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hbgator

Mon 16 Feb, 2009


A copyright test case involving one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites

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STOCKHOLM <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>(Reuters)<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>-<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> A copyright test case involving one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites that could help music and film companies recoup millions of dollars in lost revenues started on Monday in Stockholm.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Four men linked to The Pirate Bay were charged early last year by a Swedish prosecutor with conspiracy to break copyright law and related offences.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Companies including Warner Bros.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> MGM,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Columbia Pictures,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> 20th Century Fox Films,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Sony BMG,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Universal and EMI are also asking for damages of more than 100 million crowns <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>(<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>$12 million)<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> to cover lost revenues.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Sites like The Pirate Bay allow people to download songs,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> movies and computer games without paying and the trial is being closely watched to see to what extent the entertainment industry can protect copyright against Internet users.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"This is not a political trial,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> it's not about shutting down a people's library and it's not a trial that wants to prohibit file sharing as a technique,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> said Monique Wadsted,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> a lawyer representing Warner Brothers,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Columbia,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> MGM and other major media and computer games companies.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"It's a trial regarding four individuals that have conducted a big commercial business making money out of others file sharing <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> copyright protected works.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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The accused <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>-<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>-<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Peter Sunde,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Gottfrid Svartholm Warg,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> Fredrik Neij and Carl Lundstrom <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>-<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>-<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> denied the charges.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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The group that controls The Pirate Bay,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> launched in 2003,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> says that since no copyrighted material is stored on its servers and no exchange of files actually takes place there,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> they cannot be held responsible for what material is being exchanged.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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The prosecution says that by financing,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> programing and administering the site,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> the four men promoted the infringement of property rights by the site's users.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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The trial could last as long as three weeks and the four accused face up to two years in jail if convicted


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jkf

Mon 16 Feb, 2009


Re: A copyright test case involving one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites

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I really don't understand how they calculate lost revenues.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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I'm sure most of us have downloaded and watched or listened to things
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they have gotten on the internet and that they would never have listened to
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or watched it if it wasn't free and still,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> feel that they had wasted their time in
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disappointment.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> In the first place,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> after hearing or reading about it,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> many
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people wouldn't just go buy something even if it had a good review.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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I think they should feel fortunate that whatever they were trying to sell
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actually got exposure.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> free advertising and should feel grateful for that.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Some things are so bad,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> I would kill to get my money back if I had paid for it.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Not that I support copyright infringement.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>:lol:<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>