Sweden

Are The Pirate Bay Founders Criminals?

Authored by Jay Baage on April 1, 2008 - 9:39am.
tags: Law | P2P | Music | Sweden | The Pirate Bay |

Swedish Lawmakers Want ISPs to ID File-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 17, 2008 - 8:29am.

Stockholm, Sweden - Culture and Justice ministers in Sweden have announced plans to introduce legislation that would force ISPs in the country to turn over the identities of suspected illegal file-swappers to copyright owners, the Associated Press reported.

Charges Filed in Sweden Against Operators of The Pirate Bay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 1, 2008 - 9:36am.

Stockholm - Prosecutors in Sweden this week filed charges of preparing and participating in copyright infringement against the four individuals behind The Pirate Bay, the notorious BitTorrent tracker site that has been targeted for years by U.S. entertainment companies. "In case we lose the pending trial (yeah right) there will still not be any changes to the site. The Pirate Bay will keep operating just as always. We've been here for years and we will be here many more," reads a response to the charges posted on The Pirate Bay's website.

Swedish Prosecutors to Charge Operators of The Pirate Bay

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 11, 2008 - 9:09am.

New York - Swedish prosecutors are preparing to file charges later this month against the operators of The Pirate Bay, the notorious file-sharing hub that U.S. entertainment companies and the U.S. government has targeted for years, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) estimates there are 157,000 movies, songs and other files available on The Pirate Bay, and that the site draws 1.5 million visitors daily, banking $60,000 a month in advertising revenue.

Report: The Pirate Bay About To Relaunch Suprnova.org

Authored by Jay Baage on August 3, 2007 - 3:58am.
SuprNova.org, a well-known BitTorrent hub, is apparently making a comeback after being forced to shut down three years ago. Sloncek, the former owner of suprnova.org decided to donate the domain to The Pirate Bay, who will relaunch the site in a few days, according to reports published Thursday on blogs, TorrentFreak and Slyck.com.

Ingmar Bergman Dies at 89, Marks the End of Art House Film Era

Authored by Jay Baage on July 30, 2007 - 6:46am.
Stockholm, Sweden. Swedish Film Director Ingmar Bergman passed away on the small island of Faro where he lived on the Baltic coast of Sweden. Many know of him and can recognize his work. However, few people of my generation (even in Sweden) have seen any of his films. Among young people, they are considered depressing and difficult, which is a testament to how synonymous filmmaking and Hollywood have become. Bergman’s great masterpiece The Seventh Seal - much discussed, much adored, much spoofed (pictured below), is a great example of what I mean. It was art, not entertainment.

Teen Virtual Community Habbo Teams With MTV's AddictingGames

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 11, 2007 - 2:49pm.

Los Angeles - MTV Networks' AddictingGames online game channel has partnered with Finland-based teen online virtual community Habbo, and will be the exclusive North American online game distributor for the site. Under the deal, Haboo's 7.5 million unique visitors per month will have access to free viral games and entertainment from AddictingGames, which attracts over 23 million unique visitors per month.

*The original version of this story incorrectly referred to Habbo, whose headquarters are in Finland, as a Sweden-based company.

Buzz Watch: Will Robots like Sweet Ann put Human Vocalists Out of Business?

Authored by Jay Baage on July 11, 2007 - 4:48am.
Stockholm, Sweden. I have to warn all you musicians out there, the Terminator of the music world has arrived. Don’t be fooled by her name, Sweet Ann, this robot, like the T-1000, is the next generation Vocaloid software which enable users to type in words and melody and have the vocal library “artist” sing back the input. Forget the ”robot voice”, Sweet Ann has realistic vocals that include a vibrato and a range that stretches from lead to harmony parts.

MobiTV Opens New Facilities in Stockholm, Sunnyvale

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 25, 2007 - 2:27pm.

Emeryville, Calif. - MobiTV, a provider of mobile and broadband video and audio content, said on Monday that it has opened a both a new research and development center, in Stockholm, Sweden, and a new engineering facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. The R&D center will focus on WiMAX and other next-generation wireless networks, while the Sunnyvale center will hope to better attract engineering talent in Silicon Valley.

tags: Mobile | TV | Sweden | MobiTV |

Appellate Court Upholds Sweden's First File-Sharing Conviction

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 13, 2007 - 12:24pm.

Stockholm - The first Swede convicted of copyright infringement for illegal music file-sharing has lost his appeal before the country's Appellate Court, Reuters reported.

