Music companies were seeking $2.8 million, but that amount was only based on 23 music files selected as the basis for the case. The film industry, however, sought $13.7 million in damages for four movies and one television show.

"It's so bizarre that we were convicted at all and it's even more bizarre that we were [convicted] as a team," Sunde, told the BBC. "We can't pay and we wouldn't pay. Even if I had the money I would rather burn everything I owned, and I wouldn't even give them the ashes."

The team plans to appeal, according to Sunde, in an online conference.

Still in Business

The Pirate Bay is the world's larges Bit Torrent tracker and has 3.4 million registered users. As of January, The Pirate Bay displayed 1.6 million torrent files linking to movies, music and other media, according to the IFPI, which represents the worldwide recording industry and includes Sony Music, Capital Music, and Universal Music Group.

The case against the four men began when The Pirate Bay was raided in May 2006 by Swedish police, who confiscated the servers. In January 2008, the four defendants were charged with copyright infringement.

The four men have been in court since early February to defend their file sharing tactics and argued that what they were doing was not illegal.

Despite the judgment, Pirate Bay's service was still in business as of Friday at 1 pm Eastern Time.

Victory for Anti-Piracy Groups

"The trial of the operators of The Pirate Bay was about defending the rights of creators, confirming the illegality of the service and creating a fair environment for legal music services that respect the rights of the creative community," said John Kennedy, chief executive of IFPI, a group which represents the worldwide recording industry with 1,400 members in 72 countries and affiliated industry associations in 44 countries. "This is good news for everyone, in Sweden and internationally, who is making a living or a business from creative activity and who needs to know their rights will protected by law."

The music industry says The Pirate Bay's actions take a huge toll on business. Revenue losses were 5.4 billion Swedish Kronas (US$612.5 million) in 2006, according to the Value Formation and the Lund Institute of Technology.

Ger Hatton, Secretary General of the International Confederation of Music Publishers said copyright holders globally depend on having their rights protected by the law and is pleased with the judgment because it reminds the public that making money off of others' rights and livelihood is unacceptable.