February 23, 2009 10:18

Pirate Bay founder says most of the site's torrents are legal

On-trial website founder speak out in Sweden

One of the founders of The Pirate Bay website who is on trial in Sweden for copyright breaching has claimed that the majority of downloads made via the website are legal.

Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi, who is in the dock in Stockholm along with three associates, made the claim on Friday (February 20) in court based on a survey conducted by the website chiefs.

He claimed that he conducted a survey of 1,000 random torrents, and found that between 70 and 80 per cent were legal.

Kolmisoppi also expressed irritation that he was being questioned about his stance on downloading as opposed to the facts of the case.

"That was annoying," he wrote on his Twitter profile. "Now it's certain this is political. Anyone hear a question that was not based on ideology?"

Kolmisoppi has been Twittering throughout the case.