Talk:The Pirate Bay trial/Merge draft
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On January 31 2008, Swedish prosecutors filed charges against four of the individuals behind The Pirate Bay, a torrent tracking website, for "promoting other people's infringements of copyright laws".[1][2] The charges are supported by a consortium of intellectual rights holders led by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), who have filed individual compensation claims against the owners of The Pirate Bay. The trial, currently ongoing in Stockholm, Sweden, started on February 16 and is scheduled to finish on March 4; it is broadcast live by Swedish public radio.
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The defendants are Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm, Peter Sunde, who run the site; and, Carl Lundström, a Swedish businessman who has donated to the site. The prosecutor claims the four worked together to administer, host and develop the Web site and thereby facilitated other people's breach of copyright law. In total, 34 cases of copyright infringements are listed, of which 21 are related to music files, nine to movies and four to games.[3] If convicted the defendants could be liable for fines up to $188,000 USD and face up to two years in jail.[4] In addition, claim for damages of 117 million kronor (US$13 million) have been filed.[5]