Antigua Government Set to Launch “Pirate” Website To Punish United States

Ernesto
January 24, 2013
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antigua,
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The Government of Antigua is planning to launch a website selling movies, music and software, without paying U.S. copyright holders. The Caribbean island is taking the unprecedented step because the United States refuses to lift a trade “blockade” preventing the island from offering Internet gambling services, despite several WTO decisions in Antigua’s favor. The country now hopes to recoup some of the lost income through a WTO approved “warez” site.

antigua Antigua and Barbuda is a small country in the Caribbean that for years had a flourishing gambling industry.

A few years ago 5% of all Antiguans worked at gambling related companies. However, when the U.S. prevented the island from accessing their market the industry collapsed.

“What was once a multi-billion dollar industry in our country, employing almost 5% of our population has now shrunk to virtually nothing,” Antigua’s High Commissioner to London, Carl Roberts, said previously.

Hoping to rebuild the gambling business Antigua filed a dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO), which they won.

In 2005 the WTO ruled that the US refusal to let Antiguan gambling companies access their market violated free-trade, as domestic companies were allowed to operate freely. In 2007 the WTO went a step further and granted Antigua the right to suspend U.S. copyrights up to $21 million annually.

TorrentFreak is informed by a source close to Antigua’s Government that the country now plans to capitalize on this option. The authorities want to launch a website selling U.S. media to customers worldwide, without compensating the makers.

The plan has been in the works for several months already and Antigua is ready to proceed once they have informed the WTO about their plan. Initially the island put the topic on the WTO meeting last month, but the U.S. blocked it from being discussed by arguing that the request was “untimely.”

This month Antigua will try again, and if they succeed their media hub is expected to launch soon after.

Antigua’s attorney Mark Mendel told TorrentFreak that he can’t reveal any details on the plans. However, he emphasized that the term “piracy” doesn’t apply here as the WTO has granted Antigua the right to suspend U.S. copyrights.

“There is no body in the world that can stop us from doing this, as we already have approval from the international governing body WTO,” Mendel told us.

TorrentFreak is in the process of obtaining details of the content to be offered and the prices to be charged. One option would be to ask users for $5 a month in return for unlimited access to U.S. media.

As predicted, the suggestion to suspend U.S. copyrights is already meeting resistance from United States authorities.

“If Antigua actually proceeds with a plan for its government to authorize the theft of intellectual property, it would only serve to hurt Antigua’s own interests,” the U.S warned in a letter to the WTO last month.

According to the letter Antigua will ruin their chances of getting a settlement should they approve a site that sels U.S. copyrighted goods without compensating the makers.

“Government-authorized piracy would undermine chances for a settlement that would provide real benefits to Antigua. It also would serve as a major impediment to foreign investment in the Antiguan economy, particularly in high-tech industries,” the U.S. added.

Antigua doesn’t appear to be impressed much by these threats and is continuing with its plan.

If the Antiguan media portal indeed launches, it will make headlines all across the world, which may result in the site becoming one of the larger authorized suppliers of U.S. media on the Internet.

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this is good news, I’m curious how this will turn out
- Fantastic
  
  US declares war on Antigua and bobble head Biden goes rolling around in a tank screaming like a loon.
  - Andrew me
    
    They would have a hard time declaring war on a peaceful nation especially as the law permits them to do this. I think America would be in for a world of hate and many more countries allowed to do this too if they declared war or did anything that infringed on their rights as a sovereign nation..
    - Guest
      
      Indeed, it would lead to the USA being literally blown off the map, also known as turned into a nation of smoking glass. (Good riddance to bad rubbish)
      
      Either that or we would all end up in WW3, which is bad news for all of us.
    - zippos soppiz
      
      WW3 against antigua? 1 to 10 how high are you?
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Moser/100002719228612 John Moser
      
      Someone doesn’t even know what “literally” means. Derp.
    - Anonymous
      
      Someone doesn’t even know what “English Comprehension” means. Idiot.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Tony-Jack/1415761122 Tony Jack
      
      The US has the most nuclear weapons and bombs in the world. I seriously doubt the US would be blown off the map as you claim
    - Guest
      
      The US has the most nuclear weapons, bombs, etc. in the world. I seriously doubt the US would be blown off the map as you claim
      
      They would if China were to fight them.
      
      derp.
    - guest
      
      OH really China? You mean the army with absolutely zero combat
      experience? The Navy that has a single aircraft carrier that is a relic
      of the Soviet era? Yea China,lol.China is about to collapse,with all
      their empty “ghost cities”,which is really nothing to laugh at,cause if
      China collapses,the world will feel it
    - Muraragi
      
      Armchair general detected. Current US military experience is in fighting unorganized militia and “terrorist” organization. It is not a similar experience to fighting a standing national army with proper modern equipment.
      
      So if China lacks experience, pretty much so does the US.
      
      But sure, this is what happens when your military knowledge comes from CoD and C&C…
    - jdkchem
      
      Bullshit.
    - demonloan
      
      You forget that, in a few cases, american government was involved with putting some of those they now oppose into power…..by support or…other means.
    - anon
      
      No he is right China has powerful nukes and deployment systems. They can strike the USA easily. They won’t but they can fuck the USA up as much as the USA can fuck them up. USA DOES NOT have a ballistic missile defence system to cope with China full fucking stop. But Russia, France & the UK can also fuck the USA up. You can be anti-chinease but truth is they can fuck the USA up and so can other nations and you don’t dare call them out like you do Iran! Luckily they are all allies so all is good and this all hypothetical.
    - ROFLMAO
      
      You do realize that all nuclear powers have a mutual destruction pact right?
    - Bluebeard
      
      The real problem is that we would have to borrow money from China to fight that kind of war. LOL
    - demonloan
      
      China owns the US, who do you think holds the most value in paperwork for the US debt?….you sound like a flag humper
    - Eddy Least
      
      The US knows how to do war on other territory however it has never experienced anything at their land, let’s see them using the nuclear weapons, bombs and all their warfare on their territory, this is where it becomes interesting…
    - jdkchem
      
      That only exists in your fantasy world Dick.
    - Guest
      
      You do realize that if the US was gone you wouldn’t have intellectual property to steal right….
    - Camoron
      
      102 likes, ridiculous. One thing to hate the US government. Another thing to praise the annihilation of its people (disgusting). Anyone who thinks a war would break out over a minor economic dispute is a fucking idiot. Anyone who thinks any other country would do shit besides verbally condemning the US government if it did invade Antigua is an even bigger idiot.
      
      Time to get real folks.
    - Guest
      
      @zippos soppiz
      
      WW3 against antigua? 1 to 10 how high are you?
      
      Please re-read my comment earlier.
      Please come again.
    - zippos soppiz
      
      I did and it makes no sense or were you answering to someone without using the “reply” button.
      
