Anti-Piracy Lobby Urges Sweden To Take Down The Pirate Bay
Written by Ernesto on November 20, 2007Several anti-piracy lobbyist organizations have joined forces in urging the Swedish authorities to take “swift and decisive action” against The Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay laughed away this attempt, and assures its users that they are not doing anything illegal according to Swedish law.
Unlike less democratic countries, Sweden is not too keen on lobbyists who try to manipulate the actions of their government, something the MPAA did last year. Directly influencing Swedish authorities to intervene in this specific case, is considered illegal in Sweden (the term is “minister rule”).
The letter is signed by several copyright protection organizations, and was sent to the Swedish minister of communications. Noticeably upset they write: “We believe that, given the Pirate Bay’s cult popularity, this is a key opportunity for one country to educate the global internet community about the need for respect of copyright and the importance of intellectual property.”
Brokep from The Pirate Bay responded to this letter on his blog writing:”They seem to think that TPB is actually illegal and are very concerned about this! But I can reassure you, the site is not illegal so there’s no reason to be alarmed. It’s recognized worldwide as legal and helpful for the normal people around the globe that have something to share with each other. And we all do want to share!”
One of the people who signed the letter to the Swedish government is John Kennedy, Chairman of the IFPI. The IFPI is also fighting with The Pirate Bay over the IFPI.com domain name which the IFPI forgot to renew – and there’s more. Last month we revealed a leaked email where the IFPI planned to request confidential information from the Swedish police on an ongoing investigation into The Pirate Bay.
Update: CGB Spender wrote a letter people can send to the Swedish minister of communications to show their support for The Pirate Bay.
Previously: Finnish FBI Raids Warez Topsites Following MPA, IFPI and BSA Investigation
Next: MediaDefender Leaks Cost The Company $825,000
64 Responses
lol xD..
As they are doing legal stuff there they can’t shut it down :)
Well, taking down The Pirate Bay is out of the question since they don’t break any of our laws and because more than half of the population support TPB. :P
they need put servers on venezuela! haha the most anti imperialist country of the world haha
I find it interesting that they go after torrent sites that don’t host material. They don’t seem to have an issue with sites like Sendspace or others that /do/ host the material…
That’s because from torrents they make 0$, but from sites like rapidshare and other sharing sites, there is income to be generated (paid accounts, etc etc)
That’s why you see them going after torrent indexing sites (torrentspy, mininova, newtorrents) and sites with trackers (TPB, demonoid, etc).
The fact is, just because some torrents might infringe on copyrights, not all torrents do. I get all my linux distros LEGALLY from torrents.
Some people might like to take used plastic bags from the store and suffocate people with them, does that mean we must ban all plastic bags and arrest anyone merely in possesion of said bags?
Hell no.
This bogus copyright war is the same as the bogus war on drugs, the kingpins and suppliers and the ones making money are left almost completely alone. They instead bust the small time guys and users.
Why?
Simple. If you actually busted all the top scene groups and completely dismantled the scene, why would you get anymore funding to continue to fight the drug war, or copyright war?
It’s a self-sustaining cycle. The mpaa and other bastards NEED the scene, because it gives them a reason to be, and money in their pockets. If they actually cut it off at the head, they’d be out of a job.
Same with the companies that specialize in corrupting torrents and posting fake ones, if the problem was solved, they’d be out of business.
If you wanna bust torrent sites you better bust google and every other search engine, for a few reasons :
1. almost all search engines will return direct links to torrents if you search correctly.
2. since torrent indexing sites (sites without trackers) are “breaking the law” by providing access to copyright material, so are any search engines and they will return the sites in question , and like I said actual direct links to torrents in most cases.
Better also sue all the ISPs as they are facilitating the breaking of copyrights as the material is dispersed via their network (the internet).
Oh and don;t forget all the major hardware/software vendors aswell, without their hardware and software we couldn’t possibly break copyright laws.
It’s nice to see that someone can be convicted of manslaughter and get off with 2 years on jail and probation, while a very hardened and dangerous movie pirate can do 10 years for uploading a movie online before it’s official release.
It’s nice to see US politicians and law makers quoted as saying they should stop going after violent offenders and robbers, instead going after movie pirates.
Is anyone else at a loss for words over this? The measure for the degree of criminality to any given act is now how much money a corporation lost or says they lost?
Is uploading/downloading a movie that much worse than rape? Because if I’m convicted of rape, I will be better off than a copyright infringement record in today’s world.
They will never beat the pirate bay, simply can’t happen. They can try, maybe even force them to move the servers, but in the end, this sharing community will flourish.
