Quote:According to the Local, it appears that Tomas Norström, the judge who presided over the case against the Pirate Bay Four, may have had a conflict of interest which could have led to bias and an unfair trial. Peter Althin, lawyer for one of the Pirate Bay defendants, plans to demand a retrial on the grounds that Judge Norström has over the years held membership in a number of organizations advocating for stronger copyright laws and with ties to big media companies, including some represented in the case against the Pirate Bay.

Swedish Association of Copyright (SFU) - The judge Tomas Norström is a member of this discussion forum that holds seminars, debates and releases the Nordic Intellectual Property Law Review. Other members of this outfit? Henrik Pontén (Swedish Anti-Piracy Bureau), Monique Wadsted (movie industry lawyer) and Peter Danowsky (IFPI) - the latter is also a member of the board of the association.

Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property (SFIR) - The judge Tomas Norström sits on the board of this association that works for stronger copyright laws. Last year they held the Nordic Championships in Intellectual Property Rights Process Strategies.

.SE (The Internet Infrastructure Foundation) - Tomas Norström works for the foundation that oversees the .se name domain and advises on domain name disputes. His colleague at the foundation? Monique Wadsted. Wadsted says she’s never met Norström although they have worked together.

Commenting on the revelations, Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde brokep said, “Spectrial Cliffhanger in S01 with the verdict - S02 started with the judge being biased. Reality beats fiction yet again!”