      And people keep not using it, don’t know why.
    - hf
      
      gg
    - Guest
      
      @zippos soppiz
      
      I did, I was replying to Andrew me. WW3 could start over anything you have to remember what caused WWII and WW1
    - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001120910245 Leto Atreides
      
      Who do you think is going to run to Antigua’s aid? Trinidad? Cuba? The Swiss? Get real.
    - Anonymous
      
      You have overlooked the major players who hate the USA and wanting a reason to pound their chest over, this could be it.
    - jdkchem
      
      What major players?
    - demonloan
      
      Europe, Russia, China, Japan, Muslim countries…etc etc
    - jdkchem
      
      So you’re high and ignorant.
    - http://www.facebook.com/lmcgo88 Lee McLain
      
      Remember what caused WW1 and WW2? OK…… that would be….. Germany…Yep, Both times.
    - Colin Carr
      
      Didn’t seem to bother the USA when they invaded Grenada in the 1980s. Mind you, their troops struggled to defeat a bunch of Cuban airport construction workers…
    - jdkchem
      
      Bullshit.
    - demonloan
      
      the first attempt to invade Grenada proved too difficult for the US and it failed miserably…wonder how those US servicemen felt (could`nt even save americans being held captive)…probably why they collided their choppers into each other…it was only after reagan started the overspending on military buildup did the US finally manage to beat the est. 1000 Grenada protectors….of course the spending is why the US is crashing it`s economy on a regular basis and is now mostly in debt to places like China.
    - Anonanon
      
      As I am against both Gambling and Copyright I support the US in crushing this bottom feeding industry and I support Antigua in screwing with US Copyright Holders. Its win win. =]
    - Dawwg
      
      That’s ignorant. The US is not crushing this “bottom feeding industry”, it’s just promoting & protecting it’s own USA-based “bottom feeding industry” …
    - Guest
      
      Nice one… take a bow to applause, sir.
    - http://twitter.com/webmastardd webgurl
      
      har har :p
    - demonloan
      
      Because the corporations run the US government..always have, always will
    - leoeris
      
      America is already in for a world of hate.
    - guest
      
      sorry but nop.we will still be here laughing at the rest of you
    - demonloan
      
      hump that flag while you can….you really should learn how to speak chinese though…just sayin…
    - demonloan
      
      naw, they have so much bright history..like vietnam…or the shah of iran……so how could you even think anyone would hold ill will…for shame
    - Dave_Mudkips
      
      They would have a hard time declaring war on a peaceful nation especially as the law permits them to do this
      
      Come on now. The story indicates that in Antigua’s case, like so many others, the US doesn’t give a flying bollocks for law and hasn’t in this particular case since 2005.
    - Guest321
      
      America is already in a world of hate after the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and killing of millions of innocents there. There’s nothing stopping them from doing it again. International laws and treaties don’t seem to apply to USA.
    - Anonymous
      
      That’s cos nobody cared about those countries, now if they tried that shit with Pakistan or even Russia (they must be crazy at this point) then yeah that would pretty much start WW3 no questions asked.
    - asskicker
      
      there are no innocent Muslim’s…….
    - markh
      
      i guess if the world says there are no innocent americans you will yell. Every country has innocent people
    - jdkchem
      
      More bullshit.
    - demonloan
      
      only to those blind enough to follow the american brainwashing
    - demonloan
      
      yes,but the history of events like Vietnam and grenada seem to prove that any real resistance against them is ultimately disastrous for US military
    - killdanzig
      
      remember that this is ‘mericuh we’re talking about.
      
      its our jebus given right to do whatever we want to whomever we want! /sarcasm.
    - Farid H.
      
      “They would have a hard time declaring war on a peaceful nation especially as the law permits them to do this.”
      
      The US will do literally everything in the name of its Holy Copyright. What’s a little country like Antigua and a couple of raised eyebrows when it comes to setting an example and showing that the MAFIAA rules the world and is not to be defied? Expect a scenario like Noriega/Panama, if Antigua doesn’t back down on this.
    - jdkchem
      
      So the government of Antigua is going to murder their own people? Is there a barrio they can set fire to? Have you ever left mommy’s basement?
    - demonloan
      
      Not what it looks like from here…more like inference to events like…what happens when you piss off ollie north and the cia….just sayin.
    - demonloan
      
      are you referring to the fact that noriega was backed by the US for almost 30 years…and then they turned on him?
    - Minchi
      
      The North Korea should learn on this scheme by Antuiga too. They can launch a legal warez site or something protected by their warheads.
    - jdkchem
      
      They cannot even feed their own people. STFU
    - demonloan
      
      And the US is considered to have the highest per capita homeless rates amongst 1st world countries………..although if you want to claim that lack of food due to natural disasters is to be blamed on the government…I suppose someone might consider it a valid argument against North Korea…someone…somewhere
    - jdkchem
      
      You would have a hard time convincing congress to declare war.
    - demonloan
      
      betcha haliburton could do it
  - Datavetaren
    
    Rolling around in a tank? What about “riding the bomb”? :)
    
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcW_Ygs6hm0
  - yakasha
    
    Care to bet on that? ;)
  - fatal
    
    omg, thank god… I’ve been in the U.S. Army for 26 years now. I always asked why we don’t invade beautiful countries instead of shitty 3rd world ones. I asked our battalion commander years ago if we could invade the Bahamas. he said “We’ll never invade, they’re happy places. Now get your nose back in the sandbox”. We’re always in shit-hole countries. Can we just “attack” by having mandatory year and half deployments of fun? lol leave the guns at home.
    - andrewi
      
      It’ll be a shithole country right after you start shelling it. Vietnam was beautiful once too… it’s only just getting back to that.
    - asskicker
      
      still is a shit hole country…….commie bastards
    - YouBrainlessSoldier
      
      You’re just a lowlife who lives in the so-called first world. Iraq probably wasn’t a country full of concrete, but something is certain, USA is not there to build a better country and you’re just ruining everything else in there.
      
      And it’s not just you’re killing civilians, because they mean nothing for you, it’s even you’re destroying their pieces of art, destroying their culture and helping to steal their artworks from museums and other places, in order to subjugate that country and have control over it for decades, your excuse was terrorism and nuclear weapons, but you probably meant: “We are terrorists and we have nuclear weapons, so we’re going to invade this country and nobody must stop us”.
      
      Many of you dying because your government needs to give more money to those who invested in Oil and now they’re using “Copyright” to give more money to those who already have millions, if not billions.
    - asskicker
      
      shut the fuck up………..we went to kill sandniggers
    - http://pulse.yahoo.com/_M6F3RJVEWJ24QKMCHFNVK7ADVE Winston Smith
      
      Those are you relatives genius.
    - jdkchem
      
      Says the ignorant porch monkey.
    - andrewi
      
      I believed that until I talked to a soldier I know who went there himself. The reason why the country was so poor was that Hussien’s old world was tribal. A few privileged tribes had a little money and ruled the rest of the tribes with it so they lived in poverty. Saddam of course easily had 10x the money of even the privileged. Walk into his compound and you’ll see 10 palaces or so, with millions worth of oil financed luxuries and marble domes etc, but surrounding it are only wastelands with death squads killing people for being barbers (cut hair is haram/forbidden) or having tyres (stealing Allah’s air apparently) and everyone else either subsistence farming or living around the poverty line in the towns.
      
