January 12, 2010 17:39

Major labels petition for Pirate Bay founders to be fined again

Label chiefs argue that the site is still in operation

Representatives for four major record labels have filed a petition to fine two of The Pirate Bay's founders again.

EMI, Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony Music chiefs have asked Stockholm District Court to fine two of the site’s founders, Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, 500,000 kronor (£88,000) each because they supposedly did not comply with a ruling in October 2009 saying they must stop operating the torrent site.

The two founders, who were sentenced to a year in jail term for their involvement in the site, removed the tracking system from the site following the October 2009 ruling. However, the major label bosses say this failed to stop the service acting as a file-sharing portal, reports Thelocal.se.

"The changes in the tracker function haven't changed the file-sharing services function," the court petition stated. "Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg have seen to it that users can use the new tracker by making sure that TPB's web site automatically provides links to the trackers to all the torrent files which are on or are uploaded to TPB."

Both Neij and Svartholm Warg state that they are no longer involved in the site, which they say is operated by a company called Reservella.