• WSJ.com, Friday, January 11, 2008 10:45 AM

The Pirate Bay, a gigantic directory of pirated movies, music and software, might soon be shut down, thanks to evidence gathered during a raid on its offices by Swedish police in 2006. Prosecutors expect to charge the service's operators with conspiracy to breach copyrights.

The raid came at the behest of Hollywood execs and U.S. government officials, who have long complained about Sweden's "weak copyright laws, lax enforcement, high broadband penetration and general antipathy toward the entertainment industry."

But the Pirate Bay will be tough to prosecute. Millions across the world use its Web site to find out where to get free music, movies and games, but the Pirate Bay is merely a directory, downloaded files are all stored on users' computers. The company claims it isn't breaking the law, but media companies say the distinction is phony. Even so, the Pirate Bay's servers are located in other countries, which means Swedish authorities might not be able to prosecute the company after all.

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