Concern over Pirate Bay ruling

The conviction of four men behind the Pirate Bay file-sharing website for breach of copyright raises fears it could lead to the “criminalization of consumers”. This is according to a European consumers‘ rights group, EuroNews reports. Concern over Pirate Bay ruling The BEUC, the European Consumers’ Organization in Brussels, claims the verdict may be used to send the “wrong message” that consumers are to blame. But Thomas Dillon, spokesman for the Motion Picture Association, disagrees. “It is very significant, this is one of the leading piracy sites in the world and it was distinctive in that it maintained the kind of public relations position that it was about freedom on the internet,” he said. “The reality was, as the court has found, this was a commercial business, they were making money out of it and the court has said it was illegal.” But BEUC claims the one year prison sentences for the Pirate Bay four reminds the public that the verdict was not about file sharing. Konstantinos Rossoglou, the BUEC’s Legal Officer, said: “We have the music industry for example, that blames consumers for the loss in music industry revenues but for us it is not through criminalization of consumers, cutting down their Internet connection or taking them to court that this would solve their problems.” Now the question remains: Who else is guilty? The starting point for finding pirated content is Google, the Internet’s best known search engine.

Concern over Pirate Bay ruling

The BEUC, the European Consumers’ Organization in Brussels, claims the verdict may be used to send the “wrong message” that consumers are to blame.

But Thomas Dillon, spokesman for the Motion Picture Association, disagrees.

“It is very significant, this is one of the leading piracy sites in the world and it was distinctive in that it maintained the kind of public relations position that it was about freedom on the internet,” he said.

“The reality was, as the court has found, this was a commercial business, they were making money out of it and the court has said it was illegal.”

But BEUC claims the one year prison sentences for the Pirate Bay four reminds the public that the verdict was not about file sharing.

Konstantinos Rossoglou, the BUEC’s Legal Officer, said: “We have the music industry for example, that blames consumers for the loss in music industry revenues but for us it is not through criminalization of consumers, cutting down their Internet connection or taking them to court that this would solve their problems.”

Now the question remains: Who else is guilty?

The starting point for finding pirated content is Google, the Internet’s best known search engine.