(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar)

The case against Sharemula.com, a website publishing P2P download links through which users can acquire movies, music and software, has been recently dismissed by a Spanish magistrate.

The case was opened in October 2006, when the Brigade of Technological Investigations retained 15 people responsible with Sharemula.com, asking the closing down of the site for alleged copyright infringement. At that time, the Spanish media made a big fuss of the case, the 15 retained people having been considered as belonging to a large international clandestine pirating network. The case was considered a big success by Federación Antipiratería in Spain (Anti-pirating Federation).

A year later, a Madrid court decided that the site and its administrators have not infringed any law as the links to P2P downloads have no commercial purposes. Furthermore, the site included no illegal content but only links to downloads. The defence of Sharemula was based on three previous similar rulings.

The defence attorneys consider they have found a Judge that rigorously applied the law and dismissed the accusations that were based on sheer ignorance. They believe the prosecution, including SGAE (General Society of Authors and Editors), EGEDA (Audio-Visual Producers' Rights Management Association) and large companies such as Microsoft, The Walt Disney Company Iberia, Twentieth Century Fox Home etc. will appeal the decision but hope that the appelate Court will back up the present decision.

Sharemula.com: the case against a linking web was decided dismissed (only in Spanish, 17.10.2007)
http://www.derecho-internet.org/node/417

Spanish court decides linking to P2P downloads is legal (19.10.2007)
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/11510.cfm

A legal sentence casts doubts on the illegality of P2P downloads (only in Spanish, 18.10.2007)
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internet/sentencia/judicial/siembra/nue...