Carl Lundström
Carl Ulf Sture Lundström (born 13 April 1960, Filipstad, Sweden) is a Swedish businessman.
Carl Lundström is the son of Ulf Lundström and the grandson of Karl Edvard Lundström, founder of the world's largest crisp bread producer Wasabröd. When his father Ulf Lundström died in 1973, Carl Lundström was one of five heirs to Wasabröd and its subsidiary OLW. In 1982 Wasabröd was sold to the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz, making Lundström a fortune. Lundström has founded and financed a number of companies, notably Rix Telecom AB (also known as Port80) which sold colocation space and Internet access to PRQ HB, which at the time hosted the BitTorrent tracker The Pirate Bay. Tobias Andersson, co-founder of The Pirate Bay, has said: "We wouldn't have been able to start the site without the support from Carl Lundström".[1]
Political affiliations [edit]
According to claims brought forward by the Swedish anti-racist magazine Expo, Lundström is a financier of various far-right extremist organizations and has been a member of the racist campaign organization Bevara Sverige Svenskt ("Keep Sweden Swedish") and the xenophobic Folkviljan mot massinvandring ("the People's will against mass immigration").[2] Some years later he was noted as a financier of the Swedish Progress Party.[2] He left the Progress Party in 1992 for the newly founded New Democracy.
However, when Lundström's membership in New Democracy and his extremist history was brought to attention by the media the party's leadership demanded his expulsion. In March 1992, Lundström left the party and, according to himself, politics.[2]
In 2005, Lundström supported a group within the Swedish Taxpayers' Association, who aimed for power over the organization. The group had ties to the Sweden Democrats, and wanted the organization to stress the issue of immigration, as the reason for the Swedish tax rates. Also, Lunström has donated money to the right wing, extremist party National Democrats and has ordered Nazi and revisionist material from companies that promote white supremacist ideology.[2]
Pirate Bay trial [edit]
Lundström was one of the four defendants in The Pirate Bay trial charged with "accessory to breaching copyright law". On 17 April 2009 Stockholm district court found Lundström and his three co-defendants guilty and sentenced them to one year in prison and to jointly pay 30 million SEK (app. €2.7 million or USD 3.5 million) in damages. Lundström's lawyers appealed the verdict to the Svea Court of Appeal the very same day.[3][4][5][6] The appeal was a partial success, as his sentence has been reduced to four months, but the fine was increased to 32 million SEK.[7] The time in prison has been served.[8]
References [edit]
- ^ Sidea, Emanuel (2007-04-23). "Högerextremist sponsrar filpirater". Veckans Affärer. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ^ a b c d Olsson, Daniel; Ekman, Mikael (2005-03-03). "Carl Lundström, mångmiljonär och högerextremist". Expo (magazine) (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ^ Ricknäs, Mikael (2009-04-21). "Pirate Bay Case on Its Way to the Court of Appeal". PC World (IDG).
- ^ http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/artikel_2752311.svd
- ^ Stiernstedt, Jenny; Johansson, Astrid E; Söderling, Fredrik; Grassman, Oliver (2009-04-17). "The Pirate Bay sentenced to one year in prison". Dagens Nyheter.
- ^ Rengfors, Kristoffer (2009-04-17). "Lundström får betala rekordskadeståndet". Metro (in Swedish).
- ^ Kobie, Nicole (November 26, 2010). "Pirate Bay trio lose appeal against jail sentences". pcpro.co.uk (PCPRO). Retrieved November 26, 2010.
- ^ http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/tva-domda-i-pirate-bay-malet-efterlysta_7377914.svd
