and plaintiff counsel have shown throughout this travesty.

Up until day one of the trial both the state prosecutor and the plaintiff counsel and their clients in Hollywood believed the computer servers of The Pirate Bay stored full copies of the supposedly illegal materials. This despite the fact they've had nearly three years to investigate the case, to inspect the servers they seized, and despite the fact Hollywood were involved from Day One.

And when Samuelson asked IFPI CEO John Kennedy if he understood torrent technology the latter answered: 'only vaguely'.

'I don't know how The Pirate Bay operates', Kennedy admitted to Samuelson again under cross.

'But if you don't know how they operate then how can you claim they're responsible for your losses?' wondered Samuelson.

Several of the plaintiff counsel argued directly in their closings that they should really be going after the people who made their clients' property available but that it was too difficult and so they had to harass someone else instead.

[A point not picked up: it's Hollywood who first make the property available - by releasing something they know they can't protect. Ed.]

Hollywood BitTorrent

Fredrik Neij suggested Hollywood build their own server park and fund it with advertising. A modern type of selective television transmissions in other words. He claims they'd clean up and put TPB out of business.

Neij might be right and then again he might be not be - but the point is Hollywood have never looked into creating new opportunities. They'd rather harass little old ladies, hang on to the technologies that no longer work, and alienate everyone on the planet.

They still believe in the physical CD as a main form of distribution. They don't see online services as 'the new market'. They're so blinded by greed they simply don't see it.

They clearly don't understand Internet technology and as Per Samuelson demonstrated: they don't understand European and Swedish law either. The message is very clear no matter how the court decision turns out.

Fried Sparrows

The by far most ridiculous part of the generally ridiculous plaintiff summations has to be Monique Wa(d)sted's use of the 'fried sparrows' allegory which she tried to exploit to prove to the court the very availability of so much media lessens its value - and therefore her clients should be reimbursed for this as well.

'To consume movies and television shows at The Pirate Bay is to lie on your back and let fried sparrows fly in your mouth regardless of whether you're hungry or not. The sparrows are also piled high all around you so you can consume them whenever you want without this demanding any sacrifice on your part. Of course you're soon full and your interest for and inclination to make any sacrifices at all in the future for new films and television shows declines rapidly. The effect of the illegal free consumption through The Pirate Bay is of course that new films and television shows lose their value, not the opposite. But I really have no strong support for this other than it's common sense.'

The prosecution and plaintiff counsel claimed torrent technology and the Internet itself are illegal. But you can't rip up the motorways of the world because some people break traffic laws. And it is not and cannot be illegal to build these motorways, as Per Samuelson expressed it.

There is only one possible way to interpret this case from the perspective of the rule of law, Samuelson reminded the court time and again.

Samaria Gorge Wide

There's a wide cultural gap here. Dramatised by the staggering and inexcusable incompetence of the prosecution and plaintiff counsel, the Swedish police, the FBI, and Hollywood orcs such as the incomparable John Kennedy.

Warner Brats, 19th Century Farts, Universanal: the world owes you nothing. If you can't secure your product then don't release it.

17 April

The court will announce their decision at 11:00 local time Friday 17 April. Tune in then.