As I understand it they were found guilty of aiding distribution of copyrighted material, not the actual distribution of material. However, jail time does seem somewhat excessive and it does seem that there is influence from the US on this one. I predict this is going to go back and forth in the courts and won't be resolved for quite some time. Something similar happenened here in Finland in 2007 with a site called Finnreactor and the hosts were ordered to pay 400,000 euros in damages - although the case appearently is still open and is being taken to the Finnish Supreme Court by some of the defendents.