One of the topics that comes up in the film is the testimony of Professor Roger Wallis during the first Pirate Bay trial four years ago.

Wallis was brought in to answer questions regarding the effect of unauthorized file-sharing on music and movie sales. In his testimony Wallis told the court that his research found no relation between the two, adding that piracy may even boost sales under some circumstances.

This prompted the music and movie industry lawyers to discredit and question the professor’s reputation. The TPB AFK documentary captured this moment, and the clip below shows that Wallis was visibly shaken by the attacks.

“How low can you go?” questions the professor as he exits the court room.

The professor later adds that it is not uncommon for pro-file-sharing researchers to be attacked like this. However, Wallis mostly knows the stories from colleagues in the United States, not Sweden.

“I think it’s sick to attack the academic world like this, but it’s not the first time,” Wallis says.

“I’ve heard horrible stories from the United States where professors who have indicated that file-sharing could be positive for the development of the industry have been hunted down with a whip.”

“It’s sad that these American methods are coming to Sweden,” the professor concludes.

Wallis doesn’t go into detail about the accusations, but it’s no secret that the copyright lobby can respond harshly to pro file-sharing sentiments.

Just a few months ago we saw that the RIAA’s research partner NPD discredited a study showing that file-sharing music buyers spend more than their non-sharing counterparts.

In his article NPD’s Russ Crupnick wrote that the research findings were based on misinterpretations, and that some researchers should have a license to publish data. Ironically enough, this article itself included a huge mistake as the numbers in one of the NPD charts didn’t add up.

For Wallis everything turned out okay in the end. After his testimony his wife was overwhelmed with flowers and other gifts from the public, as a token of appreciation for her husband and the pro-sharing stance he took in court.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

He was heavily attacked by industry lawyers Danowsky, Pontén and Wadsted who did everything they could to discredit and slander his reputation. When Wallis was asked whether he wanted to be reimbursed for travel expenses etc, he light-heartedly suggested sending some flowers to his wife.

His statement was picked up by the large audience listening in to the live audio from the trial and flowers soon began arriving at the Wallis’ house.

Roger’s wife, Görel Wallis, wasn’t surprised by her husband’s whim in court:

“We have been married for 38 years. He proposed half an hour after we met and I said maybe. After a day, he had convinced me”, she said.

At a local flower store in Stockholm they had received 100 orders by 20.30 last night. Owner Kristian Skald said that two nearby stores had received an equal amount of orders.

“Last delivery was 33 bouquets Thursday night. There will be more to come on Friday,” the owner of the flower shop commented.

Today, Friday, the couple celebrates their wedding day anniversary and on Saturday it’s Görel’s birthday. Roger Wallis feels she is worth all the flowers she gets.

“She was very worried before the trial. They questioned my competence and that made her very sad. She hadn’t slept for two days,” Roger said.

A web page has been set up that collects what has been given so far, complete with an ever-growing stack of CDs that show how many sales the music-industry has lost by slandering the Professor.

Thus far, in an amazing show of generosity from a section of society labeled by the music industry as ‘thieves’, more than 4100 Euros worth of flowers, chocolate and gifts have been sent to the couple.

The Wallis’ soon ran out of vases for the flowers but Görel knows that sharing is caring and will distribute the flowers to all residents in their apartment building.

“We will make sure it will be beautiful here.”

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.