      Sure, the gov’t went there for oil interests, but I believe that Hussein got what he deserved, even if it was for the wrong reasons. At least we got rid of one tyrant, now we just need to give our country a good enough reason to go after Mugabe, Kony, Museveni etc
    - jdkchem
      
      The US produces more oil than Iraq. The oil myth is just that.
    - andrewi
      
      Yes it does as of recently, but it also uses more oil than it produces and stockpiles oil on top of that, so the oil ‘myth’ is not a myth.
    - Mike
      
      I dislike when people say “our country”. You mean to say “our government”.
    - andrewi
      
      Firstly, I am British. Secondly even if I was American the only time I referred to ‘our country’ was when I spoke about war. Ultimately the decision is our governments, but it is US, the people that go over there, not our governments, so I feel it is appropriate to state that WE are being given reason to go there, not our government.
    - 5m4rt1
      
      and when are they gonna go for: “Bush Senior, Bush Jr, Obama, etc”….
      What’s the difference from their situation to the one here?….
      The gov here is rich have a lot of goods and don’t share them with the people, they share them with even richer people (aka Corporations/Banks), and the people struggle to find jobs, keep their mortgage, etc, etc… bottom line the ones above keep getting richer and richer while the others keep getting poor more and more. So tell me smarty @andrewi:disqus How is that what Hussein did was wrong, but what the us gov lead by the us corporatocracy are doing is good?… So when are they going to get what they deserved?
      
      I think ppl should stop worrying about other nations problems (perhaps not stopping, but worrying for you first), and focusing in the problems here in our nation! Because while they fraking ppl over in other countries they are fraking you all here at the same time as well!
      
      @andrewi You do know that Hussein was instituted by us gov and that he was a well know CIA asset right?
    - andrewi
      
      I know all of that actually. I also know he reneged on his former employers despite him being installed as a tactical lever to tighten the US grip on black maker arms trading that the US profited from.
      
      The difference is scale. You have over there a single compound with billions of dollars worth of lavish luxury oil financed palaces, and just outside there are starving unclothed kids that are shot dead if they come too close. You can complain all you want about inequality here, but it pales in comparison to the religious cartel over there. Think about it, the Sheiks own well over 9% of the US economy and profit off the oil directly, but they can’t even make clean water facilities for the people that live on their front doorstep. With rulers like that I think we did them a favor. That’s not to say it will make anything better, but at least the guard is being changed.
    - jdkchem
      
      Go fuck yourself ignorant coward.
    - 5m4rt1
      
      @jdkchem:disqus you are a douche bag, you don’t even know why gov goes to war and yet you are all up for it. They don’t go for the greater good of the people, less the nation; they go, because they are greedy addicts,… for power, resources, money, violence, and mostly because they are puppets of your true government aka rothchild/morgan/chase dynasties and the rest of the 1%, so educate your self, you and the rest of ignorant dummies here.
      
      “In the age of Information, Ignorance is a choice”
  - xpmule
    
    then a little while later Obama will be standing on an Aircraft Carrier giving a cocky I’m a hero speech with a huge banner hanging behind him saying.. “Mission Accomplished”
    
    I hope they choke on their freedom fries !
    Stupid scumbag patriot douche bags are quick to say they can break any rule they want internationally but when other people do it is illegal etc.
    I’m Fed up with that shit-hole full of hypocrites and delusional cocky, conceded, overbearing brain dead idiots !
    These blood thirsty, money grubbing, greedy, barbarians with guns would declare war on Pizza Hut and send in stealth choppers and seal team 6 if their pizza was late !
    - Goat Rodeo
      
      “These blood thirsty, money grubbing, greedy, barbarians with guns would declare war on Pizza Hut and send in stealth choppers and seal team 6 if their pizza was late !”
      
      LMAO
    - xpmule
      
      Wanna send some love to all the cool Americans though <3
      I could complain about how my Canadian govt. acts too its just the USA's govt. is more powerful than ours internationally and can there or get into more trouble than mine..
      I always feel bad bitching about Americans because i know most people there are cool.. i've traveled across there from ocean to ocean and people were cool and friendly etc.
      I had power go out in a hotel and i ended up hanging out with a guy that was in his 90's tellin me about what it was like before light bulbs in the cafe part of the place with some other people and the lady running the cafe opened it up in the dark and offered it customers as well as coffee all for free (this was in Minnesota)
    - dgf64
      
      To be fair there are certainly more than enough morons in this country. After all Obama did get re-elected. All I’ve got to say for all of you that voted for the tyrant is…. you people are idiots.
    - jdkchem
      
      STFU moron.
    - demonloan
      
      go hump a flag moron, you lower our collective IQ’s by continuing to breathe.
  - Dealer
    
    YUP, this comment was and IS the Best, but RoFl anyway…
  - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001120910245 Leto Atreides
    
    More along the lines of Antigua mysteriously having their internet cut off from the rest of the world.
    
    Oops did we park a submarine on the undersea cable. Our bad.
    - Dawwg
      
      Sounds like a great game-plan for the USA ;)
    - Guest
      
      Yep, and also blitzing satcomms… as well as screwing with payment processing ops for good measure.
- Anon
  
  Im moving to Antigua.
  - Anon
    
    Me too! Lets form a group of IT professionals and offer to help them!
    - IDIOCRACY
      
      I just found the perfect place to setup a torrent site and a VPN provider and the competitor of Mega … hehe
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      Consider the staggering amount of small nations which are already, in effect, places where US trade sanctions hold no leverage which could make a killing on adapting to this route.
      
      Then realize how the US would look, with a gun in hand, bullying a small peaceful island-nation of hapy lookalike hawaiians over “copying media files”.
      
      I imagine white house PR consultants are already giving this up as a bad job.
    - Camoron
      
      Lookalike Hawaiians? Do you even know where Antigua is? It’s in the fucking Caribbean. They’re black.
    - Adam
      
      I’d love to know how much money anydvdhd puts in to the antiguan economy. I know I sent my ~$100 to their shores to promote what that company is doing.
      
      http://www.slysoft.com/en/is-slysoft-a-new-company-from-elby-faq.90.10.html
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      I’d plumb forgotten the creators of CloneCD came from Antigua.
      
      Now I feel old.
  - xpmule
    
    they should offer citizenship for a small fee.
    - john
      
      I can just see the commercial on t.v.
      
