Finnish court slaps Peter Sunde with €350k fine

Pirate Bay cases grind on

Pirate Bay cofounder Peter Sunde has been hit with a fine worth nearly US$400,000 by a court in Helsinki.

The Helsinki District Court issued the fine, with local outlet Digitoday reporting (in Finnish) the €350,000 fine is for his role in facilitating copyright infringement. The fine includes €55,000 in costs.

The court case was brought by the Finnish recording industry lobby on behalf of EMI, Sony, Universal and Warner.

The recording industry didn't accuse Sunde of direct infringement, but his involvement in the service made him at least indirectly responsible for infringements.

Artists mentioned in the brief included “Deniece Williams, Suvi Teräsniska, Chisu, Vesa-Matti Loiri, Anna Abreau, Michael Monroe, Antti Tuisku, Juha Tapio and Children of Bodom”, according to Digitoday.

Because Sunde didn't show up in court, the decision was a judgement by default.

The court also threatens a fine of a million Euros if the files in the case continue to be shared by TPB, even though Sunde, who now lives in Norway, no longer has any association with the site.

As TorrentFreak notes, Sunde and the other founders of the site, Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm, have been fined by various courts over the years, and so far, “none of those judgments have been satisfied”. ®