The Pirate Bay decision means … nothing
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- P2Pnet summarized the outcome of ThePirateBay fiasco quite well:
“Sweden loses The Pirate Bay case – A country in shame”
Very true. But I’d like to add Sweden is also presently a country in RAGE because of the clearly political motivated and big money — oops, I meant Big Content manipulation of our legal system. Not that it seems to mean anything anymore as the (illegal) raid on TPB in 2006 has shown us.
As a reader mentioned in the previous article, Beatrice Ask (aka minister of injustice and MAFIAA groupie) was sure to be involved, probably putting more (political) pressure on the judge who wouldn”t be able to find a his digital butt with a map and a compass … or the Hubble space telescope.
But what’s this really going to change?
The answer is simple:
NOTHING!
People like me will continue to use VPNs if we want to:
- dl from TPB, or upload on any major ‘open/risky’ site.
- Download from sites like rapidshare.
- Usenet is still very much alive and kicking.
- P2Pnet covered a post on Darknets just a little ago..
- Use clients like OneSwarm
Buy music and movies from the likes of the MAFIAA?
NOT!
So is this the end of TPB?
NOPE!
Not even close.
The truth is: this case is going to go on for years in appeal, so it’s far from a victory for The Dark Side, other than a PR one, and God knows they can use a few PR victories as they were they are getting their behinds handed to them by ‘pirates’ and TPB crew every day of TPB spectrial — and even before that.
This actually might mean a bigger victory for the people of Sweden. Because all that anger has to go somewhere. And if it’s directed along a constructive path, it can/could open a floodgate of votes for the fledgling pirate party who have their sights set on the European parliament this year.
In conclusion: sure, the likes of the IFPI / RIAA / MPAA, etc, have come closer to ‘winning the war against online piracy’.
Just as close as the US has come to winning the war on drugs.
Ryan S – www.eZee.se
April, 2009
Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. It’s really easy! Subscribe to p2pnet.net | | rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile – http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php
Net access blocked by government restrictions? Use Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto. Go here for details.
April 17th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
the only thing i can say regarding this decision is that it’s a bloody joke as they should more concentrated in finding the actual ” PIRATES” that make work prints like the new x men to be available on the web (which is with no doubt a inside job) and will not stop all of us from downloading movies or music which are available for everyone all over the web.
i think the actual artists should put a stop to all the monopoly that these companies have a embrace the future of using the web as a way to make their jobs known to all ppl.
POWER TO THE PPL
AND THANKS TO ALL UPLOADERS KEEP IT UP
April 17th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
The Justice system has failed us
April 17th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
Oh, it means something…
The Swedish Pirate Party has been celebrating a rather incredible rise in members. Here’s a graph: http://rickfalkvinge.se/files/2009/04/20090417-1700.png
The elections for the european parliament will soon start. Maybe this verdict will change the political landscape…
April 17th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
“and God knows they can use a few PR victories as they were they are getting their behinds handed to them by ‘pirates’ and TPB crew every day of TPB spectrial — and even before that.”
So they lose lots of brownie points and then win the big, precedent setting one. They slowly but surely, ARE winning this fucking corrupt war on the little guy. Think ACTA, three strikes and lots of others I can’t think of now. People really are in denial here. Christ, get a clue.
It’s not the first precedent they’ve won either. Thankfully, it doesn’t all go they’re own way, Jammie Thomas’s appeal/judge admitting to a gross mistake comes to mind.
April 17th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
@ EM558
Don’t believe everything you read in the papers, or see on TV.
Cheers!
April 17th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
the thing you need to worry about is that a precedent is being established: there was this:
The site has become the entertainment industry’s enemy No. 1 after successful court actions against file-swapping sites such as Grokster and Kazaa.
published here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090417.wpiratebay0417/BNStory/Technology/home
once the precedent is established anyone indexing copyright files will get a quick triup to the hoosgow
April 17th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
what about UseNet, usenext and the other variations of the same network that makes millions on P2P??
April 17th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
@Jon
I’d really like to believe that – and cross my fingers that I’m wrong. It just doesn’t seem to be going our way in the bigger picture, unfortunately.
April 17th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Sorry I’ll say your mistaken that it means nothing.
