As a software engineer who cannot bear to see his work stolen, I would tend to completely disagree - You assert that offering links to illegal materials submitted by users is not an offense; For the sake of argument, let's assume I agree.
What I do NOT agree with though, is that:
- Being an accessory to a criminal act
- Having intent to provide a forum for a criminal act
- Being negligent in not removing infringing materials after the copyright holder has asked you to remove the material ...is not criminal - Because it is.
The fact that a minority (and don't kid yourself - They are a minority) share Ubuntu, PBS programs and other free material does not justify the actions of the larger community.
Culpability and liability are real words in real world courts - The difference between the mass of posters on this board, and the judge/jury in Sweden is that they realized this; You do not.
I will not defend the draconian practices of the MPAA and RIAA which are, quite honestly, disgusting. However, I cannot sympathize with 4 stupid Swedish software engineers who couldn't account for 3 years of contradictory statements, and couldn't hire a competent defense attorney.