Excellent point, why didn't I think of that right away :)
Or, even more evil, they hope the owners will pull the plug during an attack of extreme anxiety, brought on by the increase in media attention. Or that they will go away when they've made enough money. Your train of thought opens up interesting possibilities...
Well obviously the owners of TPB bribed some government officials into prosecuting now with bad evidence and an inept prosecutor in order to preempt other possible cases in the future.
Once they are cleared, they will have precedent on their side in any future cases. Quite genius really... vaccinating the court system in a sense.
I am pretty sure that TPB is not going to go away after "making enough money" or getting all the media attention they want. They want to "win", which probably means they will fight until traditional media formats die out. (Which I see as a great thing, FWIW.)
Or, even more evil, they hope the owners will pull the plug during an attack of extreme anxiety, brought on by the increase in media attention. Or that they will go away when they've made enough money. Your train of thought opens up interesting possibilities...