Someone who I can properly quote said the scene, and torrents specifically, are like a Hydra.
You can cut off 1 head, and 2 grow in to replace it, there is no winning, only dignified losing. They fat bastards need to get with the times and stop trying to save a dying medium, it’s over, this is the digital age, get with it or take your seat beside the BetaMax VCR you all probably own.
I wish I was swedish!
get with the times and stop trying to save a dying medium, it’s over, this is the digital age, get with it or take your seat beside the BetaMax VCR you all probably own.
best statment so far
Just another scare tactics used to install fear in the unsuspecting sharer. Just a bunch of losers trying to discourage sharing. Sharing will never die. Sharing is freedom everyone loves freedom. They want to enslave everyone don’t let them. They have pissed me off so much I’m gonna share like there’s no tomorrow. Everyone upload whatever you have and make the torrent community bigger then it ever was before. If you’re not downloading, leave it on so others can leech off ya. p2p forever… sharing = virtue.
BIRTH OF THE NATION OF PIRATE PRIDE
http://swartz.typepad.com/texplorer/2007/11/pirate-bay-shou.html
I hope they’ll get aids.
Agree with swe… bitches have it comming!
I love the Pirate Bay’s response. “We received a very prestigious award”…
If this were the US they could just bribe the government and they’d be shut down. Oh sorry did i say bribe? I meant ‘lobby’…
Sweeden > US
mad props @PhishyBongwaters for the longest comment ever
sry santa my bad, my normal venting forum is down atm so I decided to force you cats to read my endless diatribe ;)
Been reading here so long might aswell contribute in the comments ;)
[quote comment="219297"]mad props @PhishyBongwaters for the longest comment ever[/quote]
ive seen longer lol
Coporate America is force behind all the takedowns. Demonoid, OINK…you see, Looking at eternity, we don’t matter as much as we thought we ought to…Coporate america only cares about their most precious, their Coporate cashflow. P2P is perceived as a threat. Their goal is to takedown every P2P site. I can only imagine a coporate lackey cracking a whip with a set timetable to destroy all major P2P sites. And they are doing quite well aren’t they? the MPAA and RIAA lobby the US congress endlessly, making HUGE campaign contributuions to criminize and Demonize P2P. Since the United States’s ultimate goal is Coporate world domination to imperialize the globe for American financial interests, none of this should come as a surprize. And the Police force will mindlessly enforce it all, becuase they now serve coporate interests, not the public welfare anymore. We are all now labeled from birth as thieves, shifless peons, a threat to the cashflow of Coporate America. I guarantee every person reading this that every Senator in America is bought and paid for. It no longer matters who votes in elections as they are now staged by Coporate America. Strong compelling evidence in video and print (google it, careful BIG Brother really is watching) that George W. Bush did not win the last two presidential elections. P2P represents something they despise, Freedom baby! And if you’re free they can’t profit from you. Solution? Seek and destroy.
Freedom = taking something that belongs to someone else without giving a shit about them. Both the pirates do it and the labels.
The Pirate Bay laughed away this attempt, and assures its users that they are not doing anything illegal according to Swedish law.
Could it be?? Is Sweden the ONLY true democracy in the entire world?
Nah.. ? really? nah.. can’t be can it?
Kinda out of context but as they stated in “Steal this film – part 1″. The media-companies freaked out when the first tape-recorders were invented, and they were like “omg, now people can just copy our music off the radio without paying for it and such..”, then cam the vhs, and now the dvd-recorder…and you know what? There’s still money in movie-making! Even though people download everything they can (and/or like) they’ll still pay for some of it.
I’m not a big spender when it comes to cds or dvds (and never have been), but even though I download like crazy whenever I’m online I still spend the same amount on music and movies as I did back then, I’d even say it has grown a bit..And I pay more visits to the cinemas than ever.
The media companies should stop whining. They’ll make their money, even though the pirate-world has grown larger.. If they would only put down the prices a bit, I’d go crazy on dvd-shopping.. There’s nothing better than looking at a huge shelf full of good titles…
And some things just don’t feel good downloading… Fx, a tv-show that I really love is Scrubs, and even though the seasons, on dvd, are way behind the ones in tv (or on the net), I still can’t get myself to download the new seasons.. I sit and wait like a sheep outside the stores ’till the new seasons come out. And that’s not because I wanna support the makers of the show or anything..
I just want the whole collection standing on the shelf.. It looks nice :P
Anyway.. Lotta gibberish, have a good night! …and don’t let the mpaabugs bite.
