Werner Müller, boss of the Austrian film and music industry trade association, has canceled his participation in a panel discussion on "Art in the Digital Age" after he learned that Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde was one of his fellow participants. Müller stated that he refuses to sit at a table with a "convicted criminal" who supports "professional theft".

Next week the Green Party in Vienna, Austria, is hosting a panel discussion titled “Art in the Digital Age”. The discussion will consider how policy could be better aligned with the interests of both consumers and copyright holders. One of the main questions is whether a cultural flatrate is a good idea.

Among the invited panel guests are politicians such as Eva Lichtenberger, who’s a member of the European Parliament for the Green Party, as well as Werner Müller, boss of the Austrian film and music industry trade association. The latter was looking forward to venting his thoughts on the future of entertainment in the digital age, until he found out that a former adversary was also coming to Vienna.

“On Friday, I was informed of the requested list of panelists and only then I learned that Peter Sunde, a convicted co-founder of the BitTorrent download portal The Pirate Bay, will participate in this discussion. For this reason, I would like to hereby withdraw my participation,” Werner Müller wrote to the organizers.

Although Peter Sunde discontinued his connection to The Pirate Bay a long time ago, and moved on to found the social micropayment startup Flattr, Müller refused to sit at a table with such a defiant voice. The fact that Sunde has different beliefs about copyright is not a problem, Müller said, but he is against inviting convicted criminals to the panel discussion.

“I find it a problem that the Greens have invited a criminally convicted co-founder of a file-sharing portal to a debate – a portal that is used by professional thieves to illegally enrich themselves using the creative work of authors – actions that as you noted in the statements, are still ongoing,” Müller wrote.

The Green Party, which organized the panel, is obviously disappointed with Müller’s cancellation. Organizer Marco Schreuder, who posted Müller’s cancellation letter in full on his weblog, notes that the time is not yet ripe for this matter to be discussed by the content owners, although the clock is ticking.

Peter Sunde on the other hand does not seem to be bothered with one less opponent in the upcoming discussion, and sees it as a small victory instead. “The best win you’ll have is when your enemies don’t even dare to show up, and have a lame excuse like that,” he tweeted yesterday.

“The case is not final so no final judgment is made. He’s just afraid of losing face. And he just did anyhow,” Peter added, referring to the fact that Müller ignored that the conviction of Peter and the three others associated with the Pirate Bay will be appealed later this year.

Plenty of discussion still to come, but in court.