      ‘come be a citizen of Antigua! The birth place of the REAL pirates of the caribean. Learn about our Island’s history, our ethnicity, our way of living, our economy, and last but not least you get to learn how we broke free of the U.S!!! All for a one time low fee of
      
      3.69 Euro.’
    - Guest
      
      Davy Jones (File)locker
- Guest
  
  yeeeea!! punish dem yankies xd
  - xpmule
    
    the best part is it’s a strike back at *more of the people that deserve it over there and not random innocent people.
    I can’t use a disclaimer every time i say that America pisses me off..
    It’s the US govt. and a subset of people that support their legendary stupidity in foreign policy etc that i hate, NOT all of their people !
    - guest
      
      wow someone with common sense posting on torrent freak.a fucking miracle
  - ITakeAPotatoChipAndEatIt
    
    Unfortunately, I think they are doing this for the wrong reasons, and it may only make the image of piracy worse or give them more reasons to fight it; Although I do agree that they should retaliate in some way.
    - xpmule
      
      ya that makes sense to me
- Anonymous
  
  It’s a nice idea from the island, even though the income will still be pennies compared what they had previously. 21M, pff, they gambling dens would make as much in a month.
  - Glib
    
    The key is, the ONLY people that would be able to tell how much revenue it’s generating would be the government; they can lie, and I am sure they can work creatively with numbers … something like :: “$5 / month, $4.95 of which is operating costs, $0.05 is compensation for copyright”. Also, they can say they never have more than, say, 4.2 million users, meaning they never make more than 21 million (based on the $5 / month).
    
    ALSO, this is $21M they get FREE of copyright, doesn’t mean they can’t go over that and pay the rightsholders eventually; as a startup, it’ll just be IT staff, hardware, and tech support.
    
    Key is, what are the copyrights worth in Antigua? Who sets that number? Copyright holders have a SAY in those numbers, I assume, but there must be some government body that must be applied to to uphold your copyrights. If the government will only agree to like $0.05 / movie or whatever, I see that being a pretty awesome loophole..
- The_Strawbear
  
  They’ll be brought off quietly. 21 million’s a drop in the ocean of the US budget and better to pay it than letting this precedent get set.
  
  Of course don’t let that all stop you posting crazy ideas and mad conspiracy theories. Ah, the deep thinkers of the TF comment pages…
  - Jj
    
    They won’t be bought off. They want their previous gambling industry as it was or they’ll screw the US. It’s payback.
  - Guest
    
    Okay, Strawman, if the U.S. is going to quietly pay off Antigua then why haven’t they done so already? Why did they block them from confirming their plan with the WTO instead of just writing them a 21 million dollar cheque? Why they bother to write a letter urging the WTO to stop this?
    
    You seem to be the one coming up with a mad theory.
  - xpmule
    
    precedent ? Like what ? America agreeing to abide by international laws and breaking them when ever they see fit ? The UN said they had no grounds to invade Iraq or Afghanistan and they just went and claimed WMD’s and did it anyway and then declared mission accomplished lol
    They also had no right to sneak into Pakistan to murder Osama Bin Laden and anyone else that looked at them funny..
    Should i go on ?
    How about them signing up for WTO and then ignoring the judgement when they don’t like the decision ? (like in this story)
    
    Fuck the US and their hypocritical bullshit !
  - Scary_Devil_Monastery
    
    “They’ll be brought off quietly. 21 million’s a drop in the ocean of the US budget and better to pay it than letting this precedent get set.”
    
    I can imagine how that turns out, once every third-world little islet barely rich enough to afford a cable connection realizes how much US money will be up for grabs using that tactic.
    
    Yea. Because publicly handing 5$ to every bum choosing to pitch his tent in your neighbourhood will make the problem “go away”.
    
    Honestly the naívety of some copyright maximalists surprise me even after all this time. It’s like they never left the daycare center where everything was conveniently ordered.
    - Guest
      
      “I can imagine how that turns out, once every third-world little islet barely rich enough to afford a cable connection realizes how much US money will be up for grabs using that tactic.”
      
      Antigua is the only nation to date that has been granted the waiver by the WTO.
      
      It’s $21 million per year, every year, and the U.S. budget will not be picking up the tab.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      “Antigua is the only nation to date that has been granted the waiver by the WTO.”
      
      Interesting, isn’t it? Almost as if the WTO is trying to send a message to someone, because judging from the visible parts of the ruling, this is not what Antigua asked for.
      
      However – if the US does decide to try a payoff it will also be a first time ever. And in that case how many little islets will suddenly be busy finding out how much a US trade treaty is screwing them for?
    - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
      
      That way lies negotiating with terrorists, after all…it can quickly turn into extortion as soon as the ones getting the buyout realize this is a weak point that the US folds on…or at least that is how the content holders will view such an arrangement.
  - Colin Carr
    
    Don’t be such a killjoy Strawbear, we’re just poking fun – even if we’d LIKE to nuke Washington. Oh, I’d better talk to Kim Jong Un about that. ;-)
  - Wallace
    
    “They’ll be brought off quietly. 21 million’s a drop in the ocean of the US budget and better to pay it than letting this precedent get set.”
    
    The precedent was set in 2007. The powers had 5 years to “bring” them off quietly. So far so good.
    
    And people who have to re-edit their posts shouldn’t snark about other people being shallow thinkers.
- JG
  
  I see a few different possibilities…
  
  1.) The US (& confederates) continue to prevent Antigua from bringing it up at a WTO meeting, thus preventing the site from going live. They do this until they can find a way to squash it legally, including, but not limited to, blackmailing other members to vote against Antigua being allowed to launch the site and/or removing the allowance to violate copyright laws from ever being used again.
  
  2.) If the site goes live, the MPAA/RIAA do what they do best & fabricate data to spin the site as terroristic anti-American, yada yada angle onto the site… This allows them to apply pressure to PayPal & credit card companies to “encourage” them not to process payments for the site (much like for torrent sites currently). With no way to collect payments the site hopefully withers and dies.
  
  3.) MPAA/RIAA use their political pull to get the US government to seize the domain. If not Internet wide, then at least prevent any US access, for “national security”/protect US interests…. They then reach out to their international counterparts & encourage them to pull their governmental puppet strings and/or secretly slip the IP address(s) into their already/soon-to-be established TPB block list.
  
  4.) If they can’t get it off by either 3 or 4, MPAA/RIAA argue since they”re not being compensated for the downloads, it should be treated like any other IP theft case, in which each song is valued at $15,000 not 99c, thus significantly lowering the actual damage the site will do…
  
  5.) failing to bully/blackmail the site’s destruction, the Media empire orders congress to enact a blank media tax like the Netherlands has. Income from the tax goes to the Media empire to compensate for what Antigua is stealing from them. But they still continue to go after other infringes…
  
  6.) MPAA/RIAA ban together & create their own site. They charge $4.50 (instead of $5) in the hopes of getting people to come to theirs & to recap some of the lost revenue (though still while collecting from #5 [cause they only made $10billion last year, they're almost bankrupt, they need all the help they can get]). If this happens, then either:
  A.) They do a poor job, its littered with DRM making it almost useless, media is only added after a 4-8 week release window, etc…. Some are able to strip the DRM & piracy rises. MAFIAA declares the experiment a complete disaster, forces congress to pass SOPA so they can get rid of the Antiguian site once and for all, and return to business as usual, though with an intensified goal of suing any possible file sharer (because we know cheap, worldwide, universal access isn’t the answer any more)
  or B.) They put media out the same time its available to buy, its playable on any device (current or future), without DRM (other than just a check every 30 days to verify you’re still paying your $4.50)…. Its a huge success, piracy is virtually eradicated & everyone is happy… At least until the media company decides $4.50 isn’t enough, raises it to $150/month…. When basically everyone drops, they classify it as a failure & go back to business as usual…
  - Scary_Devil_Monastery
    
    Antigua here isn’t exactly wikileaks. If Paypal and mastercard pull a wikileaks stunt now they essentially piss right in the face of the WTO.
    