Man.. I want to move to Sweden, not for piracy, but just for the shear power of the people!
This is what democracy should ba all about.
Any Swedish people want to guide me on how to immigrate?
swedish chicks are nice :)
the ipfi forgot to register there domain and the TPB stole it, rofl of a century
I love the Pirate Bay for what they are doing, and to the Swedish people, you guys are to be commended for being the ones to take up new ways of free thinking and opening up.
This is the way of true freedom. The world should take note of the Swedes and look back at the oppression that the U.S.A stands for.
Americans are idiots, they try to rule the world any way the can think off. P2P, Music iraq, oil….. etc.
the good thing is, the are to dumd to get were there going….
P2P is here to stay…sorry.
Iraq…the US is there to stay.
and oil will be sold in euro’s
Good luck with your economy the next 10 years…
Firstly, the IFPI has no grounds to take IFPI.com, because the pirate bay guys aren’t doing anything with it that would warrant such. If they had a IFPI mirror type site only used against them, there might be grounds. But this is a site about pirates. Who doesn’t love pirates?
Secondly, my family is almost dirt broke from our REAL problems. What does the RIAA want us to do? Sell our house to buy music? Fat chance.
To quote a song I recently pirated, “It is still we… the people… right?”, if anyone can name the song, bonus points. However, no. It’s not we the people. It’s we the industry with the money.
The level of corruption is amazing. You can bet that the MAFIAA is paying top dollar to hackers, governments, and otherwise to stop us, but they still fail to realize that if you take out one, a hundred spring up to replace it.
Case in point: BOiNK and Waffles.cd.
If the pirate bay was taken down for good tomorrow, I think it fair to say that there would be a ton of indexing sites that would spring up to replace them.
That’s where the industry fails.
You take out one, more and more keep coming. The pirate bay itself is doing nothing more illegal than google (site:megaupload.com Metallica brings up a few results I enjoy).
The MAFIAA doesn’t scare me. They can sue me out of house and home, but even so I’ll just keep downloading and probably start distributing.
It’s soundwaves. It’s dumb to try to copyright something that doesn’t actually exist anyway. Why not copyright those broadcast signals shot into outerspace since the dawn of radio and sue the aliens?
Exactly: that’s stupid.
However, so is this. Every time they do something like this, more people start pirating in various ways, be it p2p like soulseek or just torrenting, but people don’t want scum like the MAFIAA to rule the world and their lives.
We’re not afraid, guys. You’re only destroying yourself, and need to realize it.
My 3100 songs would cost 2.25 million dollars at a $750 minimum per song, and at the $9250 charged elsewhere recently, 27 million dollars.
You’re crazy if you think I’m going to pay any of that. I’d rather do a year of jailtime and then immediately thereafter hit the pirate bay for some download-distribute fun!
Again, we’re not afraid.
hahaha i doubt that theyre gonna be able to take that site down since its legal to do that in sweden
[quote comment="219125"]they need put servers on venezuela! haha the most anti imperialist country of the world haha[/quote]
LOL! You’re right!
Does anyone knwo how you can become a V.I.P on TPB? Like, access to the vip tracker and the like?
How The Hell do you becaome a vip or get access to the vip tracker on The PIrate Bay?
I have been trying 2 find out for days.
Would that letter be worth sending?
http://torrentfreak.com//images/tpb.doc
I want to send my support to the Swedes also.
The Pirate Bay has just crashed.
@ Breaking news
The only crash is in your head…freak…Thepiratebay is fine…Have a nice day
[quote comment="219644"]Americans are idiots, they try to rule the world any way the can think off. P2P, Music iraq, oil….. etc.
[/quote]
Very broad, and wrong, generalization. The american people, at least the majority of them, do not support any of their government’s recent actions.
The government is run by the corporations, direct your anger and hatred at the corporations, banks, and government, do not missplace it onto the american people.
you can access TPB, however there are NO torrents listed whatsoever…….
Where the hell am I gonna get stolen software now!!!
@35
But the government(selected by the people) is there to SERVE the PEOPLE, not the other way around, thats how democracy works, in its real definition
right now US is as close to a real democracy(ancient greece), as communist china to karl marx’s definition of socialism(witch would rock btw if exicuted properly
TPB works fine.
If u interesting in downloading by torrent client and u looking for good invite from good web site go through this link http://tracker-invites.org/index.php?referredby=2546 and make registry and have invite and trade invite also good luck
Wow, and here I didn’t think anything special of my Swedish ancestry. Go Sweden!