Buzz Watch: Mando Diao and Pop Levi Live at Troubadour

Authored by Jay Baage on May 23, 2007 - 7:24pm.
Mandi Diao
Swedish rockers Mando Diao dominated Troubadour on Tuesday night, the legendary club in West Hollywood has helped launch some of contemporary music's most talented performers such as Elton John, James Taylor and Tom Waits.

Buzz Watch: Will Farrell and Funny or Die

Authored by Jay Baage on May 20, 2007 - 3:56pm.
Comedian-actor Will Ferrell is not only one of Hollywood's most bankable movie stars right now, he is also taking the Internet by storm with his site Funny or Die.  The idea behind the site is simple. Users vote on the videos and decide whether they’re funny or "die a fiery death". The Landlord must be one of the most emailed videos on the web right now and his George Bush pieces are classic. He is also a regular good guy - Will and his Swedish wife Viveca Paulin-Ferrell yesterday received a Viking award for their contributions to the Swedish School of Los Angeles (Will pictured here with DMW's Jay Baage).
Will Farrell and Jay Baage  

Online Sports Game Publisher Power Challenge Raises $8 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 14, 2007 - 11:29am.

Menlo Park, Calif. - Power Challenge, a developer and publisher of online sports games, announced on Monday that it has received an $8 million investment from venture capital firm Benchmark Capital.

Pirate Bay Plans "Untraceable" File-Sharing, For-Pay Site Playable.com

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 2, 2007 - 3:00pm.

Los Angeles - Notorious Sweden-based file-sharing community The Pirate Bay plans to launch what it claims is a "completely untraceable" open source file-sharing application, as well as a subscription-based service at Playable.com where users will pay what they like and the company will compensate artists, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Analysis: What is the Role of the Artist in a Digital Age?

Authored by Jay Baage on May 1, 2007 - 6:30am.
MusExpo1 I attended the Swedish Music Seminar held at the Consulate General’s residence in Santa Monica over the weekend and took part in the first day of MusExpo on Monday at the Bel Age Hotel in West Hollywood. One issue that seems to be on everyone’s mind is how artists are going to be compensated for their work in a digital age. My conclusion from listening to the discussions is two-fold: The bad news for the artists is that they have to be more involved in the business side of their careers going forward, but the good news is that there are more avenues than ever to get their music out.

GlobalFun Acquires Mobile Games Unit of Italy's Bryo

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 17, 2007 - 2:43pm.

Karlskrona, Sweden - Mobile entertainment developer and publisher GlobalFun announced on Tuesday that it has acquired the mobile games unit of Italy-based distributor Bryo. Financial terms were not disclosed. Sweden-based GlobalFun said the deal will give it a foothold in what it considers to be a key mobile games market in Europe.

Musicbrigade to Power Music Service for Swedish Tabloid Aftonbladet

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 4, 2007 - 3:37pm.

Stockholm - Musicbrigade, a Sweden-based digital music service provider, has announced a deal to power a digital music service for the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet, which claims 1.4 million daily readers, Billboard reported. The service will offer a library of 1.6 million tracks and 20,000 music videos, as well as social networking, news and reviews. Song downloads will sell for about $1.40 each.

Buzz Watch: Timo Räisänen

Authored by Jay Baage on March 14, 2007 - 3:36pm.
Once in a blue moon you come across an artist with an original sound that just makes the music stand out. Timo Räisänen is one of those artists. His new album is called I'm Indian and it is simply great. In my continued quest to share good new Swedish music with you all, I would add him as a possible candidate to the list of up-and-coming phenomenon like Peter, Björn & John, Jose Gonzalez and Teddybears. Oh yeah, don't miss the funny live band Quit Your Dayjob and Juvelen, one of the best one-man boybands to emerge from the dark woods of Scandinavia.

Musicbrigade, Broadcaster RTL Debut Digital Music Service in Germany

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 7, 2007 - 2:03pm.

Stockholm - Musicbrigade, a Sweden-based digital music service provider, announced on Wednesday the launch of an online digital music service in Germany with partner RTL.de, an entertainment portal operated by the European TV broadcaster. The service will offer 1.5 million songs, licensed from all the major labels and many independents, in addition to Musicbrigade's catalog of more than 20,000 music videos. The companies said the joint service will be promoted with an extensive TV and online ad campaign.

Sweden Is First Country to Open a Virtual Embassy in Second Life

Authored by Jay Baage on January 30, 2007 - 11:29am.
Stockholm, Sweden - The tech-savvy country of Sweden on Tuesday revealed plans to be the first country to open an embassy in the much talked about virtual world Second Life.