    This severely limits any sanctions the US can realistically pull off since that would basically be the fiscal equivalent of unloading a gun in the face of Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
    - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
      
      If I recall correctly the credit card companies are being investigated in the EU for these exact practices, n’est pas? It’s all well and good to be an american company following american “influece” (actually it’s not) but other countries in which they do commerce have laws prohibiting such heavy handed actions.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      Yup. Because even though the EU might not care about wikileaks that much, they did care quite a lot when Visa and Mastercard’s “ethical” stance began affecting the ability of ordinary banks to affect payment from legal customers to legal businesses.
      
      Which in turns means the banks are defaulting on a number of antitrust laws, banking regulations, and consumer protection rights thanks to VISA/Mastercard.
      
      This costs a great deal of business and that puts a great deal of odium on the body politic because the general public is having none of it.
  - Pelham123
    
    Copyright is civil law, remember, so it involves “rights,” not physical property.
    
    The WTO has granted permission for Antigua to engage in actions that would otherwise be infringing. The MAFIAA can’t sue for IP theft or “stealing” if Antigua has permission to distribute. They can only argue that the WTO overstepped.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      “Copyright is civil law, remember, so it involves “rights,” not physical property.”
      
      Actually, “copyright” involves a privilege to interfere with the rights of others.
      
      Privileges can be revoked, rights can not as they are assumed to be inherent.
  - RandomDrunkard
    
    MPAA & RIAA cannot do flying f* against WTO. MPAA & RIAA stand in lower steps than WTO. WTO is basically in top of pyramid. MPAA & RIAA are only USA national organizations. But WTO is Worldwide.
    
    WTO had 157+ member countries. I want to see US buy off every single one of them.
    
    It is basically impossible to US to screw with WTO. They can delay stuff but not indefinitely.
    
    TL:DR : I have no idea what i just wrote.
- Guesty McGuesterson
  
  If they try to “sell” any of that stuff, the U.S. will persuade credit cards, paypal, and any other payment processors or banks to freeze assets, stop transactions and generally not let funds reach them. That’s what happened with Wikileaks. It happened with MegaUpload too (among other more direct interventions).
  - oligarch
    
    Or they can accept Bitcoins as payment.
- Lol
  
  Basically they were granted this years ago and i suggested then that they do this to get the $21 million they are owed and more.
  
  “. One option would be to ask users for $5 a month in return for unlimited access to U.S. media.
  sounds great thanks will subscribe
  As predicted, the suggestion to suspend U.S. copyrights is already meeting resistance from United States authorities.
  (it was decided by law, and now they say we don’t like the law(mafiaa)…)
  
  “If Antigua actually proceeds with a plan for its government to authorize the theft of intellectual property, it would only serve to hurt Antigua’s own interests,” the U.S warned in a letter to the WTO last month.
  (the law is the law but we don’t care, we mafiaa, fuck what the court said if we don’t get are way)
  
  According to the letter Antigua will ruin their chances of getting a settlement should they approve a site that sels U.S. copyrighted goods without compensating the makers.’
  (ok so send the $ with interest then, and backpayments for disruption of their economy when us blocked them
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  How this will turn out?
  
  Antigua has literally been given a letter of marquee by the WTO.
  
  This may be the first case we can show of online privateering.
  
  And the deliciousness of the geographical situation makes it even better.
  - MichaeMcC
    
    Reprisal, actually – presuming you continue the *AA’s construing of unauthorized copying as theft of property.
    
    Reprisal about retaliatory seizure and conversion of the valuable property of the offending country’s citizens and businesses, marque is about crossing borders. (They’re typically combined because crossing borders may be necessary or useful in the pursuit and seizure, so it helps to have another government say it’s OK in order to deflect governmental third-parties’ or treaty partners’ cooperation with the target government’s claims of trespass or invasion.)
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      I know, i know.
      
      It was just too ironic that Antigua, ancient pirate haven of the carribbean, is now granted the right to seize IP.
      
      However, I think “marquee” still applies as the privileges the WTO has revoked will be valid when Antigua hit’s it’s biggest likely market – the US.
      
      At this point I believe crossing borders has been satisfied.
      
      Yes, I know there is no property seized, and I know the *IAA’s theft argument is as invalid as can be. Just that the next time some pro-copyright troll decides to cry out about pirates from Antigua, we can midly correct him and state the Antiguans prefer the term “privateers”.
- Asashii
  
  no they are bootleggers selling others people stuff, making profit off of others hard work, share for the sake of sharing. they are selling for the sake of profit!
- cannante
  
  great how the united states provides us with clear examples of its hypocrisy…..
  
  id be glad to put all sorts of money on the claim that the u.s. is, by a multiple, far and above the most litigious member of the int. community.
  
  they are ALWAYS seeking the force and rule of law (like a p*ssyboy too afraid to do anything but cry to a teacher) when they have some claim to redress.
  
  and they are picking on antigua when they try the same thing….
  
  its a combination of two biblical “not a good idea” cliches:
  
  1: the debtor thrown into prison (but inthis case its backward as the rich man throws the poor one into prison, and this is the other way around, unless one accepts (pretty easy to do) that the u.s. is the one that is poor…in MORALS)
  
  2: WHAT YOU DO TO THE LEAST OF MY brethren so you do unto me.
  
  so embarrassing to be an american…
  
  mi scusate per le cose il mio paese sta facendo al mondo
Anon

.AG domains are they way to go then! At least we know they aren’t going to be seized!
- Glib
  
  Well, not so much. Just because the government plans to tell the US to eat a dick doesn’t mean they’re going to let anyone play the same game on their watch. The government is doing this to make cash, not to become a piracy haven.
  - zippos soppiz
    
    one doesn’t exclude the other, their motives are commercial but the end may be piracy heaven.
  - Guest
    
    They can sell he stuff dirt cheap.
    - zippos soppiz
      
      that would be awesome new “the hobbit” movie for 0,02 cents. glorious bastards.
    - guest
      
      How would you like a copy of Autocad for $0.25
  - Scary_Devil_Monastery
    
    “The government is doing this to make cash, not to become a piracy haven.”
    
    Indeed…but history shows that section of the world having quite the tradition of how to make cash out of blind eyes or outright encouragement of privateering.
Bananas

THAT’S AWESOME
Right

This is going to be fun. Go get some popcorn.
- Right
  
  “[...] It also would serve as a major impediment to foreign investment in the Antiguan economy, particularly in high-tech industries,” the U.S. added.
  
  This country is on the tax heaven “grey list” of the OCDE. I hope they don’t mind if media companies stop giving them money.
  - Scary_Devil_Monastery
    
    “This country is on the tax heaven “grey list” of the OCDE. I hope they don’t mind if media companies stop giving them money.”
    
    You are assuming media companies are contributing to them right now. The actions taken by antigua’s government suggests otherwise.
    