This is hilarious: IFPI is warning its members not to send any mails to ifpi.com, but one of the recipients is at ifpi.com ==> leaked email at
http://www.pastebin.ca/792493
shouldn’t these MPIAA or whatever morons concentrate more on getting the actual piratebay site banned in their country???? i mean, that is where THEIR law comes into play.
[quote comment="219762"]How The Hell do you becaome a vip or get access to the vip tracker on The PIrate Bay?
I have been trying 2 find out for days.[/quote]
Why do you want to know? As far as I know they don’t have one.
well…I don’t think in near future
that pirates will be going down.
Its just like Youtube which also hosts some pirated or inappropriate videos and to some extent Google also.
But lets see and wait…!!!
I agree 100% with PhishyBongwaters (response #5). I could not have said things better myself. So true!
LoL this whole thing is a pissing competition now. “The Industry” Vs. “The Pirates”. Heres the best part, the pirates seem to be having fun and getting free help all around the net. Yet the industry is forking over millions and spending years of time, manpower, resources, etc, etc, to stop 1 site here and there. Do they account financial losses blamed on pirates to the millions they are paying these “anti-agencies”? Its funny when you hear ppl on TV let slip that they burned a movie for a friend, or vice versa. Why dont they go rushing that persons home for openly admitting they pirate movies on world-wide television? As i said, its a giant pissing match. I just hope i dont get wet ;)
good writing
PhishyBongwaters and LOLWUT
pirates for the fkn win !!!
Sweden rules: it’s #1 democracy of the world!
You have our full support!!!
Btw, everybody: please support the FSF legal found against the majors bullying!
Also get familiar with EFF.org, you never know when you might need one of their piracy lawyers ;)
I wish i owned the moon
@38
Yes, exactly, so directing the anger at the people is pointless as it’s clear they are no longer at the wheel and haven’t been for awhile now.
No point in making this political, but it’s too easy to paint all americans with the same brush thanks to Bush, but it’s far from reality.
Bush was NOT elected, in either election. Any anger directed at the population should be over the fact that they’ve allowed this to happen and are doing next to nothing to reverse it.
But rweally it should show you where the US is really at. World terrorism, genocide, wars raging everywhere, and what have they spent their time and money fighting?
Piracy.
gl with your economy as well…its a global economy so what affects USA, Japan, etc affects Europe as well.
[quote comment="219644"]Americans are idiots, they try to rule the world any way the can think off. P2P, Music iraq, oil….. etc.
the good thing is, the are to dumd to get were there going….
P2P is here to stay…sorry.
Iraq…the US is there to stay.
and oil will be sold in euro’s
Good luck with your economy the next 10 years…[/quote]
I just have to point this out, normally I wouldn’t, but it’s rather enlightening :
[quote]“They try to rule the world any way the can think off.”
the good thing is, the are to dumd to get were there going….
[/quote]
This is how that should read, if you are literate :
They try to rule the world any way ‘THEY’ can think ‘OF’
the good thing is, ‘THEY’ are ‘TOO’ ‘DUMB’ to get ‘WHERE’ ‘THEY’RE’ going
If you are going to call an entire country of people dumb, or dumd, maybe learn to read and write at a first grade level first.
Yes, Sweden is a good country in alot of ways, but the shit is coming to us too… we are being watched, the trafic is being monitored in case of “terrorist attack”-bullshit :-/ Don’t worry USA, we are coming!
The world needs a revolution.
[quote comment="220300"]gl with your economy as well…its a global economy so what affects USA, Japan, etc affects Europe as well.[/quote] Of course a broken US economy affects Europe. But it does not mean it will harm Europe! If the dollar weakens, the Euro rises. That could hurt our exports, but it gives us more purchasing power… It’s a global economy, but the US is not the only market.
I’ve lost all respect for the US gov.
its nothing then a corporation govern government based on greed
you had respect for the US government?
The pirate bay are only in it for the money, same as the MPAA/RIAA. The only difference is that the US has a government that people listen to
@59: Last I checked the Pirate Bay isn’t trying to sue an entire country into bankruptcy and force law on other countries where those laws don’t apply. We are talking about a company who want it to be more illegal to share one file on the internet then mass-murder.
Sure there is money in advertising. Don’t like it, use ad blocker. The difference is TPB is standing up for the freedom of people, the MP/RIAA are out to limit freedom for the sake of the bottom line. If TPB makes some money from it, they deserve it, regardless of their true motives.
