TorrentFreak

Earlier this month Finland’s largest ever Internet piracy case ended with four men being found guilty of copyright infringement and two being exonerated. The case involved a so-called ‘topsite’ called Angel Falls and had an interesting twist. During the trial it was revealed that evidence gathered by a local anti-piracy group and the IFPI was also handed to a “senior MPAA executive” who tampered with the evidence before handing it to the police.

After being targeted by a police raid on a web host previously owned by Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm, Sweden’s #2 torrent site took just three weeks to come back online. Taunting the authorities with their return, Tankafetast rented cinemas and launched a clothing range but for the police there was clearly unfinished business. An admin of the site has now been arrested and questioned. The site, however, remains fully operational.

Last week Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm was charged with hacking into companies and a bank. While it’s no surprise that the news traveled quickly through the media, one might have expected that Gottfrid himself would be one of the first to hear the news. But Gottfrid’s mother Kristina informs TorrentFreak that her son learned of the charges by watching TV news in his cell. Even today he still hasn’t seen a copy of the lawsuit.

At the turn of the decade UK anti-piracy lawfirm ACS:Law were making dozens of headlines as they tried to extract cash settlements from alleged BitTorrent users. The firm did in fact succeed in bringing in many hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash, but due to their greed and incompetence their scheme began to fall [...]

Earlier this week in a copyright infringement crackdown initiated by the Italian authorities more than two dozen file-sharing domains were placed on ISP blocklists. One of those domains was Rapidgator, one of the world’s leading cyberlocker sites. Rather than simply rolling over, Rapidgator is now fighting back with with the assistance of an Italian lawyer experienced in handling Internet-related litigation. ISPs are also reportedly filing appeals.

A Swedish prosecutor has announced new hacking related charges against Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm. Together with three others he is suspected of hacking several companies including a bank, from where the defendants allegedly attempted to transfer money. The new changes will most likely mean that Svartholm will remain in prison when his Pirate Bay sentence concludes next month.

Finland’s largest ever Internet piracy case has come to an end with six men standing trial for running a so-called ‘topsite’. Two were cleared by the court but four others were found guilty of distributing movies, music, TV shows, software and other media. They received suspended jail sentences of up to six months but rightsholders are disappointed after their six million euro damages claim – 900,000 euros from Microsoft alone – was reduced to just 45,000 euros.