To the alphebet groups it means everything .. they get to flaunt their win for eternity (even if it is overturned) .. they defeated the evil pirate bay .. little trackers you are next and connot hope to win ect. ect. Sweden says torrents are illegal ect. ect.
Also i notice now there is suddenly news coverage of TPB trial .. I wonder why?
April 17th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
“This actually might mean a bigger victory for the people of Sweden. Because all that anger has to go somewhere. And if it’s directed along a constructive path, it can/could open a floodgate of votes for the fledgling pirate party who have their sights set on the European parliament this year.”
This is why I always thought a loss would be more beneficial to the cause. It sucks for TPB (if it is upheld) though, a lot. Same reason I was not all that thrilled that Obama made it too the white house, I thought he might improve things a little, but really he would just keep the status quo. Seems like he’s doing a crappy job (so it appears anyway, it has to be a hard job), but the case for Ron Paul next election will be huge.
April 17th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
@ EM558
I understand your point of view. But we’re only at the start of a completely new communications model. This kind of thing marks a beginnning, not an end.
The studios and labels are like Mr Jones in the old Bob Dylan song, Ballad Of A Thin Man:
… something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?
The vested-interested corporations are flying in ever-decreasing circles. The end result is inevitable.
Cheers!
April 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
“This actually might mean a bigger victory for the people of Sweden. Because all that anger has to go somewhere. And if it’s directed along a constructive path, it can/could open a floodgate of votes for the fledgling pirate party who have their sights set on the European parliament this year.”
I may not be Nostradamus but I do get some right!
torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-membership-surges-following-pirate-bay-verdict-090417/
and
https://pirateweb.net/Pages/Public/Charts/MemberCount-Closeup.aspx?DaysHistory=0
The above counter has gone up by 500 from the time the article was published on TF!
“So they lose lots of brownie points and then win the big, precedent setting one. They slowly but surely, ARE winning this fucking corrupt war on the little guy.”
This might seem like a huge win, but what would you call it if this is what it takes to catapult the Swedish pirate party into the EU parliament?
Remember you heard if first on P2PNET.net (with help from an admin of eZee.se!) !!
April 17th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
This is the Napster ruling all over again. Didn’t these idiots learn anything the first time around? Even if they killed the Pirate Bay, similar sites will simply appear and thrive. It’s simply survival of the fittest. That’s how everything evolves.
The appeal process for this verdict will be jammed up the courts for years, and by the time all is said and done there will be new things to replace Bit Torrent. Then the music and movie industries will go against those, and yet more file sharing applications will emerge. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Unless the big corporations can invent a time machine and go back to prevent computers from ever being invented, they have no choice but to adapt to a world of online file sharing. They are just too stubborn to admit that. It’s too late – the horse is out of the barn and you aren’t going to catch it. File sharing is going to be around forever, and will continually be replaced by something even harder for them to monitor and control. Life is change. Deal.
April 17th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
“It’s too late – the horse is out of the barn and you aren’t going to catch it”
That horse has been out, has had kids, those kids went out and had other kids and so on.
Even if they catch the first (original) horse… its those kids that are screwing them, and I for one know I dont want to be screwed by a huge horse pen*s!
/Ryan
April 17th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Michael Geist’s website has an article on how CRIA is using this to push for tougher laws in Canada.
CRIA is sending propaganda material to all the MP’s and the like.
Don’t forget, these are the same MP’s who say people who can get together and discuss a situation/politics virtually is bad. “facebook is scarey”-don’t forget that great quote.
The propaganda and rhetoric is coming.
This will give them fuel for a couple of years.
April 17th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
“That horse has been out, has had kids, those kids went out and had other kids and so on.
Even if they catch the first (original) horse… its those kids that are screwing them, and I for one know I dont want to be screwed by a huge horse pen*s!”
LMAO……and at the same time its TMI!!
Darknet is already a funtional reality, all it needs is refining (tweaking)
and enuff ppl pissed enuff to jump in and do it, seems to me we have
got that situation as reality right now!!! All thanks to the idiot courts system in Sweden!!
Copyfight & stw
April 17th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
@NO1UNO, forgive my ignorance mate but… what does “stw” mean?
There are so many acronyms being used right now, I really find myself lost and even Google does not help out everytime.
… and for the record, I meant the industry regularly gets screwed by those horses
Thanks!
