The pirate bay

Hirmuinen · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 3:38 am Post subject:

Now it's being told that the judge who worked on this court case is high member of swedish copyright law enforcement and that he also belongs to group that speaks/drives for stronger copyright protection.

English version(a pretty bad version Laughing

)

Edit. http://techdirt.com/articles/20090422/2213024614.shtml

Quote:

Apparently, he's a member of a few organizations that work towards strengthening copyright laws, and even holds a board position in one of those organizations. The lawyers representing the entertainment industry also belonged to one of the pro-copyright organizations in which the judge is a member. Experts quoted in the article note that this is highly irregular, and the judge should have recused himself for conflict of interest. The judge, of course, claims that he doesn't believe he was biased at all, but others note that any hint of bias is a problem in such a legal case

And the political party grows.

Party leader Rick Falkvinge told BBC News that "in terms of membership it is now the fourth largest party in Sweden".
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Stealth · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:02 am Post subject:

There's a bunch of variables here like if they allowed users to upload the torrents to their servers, if they were deleting copyrighted ones, etc.

Theoretically, if it's on their servers, is illegal and it's being downloaded even though they didn't put it there, they're at fault. They have a hosted file on their machine, they may or may not know is illegal. It'd be like getting caught with a bag of pot that you found under your chair 3 mins ago except in this case, you wouldn't know you had the pot at all.

However, if they just have a way for you to connect to another peer who happens to have the file in say like Bearshare, then they haven't hosted anything.

So, I think these guys got caught in a loophole.

As for my actual opinion, I don't really have one. To pirate or no pirate, I don't know. Too many pros and cons that they cancel each other out.

I guess I support companies to sue site that pirate because it can hinder pirating *a very small fraction.* Some people know that if it's illegal, they just won't do it. So if they don't make an effort, then people won't think anything of it.

However, I do support pirating. Some people just cannot afford some of the outrageous prices that won't be lowered for another 4 years.
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Motherfucking Triangles! Being all three sided n' shit, who do they think they are?!

Hirmuinen · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:34 pm Post subject:

Stealth wrote:

There's a bunch of variables here like if they allowed users to upload the torrents to their servers, if they were deleting copyrighted ones, etc.

Theoretically, if it's on their servers, is illegal and it's being downloaded even though they didn't put it there, they're at fault. They have a hosted file on their machine, they may or may not know is illegal. It'd be like getting caught with a bag of pot that you found under your chair 3 mins ago except in this case, you wouldn't know you had the pot at all.

However, if they just have a way for you to connect to another peer who happens to have the file in say like Bearshare, then they haven't hosted anything.

Pirate bay just index the torrents and don't host any file at all. Everything is being done by the users. This is the reason why site like this can still stay up, because it really doesn't do anything illegal. The illegal part is being done by the users.

Other torrent sites have been closed down because they have hosted and contributed to the downloading/uploading these files.
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Stealth · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:58 pm Post subject:

Right.

They host a file that allows you to connect to a peer to get the file you need. Not really hosting the file itself.

But since they host an actual file to be downloaded that allows you to connect to a peer to get the illegal file, that's very hazy.

Bearshare got sued a while back ago for doing the same thing and what they did was instead of hosting a file, they connected you directly to the peer. So it's entirely the peer's fault.

And it sounds like the law used that as a loophole. Kinda sucks though.
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Motherfucking Triangles! Being all three sided n' shit, who do they think they are?!

Hirmuinen · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 3:43 pm Post subject:

Stealth wrote:

Right.

They host a file that allows you to connect to a peer to get the file you need. Not really hosting the file itself.

But since they host an actual file to be downloaded that allows you to connect to a peer to get the illegal file, that's very hazy.

Bearshare got sued a while back ago for doing the same thing and what they did was instead of hosting a file, they connected you directly to the peer. So it's entirely the peer's fault.

And it sounds like the law used that as a loophole. Kinda sucks though.

It is really bizarre, because morally you can convict them, but as a law goes you can't. And it doesn't help that this whole case is so(from the start) biased, from the judge to changing the conviction in middle of the trial. And Pirate bay is using a loophole, but this conviction was corrupted and no way a fair trial. These corporations can do their "justice" over the laws.

What I'm glad about Pirate bay's action and on this trial, is that this has brought the whole copyright/patent discussion on the table again. From last few years it has been completely corporations party and users/customers have been left with worse rights(DRM on games/music, bad service, youtube videos are removed because they contain really small part of movie/music, high prices that are kept high withouth any justification, copyrights have been lobbied to last much longer than were planned on beginning, civil rights are breached, useless taxes just to copy your legally bought cd to computer in all medias you buy, can't improve the medicine and make it cheaper because someone holds the patent for it...).
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Vlad Piranha · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:09 pm Post subject:

Copy protection on my CDs is a side effect of piracy that I don't appreciate. Aliens vs. Predator 2 is on my top ten list of games and my original disc has a deep enough scratch that I can't install it on faster drives now. I legally install it with my CD key and ISOs. Max Payne is also on my top ten and I have no option for protecting it by backing it up. The day it becomes too scratched to work, I'll be unable to play it ever again. I just pray that the internet has tons of copies for sale for the next ten years.