    And any other fiscal interest won’t really care, except that in addition to being a tax haven the place will be a convenient place to pick up dirt-cheap media.
    
    The problems with putting someone in a corner is that you’ve just ensured he’s got nothing left to lose. Always give an adversary wiggle room. the US failed in this and now look what happens.
Guest

Thrilling! Absolutely thrilling! Can’t wait!
Captain Buzzoverinthehead DFC

How very apt – a picture of Edward Teach (Blackbeard) on the Antigua stamp. Major props to the person who picked that illustration!
- afrowolf
  
  Well spotted, Cap’n!
  - Captain Buzzoverinthehead DFC
    
    Aaaarrrr!
Anonymous

good move if they dont give in. bad move if they intend stopping after a short time. but they better be prepared for whatever other shit the US can think up to throw at them. there is nothing more important to the US than the entertainment industries. we see that every day by the lies that are put out condemning people that back up their own disks, by the way US law enforcement and courts pursue file sharing suspects, by the way file sharing has become a criminal, not civil, ‘crime’ now, the way laws are changed and new ones introduced to protect those industries, the sentences that are imposed for sharing files even when done for free. and dont forget the raid on Dotcom. that can easily be extended to include a country. it just takes a few more FBI agents and a little more time!
i admire your nerve and the reasoning behind the actions, but boy, is the US gonna be pissed, if for no other reason than having the gall to do it!! i mean, standing up for yourself against the nation that already thinks it rules the world and only fights those less able to defend themselves? whatever next!!
- Andrew me
  
  And when they start making more than 21 million a year they can just start using Hollywood accounting, then they can make billions a year and not be doing anything against the law, just like Hollywood.
- Krow
  
  They don’t fight for the person less able to defend themselves. They fight for the person who is most beneficial to have that I.O.U. Or they fight against the person that threatens the most. They don’t have to be on a side for that.
  - Guest
    
    “only fights those less able to defend themselves”
  - Anon
    
    The United States of America: Land of the Free*.
    
    *Freedom Rights are sold separately.
- http://thepiratebay.se/user/SCSA420 StoneCold420
  
  FUCK THE FEDS
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  “…but they better be prepared for whatever other shit the US can think up to throw at them.”
  
  In this regard the US is severely limited. Actions taken to curb this is not only action taken against Antigua but an attempt to piss on the entire WTO.
  - Jimbo
    
    i agree but since when has the fucking USA given a shit about anyone else or what anyone else thinks as long as it is doing what it wants? since defeating the British in the War of Independence, the US has consistently done the exact opposite to what it says it believes in and stands for! check the history books for the type of Nation it was, is and will be. this ‘Land of the Free (the people are under constant government, law enforcement and company surveillance. how is that free?), Home of the Brave (they go to war with countries that are in a much less powerful position to defend themselves, usually because that country has oil and gas that the US wants for themselves, not to free the oppressed people!)’ is a load of bollocks!
    - jaxative
      
      The US home of the asymmetric arseholes. Cry Freedom and let slip the dogs of lawyers.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      Basically, the WTO is the international guarantor of every global treaty ever signed. If the US decides to publicly piss on that organ the net conclusion will be that all the global trade treaties go away, leaving the US in a trade war with all of the rest of the world.
      
      Can you imagine the US escalating this and as a result, Germany suddenly getting the goahead to undercut US electronics or heavy manufacture?
    - guest
      
      Actually since we saved your asses from speaking German yiu guys have been right there with us,doing all sorts of corrupt shit.I love when I see people US bashing,as if they live in a corruption free country,Makes me LOL
    - zarathustra2k1
      
      Ain’t revisionism grand?
      
      Once again some pinheaded ‘muhrikan fails to learn anything regarding WWII & the same tired old bullshit dribbles-forth from his snaggle-toothed burger-hole.
      
      The good ol’ “Land of the Free”(tm) single-handedly won WWII for us, don’cha know? Them Marion Morrison *cough* John Wayne movies telt me so…
  - Sira
    
    it would not be the first time they piss off the WTO. They really think (and act) as if they are the only nation ABOVE any regulations!!! as if THEY ARE the law! Time to rebel against these “giant bullies”!!!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/filip.adrian.330 Filip Adrian

These are the real pirates, in a good way
I’m very proud of Antiqua !

US needs to understand that they can’t restrict all over the world whatever they like and be no consequences
- xpmule
  
  They need to learn to mind their own business !
  Nobody on earth (outside the USA) agreed to have the USA police the planet !
- guest
  
  so you are saying the majortiy of pirated movies are not Hollywood made? imagine that wanting to get paid for your work.you people make me LOL
http://www.facebook.com/people/Zak-Kirkpatrick/22906930 Zak Kirkpatrick

I agree, this should be fun. It may also demonstrate a real viable model that the MPAA/RIAA can tune to make money more in line with what people are willing to spend…
Loser

dvdrip as they hit the big screen.. hmmm this will be 1 for the ages lol.
- Anyone
  
  those will be difficult to get
  since they can’t use official channels they will have to rely on inofficial ones, so basically the same we already rely on
  
  but if they offer those releases on a fast connection (no idea how big the cable to their island is) it could be a viable alternative to torrents, even if you have to pay
  - IHaveNoBalls
    
    “even if you have to pay” Agreed, Paying isn’t so bad when you’re getting a fair deal. (Plus as a customer, ude know none of your money would be going to the scum :D )
  - Volntyr
    
    All they would need for the best connections is to reinvest their monies into Broadband infrastructure. Sure, it may take time but it could easily be accomplished
    - IDIOCRACY
      
      New Data center with cable (huge one) to the mainland of Europe….never deal with US again. hehe
  - dqdfx
    
    I’d happily pay antigua, if only because then the money won’t be going to the US.
  - yakasha
    
    Nah its easy. Just become an Academy Award voter.
ScrewEwe2

This is funny as hell.
politux

Seriously this is wonderful. Although it seems odd to me, why pay for this stuff in an Antiguan shop when you can get it for free from “Swedish Netflix.”
- Anyone
  
  not all countries have Netflix or any “official” sources for that matter
  - politux
    
    and he totally missed the joke.
  - Heisenberg7
    
    Lol…”Swedish Netflix” = ThePirateBay.
    - Anyone
      
      haven’t heard that one before, nice one ;)
  - Embrace Change
    
    *wooosh*
- IHaveNoBalls
  
  LoL Swedish Netflix, i see that as an insult to TPB!
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  Because of the same tired old bag of justified complaints Netflix, Voddler and Spotify keep on having – regionalization, time shift barriers, lack of content, etc etc.
  
  [EDIT] And now I realized just what you did there. Well played.
Guest

America getting bitchslapped by a tiny island nation?