/Ryan
April 17th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
“The vested-interested corporations are flying in ever-decreasing circles. The end result is inevitable. ”
I’ll drink to that!
April 17th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
coming soon, an article on vpn. suggested reasoning is not just to cover your file sharing habits, but it has more corporate applications, and can’t be banned.
like many have said before me. the more you push back on ‘pirates’ the more innovation gets implemented.
stw
April 17th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
stw = share the wealth
April 17th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
558:
Okay, I gotta call you out on this one:
Everybody needs to read up on something called “cointelpro”. It was a CIA operation which involved infiltrating “dissident” organizations to spread what we’d now describe as “FUD” — “Fear, uncertainty, and doubt”.
We all know — or at least suspect — that various trolls defending the corporations actions (you know who you are) infest the various p2p-related boards to spew pro-corporate crap and intentionally “misunderstand” our position. But I’m really coming to the conclusion that the REAL threat comes from supposedly “well-meaning” types like EM558 and others, who add nothing to the debate by cynicism and defeatist thinking.
The pattern goes like this:
1. Overstate your opponent’s power at every turn. (”Ooh, I just KNEW the big evil MAFIAA megacorps were gonna win this one!” etc. etc.)
2. Downplay your side’s power at every turn (”What can WE do against a bunch of megacorps and their government goons”, etc etc.)
3. When confronted with evidence that their “win” isn’t as solid or meaningful as portrayed, discount it.
I’m not trying to flame anybody here, but to claim that Big Media is “winning” is a real stretch:
Sure they’ve managed to score a few “hits”, even some high-profile stuff, but in the process they:
A. Pissed a whole generation of people off.
B. Turned copyright (and by extension “intellectual property” itself) into a laughing-stock.
C. Demonstrated conclusively that whatever our economic system IS, corporate capitalism is NOT a “free” market, and they don’t want it to be.
Now, let’s look at the few “wins” they’ve managed to score:
Jammie Thomas: overturned at appeal, so now it gets to grind through the system all over again
That’s out of how many thousands of harassment suits, in the U.S. (the jurisdiction which is MOST favorable to their bullshit), and they’ve only been able to score 1 decisive “win”, which was then over-ruled.
Remember when the RIAA types televised a bunch of teenagers during that award show, having the teens download stuff? I’m really starting to think that their NEW tactic is to have “sincere”-sounding folks post defeatism like the above simply to demoralize us, and get us to over-estimate the threat.
You’re frustrated and think they’re “winning?” You think p2p advocates/corporate watchdogs/grassroots activists don’t stand a chance because the opposition is “too powerful?” Drop out, now.
Because that’s what your defeatist nonsense can ever accomplish.
To put it bluntly, we can’t AFFORD defeatism, because let’s be honest: ALL OUR OPPONENTS HAVE is their cronies in government and a hell of a lot of misinformation. Let’s notgive them the satisfaction of cowering, okay?
TPB is still there, the verdict isn’t even anywhere close to final (and this could take years, as Sunde said) to BECOME final.
“Winning?” Pffffffgh, yeah sure.
(Just like they “won” on the Napster thing, but had to keep their shitty lobotomize corporate knockoff using the same logo.)
But hey, keep sewing seed of FUD, because we all know the best way to win is through defeatist attitude.
Cheers
(Jon: why the cut-and-paste response to both me and 558?)
April 17th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
I know that this verdict means nothing in the long run for file sharing, but saying that we’re fine because we can always dodge the anti-pirates is an incorrect and slightly selfish attitude. The movement for copyright reform (or some sort of shift away from Big Content) depends on the critical mass of the average not-too-aware file-sharer. People like us may dislike freetards, but their sheer number puts weight in the political aspect of file sharing. We need them, and if file-sharing is driven underground, we will lose that mass as they are not technically adept enough to keep up.
Arguing that “everyone is doing it therefor it is right” may be an argumentum ad populum, but if it becomes a socially accepted standard, then laws will simply change by themselves as newer generations take the helm of countries.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Dandin1:
First, I don’t believe in “Freetards”: that’s a straw-man created by Big Media, specifically as a way to undercut anybody who would urge for copyright reform, or suchlike.
I mean, think about it: if “Freetards” are such an evil thing, then how exactly is advocacy of the public domain any different? I mean, at base “all” Big Media wants is for people to “pay for stuff” — THEIR price, for as long as possible.
