First, before all the PB supporters start with the shut - ups, just admit it . You and I know that file sharing is not generally viewed as a legal activity. Just because you may not agree with the law or the facts doesn't mean you can change them or ignore them because you don't like them. True, there are many legal activities associated with file sharing in its various permutations , however I think any reasonable person would conclude that downloading a full length movie (for example) for free is probably not legal in any sense. I think anyone who uses any of the popular P2P clients (like Lime wire for example) already know that and just decide to take their chances with the legality.
The question however is one strictly related to legal culpability. The question is really better framed as criminal facilitation of the illegal act. In a legal sense the Prosecution is asking, Is TPB legally culpable for the act of pointing someone towards the actual destination without ever hosting the actual content? This is where the case is pretty tricky, legally. Arguments are going to be made on both sides that point to intent and profitability. They are being called a continuing criminal enterprise because they had the intent of breaking the law and intended to profit from their actions. Logistically, this is the prosecutions case to prove.
So is it legal to be the facilitator?
What if I went to the mother ship of all search engines , the mighty Google.com, and searched for filetype:bittorrent? If I found any torrent files due to a google search , is Google then liable for the conduct of the searcher, who actually commits the illegal act of downloading the file?
As of this morning I got 605,000 google results using this simple query. If I accessed any of the results with the intent of using a torrent client to download the content , and in the act of downloading I was caught by the authorities, could Google be charged as my co-conspirator?
What is I used Google to find illegal drugs? Or Kiddie Porn? What if I used them to buy illegal weapons and then went on a killing spree? Did they criminally facilitate the killing? This is where the case gets absurd.
TPB is only criminally liable if you also believe that information you can get from a standard library, used criminally, is the responsibility of the library to regulate its use.
See here is the rub, they are using a shaky poorly framed argument and have no end game strategy which sets TPB apart from every other operation who provides search results . If the
Every search engine that provides results to file searches , and then allows the user to click link to the material has committed the same offense that TPB is accused of in a legal sense. They facilitated finding the material, they intended to profit from the search by accepting Advertising money using a structured corporate decision making model and they knew that the links could lead to illegal activity.
Is this enough to convict TPB ? It shouldn’t be.
There is no search for truth or justice here.
The prosecutor says this is about money. The defendants apparently don’t have any large sums of money.
The stupid companies signed on to this think it is about precedent. They are going to deter this type of behavior by prosecuting TPB.
How stupid is this?
The only thing this will accomplish even if they win and TPB is convicted is to give current and future operators of torrent sites a road map of how to evade prosecution. They will never collect a dime of any judgment even if they win.
