The judge, the Swedish Copyright Association and an error of judgment...
An interesting development in the Pirate Bay case: the BBC reports that Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Carl Lundstrom and Peter Sunde, who were found guilty of breaking copyright laws by a Swedish Court last week, might seek a "retrial" based on the ground that the judge in the case, Judge Tomas Norstrom, is a member of the Swedish Copyright Association and sits on the board of Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. The judge was quick to point out on Swedish radio that "... these activities do not constitute a conflict of interest...".While the IPKat does not know whether the judge's association with the Swedish Copyright Association on its own would be enough for a retrial under Swedish law, he has to agree with the Swedish lawyer quoted by the BBC ("an error of judgement"), that this is not an ideal situation in such a high profile case.
