Denmark: Ring-leader of the now-shuttered Aasgard pirate site is convicted, sentenced

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A Danish court in Kolding sentenced a 43-year-old manager of the Aasgard pirate site, who had been convicted of copyright infringement, to a three month prison sentence, plus 60 hours of community service, and confiscation of his computer, server, and profits amounting to about USD$500.  He also must pay compensation of about USD$5,400 to the rights holders.

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This sentencing is the second of seven cases before the Danish court.  The first was the arrest of a 50 year-old site manager in December of 2020 for running two sites, which went to court in June 2021 and resulted in his imprisonment for four months.  The six others were arrested later in 2021.  The remaining five will be processed through the courts during 2022.

The Aasgard site had about 23,000 users and provided access to digital content that included 15,000 movies and TV series – some of which were available prior to their digital premiere – as well as music, and electronic books,

Read the original Rights Alliance news release (Auto-translated from original Danish by Google Translate)

Read the press release from the Danish Prosecution Authority (Anklagemydigheden) (Auto-translated from original Danish by Google Translate)

Why it matters

“It is gratifying that with the verdict today we are making another culprit responsible for his actions – this time the IT-savvy codes of the file-sharing service,” says Christian Raaholt Hahn, assistant prosecutor at the National Unit for Special Crime (NSK).

NSK is a new law enforcement unit that is dedicated against economic crime and organized crime.  It takes on tasks had previously been handled by several other Danish agencies, including the Public Prosecutor for Special Economic and International Crime (SØIK), regional investigators and the National Police and National Cyber Crime Center.

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