YES PLEASE.
- Reight
  
  Hahaha.. can’t wait to see more of this
- Thinkabtit
  
  yeaaa…but were ALL STILL watching and consuming AMERICAN media, music , tv , movies , porn , so its hardly a bitch slap ….
  - xpmule
    
    ya but the often overlooked assumption is it’s ALL American media but this is not true. media is produced and consumed around the globe. There is a large variety of TV shows, Movies, Actors and comedians etc that come from places like Canada or the UK etc i like and watch..
    There is such a small fraction of what is created in the USA i would even consider looking at for free.. the smug attitude that they have over this is laughable.. most of it all is just bloody garbage !
    - Ffit
      
      south indian here, DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT UK european media? i know u gotta troll , but when has anyone seen european movies, or music u dooo understand that ur uk charts has americans in them , lol ok
    - xpmule
      
      I don’t Troll anything.. i simply offer my opinion this has gotten ridiculous on the internet now a days. If someone doesn’t like another persons opinions they are branded a Troll regardless of their intent.. its pure stupidity.
      
      I post mine and i encourage people to post theirs.. if i didn’t value other peoples opinions i wouldn’t read them.. to call me a troll is stupid. And Americans are too quick to take complete and full credit for all media being produced when in fact my country Canada has a huge role in producing TV shows and movies and music etc. But who would know that when the USA yells the loudest ? TV show ? “Ugly Americans” made in Canada.. Movies ? “Twilight” one of many movies filmed in Canada and many artists from all areas are Canadian or have dual citizenship. My grandmother has dual she used to live in Hollywood actually many years ago.
    - zarathustra2k1
      
      Not that I’m a fan but e.g. “One Direction”. Currently pwning in the US ‘hit parade’.
      
      Bitch, puh-leeease…
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  America getting bitchslapped by a tiny island nation conveniently backed by the big hulking bruiser known as “World Trade Organization” actually.
  
  Even Hollywood couldn’t make this shit up.
Olord

sail
Rekrul

I guess America will be invading Antigua next…
- yakasha
  
  No, the terrorists will be invading Antigua next.
  
  We’ll liberate them.
- xpmule
  
  $66 Trillion in tax payers dollars spent and how ever many dead American soldiers is small price to pay..
  
  Seal Team 6 is probably training already for a Kill or Capture mission right now..
  
  Must be nice to live in a country where homelessness has been eradicated and everyone has jobs and low incoming families all have proper housing etc etc..
  because if the priorities of the USA govt. are spending money chasing pirates then that must mean those things i mentioned must be true !
http://profile.yahoo.com/3WK3JNCWUEZMPMP3YVNK4XZDHY Harpreet

Watch out for Interpol…. THEY WILL DOS and try to HACK since they don’t play by the rules. Like what happen to the good old Demoniod.me
- zippos soppiz
  
  well this is a country (small yes but a country) not a couple of people working in the shadows, I would assume they will get better results defending them self…. I hope.
- markh
  
  I Doubt it because WTO granted them to lift the restriction but usa refused, so their own fault. I guess many countries will follow, and usa will see that it isnt the master of the world
  - xpmule
    
    All other countries have the green light now to break any rule in the WTO agreement they signed for that the don’t like. What’s fair is fair !
    - markh
      
      Totally agree. USA doesn’t keep itself to the WTO treaty like many others then other countries don’t need to keep themselves to the treatym but the nice part Antigua is actually doing this after WTO agreed to it
zippos soppiz

Could we be witnesses of the first military invasion for copyrights infringement in a couple of months? would they go that far?

I will never get tired of saying this SUCKED DOTCOM this are real free speech fighters you can go fuck your self with your shitty new mega-fraud.
- IHaveNoBalls
  
  “this are real free speech fighters”
  Wrong, they want their gambling money back, this one isn’t about free speech, its about Antigua trying to regain some of the losses the US has caused their country..
  - zippos soppiz
    
    yea I got a little fired up.
http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole

I’ve been waiting for this.

Us gov doesn’t want to follow WTO sanctions and wants to maintain the right to insist that others do as they say, not as they do. Should be interesting.

HOWEVER : bear in mind, though it may be legal to break copyright in Antigua, downloading it to your country, legally paid for or not, is still probably copyright infringement in your country.

The Great Gatsby is public domain in Australia, but if you download it off of an Australian website to your country where it is still protected under copyright, it’s still infringement. Those are some fucked up laws there.
- Anyone
  
  in most countries downloading is legal, only the uploading gets you in trouble
  
  so this is a much safer alternative to torrenting and depending on pricing could be an alternative to VPNs in the US once six strikes launches
  
  I think MEGA and other filelockers are the ones that should be most worried about this
  - Wallace
    
    “in most countries downloading is legal, only the uploading gets you in trouble”
    
    In ALL countries downloading is legal. I can’t think of one case anywhere where someone faced any kind of negative consequence for downloading alone.
    - Guest
      
      there are people in france who have been sentenced to suspended prison sentence for holding copyrighted material.
    - ziv
      
      The U.S.A.
      
      http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96797,00.html
    - Darkhog
      
      In Poland you can download movies and music without worrying, unless you are using torrents, which means also uploading (fair use). But downloading of software isn’t legal, unfortunately.
    - Guest
      
      No, in most countries downloading copyrighted content is NOT legal, they just don’t tend to prosecute because it’s not cost effective to go after 1000 different downloaders when you can really nail the 1 uploader who provided it.
    - yakasha
      
      Go download some kiddie porn to test that out.
    - Wallace
      
      Ziv: not so fast. Read the article you posted.
      
      The 12-year-old was caught and sued for SHARING files.
      
      Your dramatic-sounding story was written in 2003 by a Fox employee who was handed a misleading “busted for illegal downloads” statement from the RIAA. They used the term “illegal download” to describe downloads that involved illegal uploading. Technically, they were right.
      
      Here’s a more accurate account of the girl’s case.
      
      https://www.eff.org/wp/riaa-v-people-five-years-later
      
      ‘In the summer of 2003, the RIAA announced that it was gathering evidence in preparation for lawsuits against individuals who were sharing music on P2P networks … Among those sued was Brianna Lahara, a twelve-year-old girl living with her single mother in public housing in New York City..”
    - Wallace
      
      “No, in most countries downloading copyrighted content is NOT legal, they just don’t tend to prosecute because it’s not cost effective to go after 1000 different downloaders when you can really nail the 1 uploader who provided it.”
      
      False. It’s not cost-effective to go after even one downloader because they’d lose.
      
      The only way they can convince third parties to think downloading is illegal is if they never try a case and use the “who can say what would happen? we think we’d win” argument.
      
      Yakasha: Downloading kiddie porn is illegal.
    - Wallace
      
      Darkwing:
      
      “In Poland you can download movies and music without worrying, unless you are using torrents, which means also uploading”
      
      That’s the US law in a nutshell. Like I said, I don’t know of any case worldwide where someone was arrested for simply uploading.
      
      I have never seen the phrase “holding copyrighted material” used except against someone who was also accused of distribution.
    - Wallace
      
      “That’s the US law in a nutshell. Like I said, I don’t know of any case worldwide where someone was arrested for simply uploading.”
      
      Derp. Simply downloading.
  - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
    
    in most countries downloading is legal, only the uploading gets you in trouble
    
    source? I’ve never heard this before. I know that they’re more likely to go after you for uploading, but an infringing copy is an infringing copy
    - Anyone
      
      germany or austria for example
      you can have as many “infringing copies” (those don’t really exist, how should they prove you got it in an illegal way?) as you want and even download them, only when you upload them you are in trouble (in germany more so than in austria)
      
      that’s why they go after torrents, easy to monitor and easy to sue (especially in germany with the “guilty upon accusation” and “störerhaftung”)
    - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
      
      Hurrah!
      
