This morning, Sweden’s copyright industry lobby sent a nastygram to the official address of the Swedish Pirate Party, threatening criminal charges over providing bandwidth to The Pirate Bay. The Swedish Pirate Party has been the Internet Service Provider to The Pirate Bay since spring 2010, as recently highlighted by the film TPB AFK. Internet Service Providers, unless hosting something themselves, enjoy common carrier status or messenger immunity – i.e., they are never responsible for what is communicated in their pipes.

The letter was sent by the organization formerly known as the Anti-Pirate Bureau, now deceptively renamed the Rights Alliance. It was addressed to the party’s official address, and was also sent directly to all board members of the party. The party responded with a press release, where party leader Anna Troberg doesn’t mince words:

“The operations of the Pirate Party are fully legal, and legal operations shouldn’t have to endure threats like this one”, says Troberg. “It’s not illegal to provide The Pirate Bay with internet access. There is no list of illegal sites that ISPs are not allowed to connect to the net.”

Unfortunately, the kind of blackmail directed at the Pirate Party at this time is far too common. Large and small ISPs alike are commonly victim for similar threats from the copyright industry lobby.

“When the copyright industry lobby thinks the law isn’t enough, they take the law in their own hands, and threaten individuals and small firms that can’t defend themselves against the copyright industry’s wealthy giants”, says Troberg. “It’s depressing that they are allowed to continue this modus operandi with the blessings of legislators and judges alike.”

Unsurprisingly, the threat letter is quite dishonest in its construction – it claims that the Pirate Party, by being an Internet Service Provider, is taking part in copyright monopoly violations. (That may be so, but so are the server manufacturers; that’s irrelevant. It’s a matter of whether you have criminal or civil liability as an ISP, and the answer so far has been a clear “NO” in all cases that have gone to a full trial.) The letter then makes a gigantic leap of logic and menacingly recalls the verdicts of the Pirate Bay trial, hinting at criminal charges for people involved.

The full letter reads, in translation:

Taking part in copyright [monopoly] infringement The rights alliance represents Noble Entertainment, Nordisk Film, and SF, et al., who hold the exclusive rights to many Swedish movies unlawfully made available to the public through The Pirate Bay. In February 2012, the Supreme Court [of Sweden] decided to not take the case in the so-called Pirate Bay trial. Through this decision, it was legally settled that not only those who operate an illegal file-sharing service, but also those who provide internet access to such an illegal service are committing a criminal act. Despite this having been tried and clarified, you have continued the operations. Since other legal options are exhausted, it remains for us to require you to cease and desist with providing internet access to The Pirate Bay. Through this letter, you are formally notified that infringements in exclusive rights protected by the copyright [monopoly] law are taking place through The Pirate Bay, and that you are taking part in these infringements by providing internet access to The Pirate Bay. According to copyright [monopoly] law, somebody taking part in infringement can be ordered by court to cease operations by threat of heavy fines for noncompliance, as well as ordered to pay damages for the damage caused by taking part [in infringement]. These rules apply to legal entities, including non-profit organizations such as The Pirate Party and Serious Tubes, their board members, and other representatives of the organizations. The liability for taking part in infringement is considerable, according to copyright [monopoly] law. Four people have been sentenced to prison terms and considerable damages for taking part in copyright [monopoly] infringements, e.g. for having taken part in the operations or provided broadband connections or internet access to The Pirate Bay. Further, the Svea Court of Appeals have banned two companies by penalty of SEK 500k from, in one case providing internet access to The Pirate Bay, and in the other case provide internet access to a tracker used for illegal file-sharing ([rambling of a large number of court case numbers]). Considering this, the rightsholders that we represent request that the Pirate Party and Serious Tubes immediately cease and desist in providing internet access to The Pirate Bay. Unless a response is received by February 26, 2013 that taking part in the infringements have ceased, the Rights Alliance will file charges before a court without further notice. If you wish further information, you are welcome to contact us. Sincerely,

Sara Lindbäck

Rights Alliance

Do note the dishonesty here – the four people sentenced in The Pirate Bay case were all sentenced for having part in the direct operations. The letter states that they were sentenced for having part in the operations or for providing bandwidth, which is lexically true, but they might as well have added …or for jaywalking; that’s not what they were convicted of and the letter is clearly written to imply liability where there wasn’t any.

It’s not illegal to lie through your teeth, and these bastards know it.

It is further notable and curious that the threat letter is using the term taking part (sv. medverkan), which has no legal meaning whatsoever. The legal term that implies liability is aiding and abetting (sv. medhjälp). This cannot be an oversight, but must be deliberate.

However, being in the right and being found to be in the right are two completely different things, and the court system in Sweden is bought and paid for lock, stock, and barrel on these matters, as we have seen before. Troberg hints that you don’t win the war by valiantly dying in battle for your country – you win the war by making bastards on the other side die for their country, and that the party is reviewing its options:

“Similar cases have been characterized by runaway judicial corruption, and that fact is something we need to take into account when deciding how to proceed. Today, the fact that operations are fully legal is no guarantee for a fair and just trial. That’s exactly why the Pirate Party exists, and is more needed than ever”, Anna Troberg ends the official statement.

On her own blog, Anna Troberg follows up, “I never thought me and my friends would risk going to court because of our political activities. Not in Sweden. Not in the 21st century. Not when we haven’t broken any law. […] Today, it no longer matters whether you’re a criminal or not. It’s enough that somebody with enough muscle thinks that what you do should be criminal, for you to get in trouble.”

The letter states that the copyright industry lobby expects a response by February 26, in a week from today. This story is to be continued.