Brutal sentence for file sharer

A Swedish film enthusiast turned pirate has been fined over $650,000 for uploading a single movie to a torrent website.

According to a report in the BBC, the Swede was given a harsh 160 hours of grudging community service but had also uploaded 517 other titles previously.

In many countries local film industries are seeking ways to protect content that is infringed by users.

Google's transparency report shows a number of file sharing sites with the biggest bulk of illegal copyrighted material. Hollywood Studios in 2013 alone made thousands of individual requests resulting in millions of links being removed from search. This has been just one part of the effort as digital piracy is causing damage to distributors who rely on the funds when they market and promote a film. Without the sales, they go under.

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In this case, Nordisk Film argued that the distribution of the film on the torrent site amounted to a substantial loss in revenue, and it was also low quality, damaging their brand.