[quote comment="220243"]I wish i owned the moon[/quote]
if you looked at the “laws” collectivly agreed apon by the UN, noone can “own” anything beyond earth, nobody can own the moon, mars, pluto, or an asteroid, and everyone is supposed to help each other out there, care and share and all that fun loving stuff.
i wish we could collonize mars allready……
[quote comment="219151"]That’s because from torrents they make 0$, but from sites like rapidshare and other sharing sites, there is income to be generated (paid accounts, etc etc)
That’s why you see them going after torrent indexing sites (torrentspy, mininova, newtorrents) and sites with trackers (TPB, demonoid, etc).
The fact is, just because some torrents might infringe on copyrights, not all torrents do. I get all my linux distros LEGALLY from torrents.
Some people might like to take used plastic bags from the store and suffocate people with them, does that mean we must ban all plastic bags and arrest anyone merely in possesion of said bags?
Hell no.
This bogus copyright war is the same as the bogus war on drugs, the kingpins and suppliers and the ones making money are left almost completely alone. They instead bust the small time guys and users.
Why?
Simple. If you actually busted all the top scene groups and completely dismantled the scene, why would you get anymore funding to continue to fight the drug war, or copyright war?
It’s a self-sustaining cycle. The mpaa and other bastards NEED the scene, because it gives them a reason to be, and money in their pockets. If they actually cut it off at the head, they’d be out of a job.
Same with the companies that specialize in corrupting torrents and posting fake ones, if the problem was solved, they’d be out of business.
If you wanna bust torrent sites you better bust google and every other search engine, for a few reasons :
1. almost all search engines will return direct links to torrents if you search correctly.
2. since torrent indexing sites (sites without trackers) are “breaking the law” by providing access to copyright material, so are any search engines and they will return the sites in question , and like I said actual direct links to torrents in most cases.
Better also sue all the ISPs as they are facilitating the breaking of copyrights as the material is dispersed via their network (the internet).
Oh and don;t forget all the major hardware/software vendors aswell, without their hardware and software we couldn’t possibly break copyright laws.
It’s nice to see that someone can be convicted of manslaughter and get off with 2 years on jail and probation, while a very hardened and dangerous movie pirate can do 10 years for uploading a movie online before it’s official release.
It’s nice to see US politicians and law makers quoted as saying they should stop going after violent offenders and robbers, instead going after movie pirates.
Is anyone else at a loss for words over this? The measure for the degree of criminality to any given act is now how much money a corporation lost or says they lost?
Is uploading/downloading a movie that much worse than rape? Because if I’m convicted of rape, I will be better off than a copyright infringement record in today’s world.
They will never beat the pirate bay, simply can’t happen. They can try, maybe even force them to move the servers, but in the end, this sharing community will flourish.
Someone who I can properly quote said the scene, and torrents specifically, are like a Hydra.
You can cut off 1 head, and 2 grow in to replace it, there is no winning, only dignified losing. They fat bastards need to get with the times and stop trying to save a dying medium, it’s over, this is the digital age, get with it or take your seat beside the BetaMax VCR you all probably own.[/quote]
QFT
The Point is, TPB isnt out there for profit, the advertising is needed cos people cant live on air. I would by far rather have TPB up and running smoothly with advertising than not have it at all cos the guys running it had to give it up to make money to survive. The amount they are making is negligible compared to the amount the corporations are spending trying to shut it (and other sites like it) down.
There are some shows I would never have watched if it werent for torrents and now will quite happily go and buy on dvd when I have the money because a friend brought it to my attention via a torrent site, for example Firefly is awesome.
Same with movies, even if i know i can get a torrent of a new movie before its out, if it looks good id still rather see it at the cinema than download it straight away. The truth is the companies know that piracy can be helpful in advertising and promoting they’r product, thats why they go for the middle men – the torrent sites rather than the hosting sites – if they take down the hosting site the product loses some of its promotion. this way they can hold up they’r hands and say we’r fighting piracy while actually using it to promote themselves! the truth is the corporations are money hungry institutions wanting to make millions of profit, on products which cost barely anything to produce in comparison.
Before VHS/DVDs became cheap to make the money for production was made up from advertising and license fees. How come companies which have more advertising than at any time since tv became widely available, plus costing a monthly fee, still complains when someone copies the software onto their own hard drives? The majority of the cost for dvds goes into the packaging and the promotion, the actual dvd itself costs very little, and people downloading software arent getting the packaging and are still acknowledging the creator of the information. So how much are the companies really losing out on i ask you?
Long Live The Pirate Bay!!!
ok, rant over now. Pheww sorry about the length, guess iv been needing to get all that out for a while! lol
They will never bring TPB down. That’s a fact.
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