I do have one provocative opinion on copying software. If someone bought an album on vinyl or cassette, I think they're entitled to having it on CD for free. I miss alot of the music from the early nineties that I only had on tape and never updated. I feel that I've paid the price of admission and only should have to pay a fee to get a hard copy on a different format. Does anyone else think it's unfair that we'll eventually have bought our favorite movies three times just to keep up with technology?

RK-Mara · Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 1:03 am Post subject:

Hirmuinen wrote:

Pirate bay just index the torrents and don't host any file at all. Everything is being done by the users. This is the reason why site like this can still stay up, because it really doesn't do anything illegal. The illegal part is being done by the users.

Yeah, with the name Piratebay and links on homepage such as TV shows and Music you can just wonder what their purpose is...
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2shoes · Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 6:59 am Post subject:

see this is the problem in the 60'-early 90's there was magnetic media and vinyl both of which degraded and record companys was just fine with us re-recording moody blues days of future past 18 thousand times because well none would exist after say 5 years now we have digital and theres zero loss so the companys are up in arms because it now is a perm copy

i personally snag albums i have purchased many times over or are just damn near immpossible to find
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...if pirates stays on bf1942 i'd hate to see the community grow even smaller, but i know i'll always be around and i hope the rest of you will too!

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fair winds and following seas, lil shoes 8/3/94-6/23/09

Hirmuinen · Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2009 8:09 am Post subject:

Pirate Bay lawyers demand retrial

Quote:

Peter Althin, who represents The Pirate Bay (TPB) spokesman Peter Sunde, said it was for the appeal courts to decide if there was to be a retrial, as it emerged the judge and lawyers for the entertainment industry were members of the copyright association.

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Hirmuinen · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:10 am Post subject:

Heres an intersting off-topic, but still moving on the same area. I have used these cheaper medicines and can't believe the greed that goes with this whole patent system.

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/04/usa_objects_to_finnish_pricing_system_for_pharmaceuticals_709524.html

Quote:

Finland took its reference price system into use in early April. Under the system, compensation for prescription drugs paid by the Social Insurance Institution KELA is made according to the cheapest generic version of the drug available. Customers wanting a more expensive name brand are required to pay the difference out of their own pockets.

The US sees the reference price system as a violation of patent rights.

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Vlad Piranha · Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:37 am Post subject:

I've never seen the problem with generic drugs. I really don't understand how people can claim a monopoly over something that helps keep some people alive in extreme cases. Imagine if John Hopkins University refused to share some of the medical breakthroughs it has made. It sounds insane in that light. Research dollars went into those techniques just the same as making a new pill. You can tell that pharmaceutical companies have nothing to do with practiced medicine. They'd need morals and ethics for that. Those goddamn ethics really make it hard to turn a buck, you know?

Hirmuinen · Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:27 pm Post subject:

Swedish Pirate Party Wins One Seat In EU Parliament

Quote:

“When the verdict was announced at 11.00am, we had 14,711 members,” said Rick Falkvinge, the party’s founder. “We tripled in a week, becoming the third-biggest party in Sweden in terms of numbers. All of a sudden we were everywhere.”

Hirmuinen wrote:

Pirate Bay lawyers demand retrial

Didn't happen.
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Hirmuinen · Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2009 3:50 pm Post subject:

Not having anything to do with Pirate bay case, but holy fuck: Court orders Jammie Thomas to pay RIAA $1.92 million for sharing 24 songs
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Erwin Rommel · Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2009 7:15 pm Post subject:

damn...

I thought that $222,000 was a lot.
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-=|CT|=-Descartes

Special Jimmy · Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:43 pm Post subject:

Wall Street Journal wrote:

STOCKHOLM (Dow Jones)--In a bid to turn file sharing into a legal business opportunity, Swedish software company Global Gaming Factory X AB (GGF.SK) said Tuesday it is acquiring file sharing web site the Pirate Bay for 60 million Swedish kronor ($7.8 million).

The move comes amid an intensifying row between Internet users looking for free and easy access to material such as movies and music, and media companies searching to defend their copyright-protected material with legal means.

The Pirate Bay, one of the world's largest file sharing sites, has more than 20 million visitors per month. In April, four men responsible for the site were sentenced to one year in prison and damages of SEK30 million for copyright violation.

"GGF intends to launch new business models that allow compensation to the content providers and copyright owners," the company said.

GGF Chief Executive Hans Pandeya told Dow Jones Newswires that his company will run The Pirate Bay as a legal business and pay content providers.

He said users will pay for the content, but will also earn some revenue from sharing their files. The Pirate Bay site will earn money from advertising, and from offering services to telecom operators, which for instance can help them transport data in a more efficient way, he added.

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-=|CT|=-Special Jimmy

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