That’s why they spend so much time propagandizing people about the “sacred right” to perpetual copyright monopoly.
The public domain, on principle, pisses them off, because it’s use of “content” that they can’t monetize, and make no mistake, the ability to monetize is what every step of their bullshit is about.
So the first step is to realize that copyfight etc. isn’t all that different from the “freetards” we’re supposed to all dislike.
let’s say copy”right” terms were reduced to something more reasonable (like say, the original 11 years). That’d still leave “content creators” (or more realistically, the distributors) a decade during which they could gouge the hell ouf of everybody to their heart’s content, but Y’know what? They wouldn’t be able to monopolize content past that point, so tremendous amounts of “content” would be ‘legally’ available inexpensively, or even gratis (for free).
Think of it: a vast (and genuinely vibrant) sea of culture and art that didn’t depend on bribing some perpetual “gate-keeper” for it’s use. Oh heaven forfend!
Make no mistake, according to Big Media, we’re ALL “freetards”, based not on whether we download or share files or whatever, but simply because of our belief that there SHOULD BE areas of culture outside of their gouging. They hate the public domain, and they NEVER intend to have anything enter it again (hence the perpetual increase of term-limits, and the fact that they retroactively prevent stuff from expiring on time, etc.)
April 17th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
@ Henry, well said…twice!!
@ Ryan, looks like someone else beat me to the clarification you needed
If youve been around here long enuff youve seen surfer use “stw”
I kinda borrowed it from him……hope he didnt mind!!!
“… and for the record, I meant the industry regularly gets screwed by those horses ”
thats a right visual there mate!!
stw
April 17th, 2009 at 11:47 pm
@ surfer,
“coming soon, an article on vpn. suggested reasoning is not just to cover your file sharing habits, but it has more corporate applications, and can’t be banned.
like many have said before me. the more you push back on ‘pirates’ the more innovation gets implemented”
I’m looking forward to that article, ive read a little, but love to learn the how it works stuff
stw
April 18th, 2009 at 5:12 am
Well my wife just ate this up. She can’t stand how the USA gets away with pushing other countries around . Making them break there own Laws etc. Like that “DOG the bounty Hunter” . It was clear he felt “I’m American they can’t stop me and their laws mean nothing”. Just a couple of them but we know there is a lot more of it. Hell the RIAA losses cases but still doesn’t care and still (illegally) threatens the US people and get away with it . The USA can’t control them so as we see neither can any body else. I have no doubt if the Mexican bounty hunter did that to the USA , he’d be fried . no doubt at all, do you. I doubt that
. What contry can go into the USA and confiscate a computer with out a legal paper to do so. If that happened again in the USA we know they would get fried(punished) for it . Well RIAA is above all law as we see .
Fact is too and an obvious one. That according to why they were guilty. then ISP,Google,Yaho and every search engine should be shut down and fined because they all are doing the same thing . They are providing us all with the means to download illegal content and they don’t have to have it on there servers. hell type in your favorite movie and with it type torrent.
I agree with that lawyer and if they still don’t drop it then I will start something up to charge google ,isp’s and all the usernet that are payed and do hold the content on them.
April 18th, 2009 at 6:22 am
using ’stw’ is in fact, by definition, just fine with me.
its a philosophy, and not covered by copyright, feel free to share the wealth.
April 18th, 2009 at 6:24 am
@ surfer lacks a law degree but is good with acronyms.
nope, and english is my second language so go easy on me
April 18th, 2009 at 8:38 am
one thing that is good to understand: the courts, and moreso as you go to the higher levels, — have very little respect for law as enacted by legislators. Courts generally require a law to be tested and a precedent established so they can determine how to rule. This is known is law as the principle of stare decisis: when the material facts in a case are the same as those in a case settled by a higher court in the same line of jurisdiction then the outcome must be the same.
recently badass ginsberg declared even foreign law can be used to establish precedent in our country so you can see how anal these people get with this. it’s called “judicial activism” : the precedents and ruling of the court are actually used to re-make the law. legal or otherwise it is how the law is enforced. and those guys do have the big club
the next step in the process for TPB will be the appeal. If the courts are indeed using this to establish a precedent then the appeal willl be granted and the outcome will be the same and the precedent will be established in law. right or wrong they will enforce it in accordance with the precedent
April 18th, 2009 at 10:48 am
I don’t think this is about “the courts” using anything to do anything.
