According to Swedish press reports, Judge Norström's membership of a variety of pro-copyright organisations was, according to the Stockholm District Court's submission to the Svea Court of Appeal, "simply a means to gain increased knowledge of copyright legislation issues and are not therefore grounds to establish bias."

One of the tests of any decision is to consider the opposite and determine if it has any standing.  This writer struggles to comprehend how a similar judge with strong ties to the anti-copyright movement would have been permitted to be part of the case.

The appeal will continue with other grounds being submitted to the Court of Appeal, however, this was always one of the strongest components of the appeal.

Currently The Pirate Bay website is still operating, although speculation is rife that it will be closed should the appeal fail.

Curiously, Sweden's Pirate Party won a seat in last week's European Parliament elections with this case being identified as the major cause of increased interest in the party.  While it is difficult to see how such a lone voice can have any real power in the EU Parliament, the 7.1% of Swedish voters who supported the candidate cannot be ignored.