The Pirate Bay is the world’s biggest BitTorrent tracker that allows for P2p file-sharing. It was founded in Sweden in 2003 and made popular by people looking to download music and movies for free. The founders were taken to trial in 2009, sentenced to a year in prison (sentences were later shortened to 4-10 months), and ordered to pay approximately $3.5 million in fines.

Whatever your stance on file-sharing, the story of Pirate Bay is an interesting one, entangled in politics, copyright law, and the complicated question of how to control the seemingly uncontainable Internet. It’s extremely relevant to the evolving conversation about music as a product that individuals and companies can “own.”

The Pirate Bay: Away From Keyboard will be released online for free at the premiere of a major upcoming film festival this spring. The release date is to be announced this month, and more info can be found at the movie’s official website. [Pigeons&Planes]