Rather, I’m pretty sure it’s about “the courts” being manipulated by corporate interests. Important distinction.
Why? “Higher” courts don’t inevitably side with lower courts. Could be that “the courts” are going to use the appeal cycle to bitch-slap American Imperialism by basically spitting in the corporate lobbyists’ faces.
Also, as far as “foreign law” and Ginsburg and whatever else, what about the various jurisdictions like Spain where filesharing itself is legal, so they have to do stuff like bust the guy because the site had ads? The “foreign law” thing cuts both ways, and everybody knows it.
But really, the megacorps attempted to rig things from the start, in regard to copyright law.
Look at any site advocating copyright reform/strengthening of the public domain, and you’ll probably come across some blather to the effect that the U.S. can’t enact substantive changes because of “International treaties”. Hmmm…..who do you think lobbied for those “treaties?” I wonder. (Scratch head, roll eyes, smirk devilishly.)
Looking at this from a slightly longer view, a different — and altogether more optimistic — picture emerges:
1. The p2p thing is global, which is why the MAFIAA have to keep doing what amount to piddly little trials (and trust me, in the grand scheme of things, trying four guys is piddly). Further, they have to contend with the fact that it’s simply not going there way in a lot of jurisdictions — cases tossed out, cases snared in weird technicalities, etc etc.
2. Thanks to our former chimp-in-chief Dubya, the rest of the world (justifiably) hates America’s guts, and regards the U.S.A as some kind of gun-totin’, swaggering, waterboarding, habeas-corpus-violatig, imperial juggernaut. To put it bluntly, various national governments don’t want to look like they’re cozying up to America, with good reason.
Now, I’m from the U.S.A., but unlike a lot of others who’d rather engage in mindless flagwaving and “supporting” whatever the State happens to do, I actually think about stuff. I know when “my” country is wrong. The rest of the world does, too.
Who pushed through the de-regulation, “Free trade” agreements and other crap that seriously damaged the world economy?
(Hint: which country had a presidential run where “socialist” was used as a slur?)
Which nation has also been jackbooting everything in it’s path for the past eight years?
So, basically, the rest of the world isn’t particularly happy with how the Imperial Capital (”worlds only superpower”) has been treating “the provinces”. It’s not altogether unlikely that the rest of the world will take this — or other — opportunities to tell U.S.-backed lobbying groups what they can go do with themselves.
Right now, there’s a “perfect storm” aspect to this that nobody seems to be mentioning:
1. The p2p thing demonstrates just exactly how the corporate megaliths feel about ‘innovation’ and such.
2. A significant proportion of very smart people have finally realized that IP laws have been bought and sold, and everybody else is getting shafted as a result.
3. The country that is MOST friendly with the corporate giants is ALSO the least popular country on the entire planet due to a series of really questionable political/military adventures (Yay team!)
4. World culture isn’t particularly “pro-corporate” right now (due to the fact that our Corporate overlords’ quest for short-term profitability now threatens to wreck world civilization etc.)
Just sayin’.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
How this stops piracy I have no idea. The idea that file swapping will end with the decline of P2P is preposterous. better digital rips can be quite easily taken from original, rented media and swapped, just as cassettes were for decades. Do we now go for the termination of Rental stores? Or is this a way to slow down the speed of transfer. I hear people are grouping together and buying ONE orignal and making themselves a copy each cos its better quality than even divx downloads. Total cost to the individuals concerned? 20 cents a copy. Work it that way and its cheaper than having an Internet connection in the first place. All this will do is alienate the people against the media corps and Internet Providers, who will see a dramatic fall in clients wanting their services should they let themselves be bullied into a policing roll. Good luck corps and goodbye trust in ISP’s forever…
April 18th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I think we are going to see some tech savvy people in the EU board soon. ABOUT DAMN TIME TOO! They seem to be made up of the most computer illiterate people on the earth. The speed tech is moving these days it’s really sad that the ones deciding our laws have the same mindset against tech as the christian’s had against Gallieleios theory on our galaxy. “I don’t understand it therefore it must be bad”