      In my own selfish little microcosm, it was stated in 2004 that downloading was legal in Canada. It was immediately appealed and restated as “we were drunk, do not download anything in Canada. ANYTHING.”
      
      So, being a gigantic first world dickhead, I naturally assumed the rest of the world was just like me. Mea Culpa.
    - xpmule
      
      Gene I’m Canadian and over the years i have had talks with family or coworkers about whether it is legal or not to download stuff here and most say it IS legal. but what i gathered years ago.. is that its a legal grey area that means its is not legal but it is not illegal either.
      So what you think Gene ? Me i dunno that’s why i figured i’d chime in here.. your related comment you just made about this confused me lol
    - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
      
      Yeah the last thing anybody heard in the news was that it had been determined legal by the courts, this was quietly overturned immediately afterwards:
      
      http://www.cippic.ca/sites/default/files/19May2005Ruling.pdf
      
      [49] When the Motions Judge stated that, under subsection8 0(1) of the Copyright Act, RS.
      1985, c. C.42, “downloading a song for personal use does not amount to infringement,” he gave
      no consideration to the possible application of subsection8 0(2) and the circumstances in which
      the defence of “private use” will not be available, such as, inter alia, where the reproduction of a
      musical work embodied in a sound recording onto an audio recording medium is done for the
      sale, rental, distribution, communication by telecommunication or performance to the public.
      
      80. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the
      act of reproducing all or any
      substantial part of
      (a) a musical work embodied in a
      sound recording,
      (b) a performer’s performance of a
      musical work embodied in a sound
      recording, or
      (c) a sound recording in which a
      musical work, or a performer’s
      performance of a musical work, is
      embodied
      onto an audio recording medium for
      the private use of the person who
      makes the copy does not constitute an
      infringement oftbe copyright in the
      musical work. the performer’s
      performance or the sound recording.
      (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the
      act described in that subsection is done
      for the purpose of doing any of the
      following in relation to any of the
      things referred to in paragraphs (l)(a)
      to (c):
      (a) selling or renting out, or by way of
      trade exposing or offering for sale or
      rental;
      (b) distributing. whether or not for the
      purpose of trade;
      (c) communicating to the public by
      telecommunication;
      
      [50] The Motions Judge also did not appear to consider whether all the requirements for the
      application of the exemption relating to personal use contained in subsection 8 0(1 ) of the
      Copyright Act were satisfied. For example, if the users were not using an “audio recording
      medium”, the defence of private copying would not be available. (See Copyright Board, Private
      copying 2003-2004 (December 12,2003) and Canada (Canadian Private Copying Collective) v.
      Canadian Storage Media Alliance, 2004 FCA 424.)
      [51] The Motions Judge relied upon the case of CCH CanadaL td. v. Law Society of Canada,
      2004 ~CC 13 to say that there is no ‘authorization’~ by the users of the plaintiffs~ sound
      recordings in the present case, when he had at the same time said the evidence as to infringement was inadequate. Obviously, at the early stages of this case, it is premature to reach any
      conclusion as to the applicability of the CCH case. Nor did the Motions Judge consider whether
      the users’ act of copying the Songs onto their shared directory could constitute authorization
      because it invited and permitted other persons with Internet access to have the musical works
      communicated to them and be copied by them.
      
      again, IANAL, but it sounds to me like the ruling in favour of legal downloading for personal use was thrown out.
      
      But with that said, Michael Geist, who I trust as an authority over myself, said as late as 2008 that it was legal:
      
      http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourinterview/2008/04/michael_geist.html
      
      What is the current legal status of downloading music and video files in Canada? Also, is it legal to make a copy of someone else’s music CD for your own personal use?
      
      Michael Geist: Downloading music for personal, non-commercial purposes is arguably legal in Canada due to the private copying levy which places a levy on blank media such as blank CDs. The private copying levy does not extend to video as it only covers sound recordings. Making a personal copy of a music CDs is also covered by the private copying levy.
      
      Now, with all of that said, ALL OF THIS only applies to music in any event. video or software, downloading is entirely illegal, regardless. And music is up in the air, depending on whether you want to fight it for millions of dollars in court…
      
      …so, for all intents and purposes, it’s still illegal.
- markh
  
  Wrong Netherlands and Switzerland downloading is legal
  - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
    
    Well, then now I know*
    
    *and knowing is half the battle.
    - Rukumouru
      
      Also legal in Spain for music, movies etc. Software SHOULD get you in trouble for both uploading and downloading, but in reality, nobody gives a flying shit. Even for uploading.
      
      It’s commonly done in Spain and part of EVERY SINGLE every day joe’s life. Yes, the young AND THE OLD alike. So they’d have one hell of a time if they actually tried to prosecute for it.
    - xpmule
      
      YOOOOO JOOOOOEEE !!!!111
    - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
      
      Love the new icon, by the way. It’s a little paganistic but at least i can recognize you.
    - xpmule
      
      i figured i’d register my name after a guy posted as me on this site. and the icon is modified and taken from MorbidAngel.com a death metal band in case anyone is wondering.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      “It’s commonly done in Spain and part of EVERY SINGLE every day joe’s life. Yes, the young AND THE OLD alike. So they’d have one hell of a time if they actually tried to prosecute for it.”
      
      To my knowledge they have tried a number of times. Spanish judges wouldn’t have any of it and have so far tossed more or less every copyright case out with extreme prejudice. “Like the age-old practice of lending books” is how one judge put it.
- Digwqidugyqwed
  
  If you bought it, you can’t be charged for ‘stealing’
  - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
    
    Absolutely true!
    
    But copyright infringement is not theft. And business in other countries, like Antigua, are not necessarily representing the copyright holders of your country when they sell it to you. Technically when you download content from Antigua and it is transmitted across borders to your computer, you are creating a copy of the content, in some countries illegally, which basically constitutes copyright infringement, since you are infringing upon the content holder’s right to distribute copies as they see fit.
    
    Bear in mind I am not supportive of the law in any form whatsoever, just advising you of what the law actually is.
    
    That said, IANAL, so take that for whatever it’s worth.
  - xpmule
    
    Ya but this is what happens.. No one that sends out extortion letters or drags people to court checks to see whether a person has a legal right to download first.. they simply attack first and ask questions later..
    
    And i see what you mean, last decade every single pc game i have bought was installed using a pirated iso *mostly and always with a no cd/dvd crack etc.
    I don’t even keep my dvd burner plugged in unless i need it for something lol
    Point being is if “they” are watching they will see an evil doer downloading from 127.0.0.1 ip address and proceed to try and attack them with legal bullshit.. regardless if the have a dvd in their hand or not.. they don’t care because to them that dvd in my hand is a lost sale because i am downloading.
    - 2013sUxArleady
      
      Word UP! I bought 2 legitimate copies of a well known horror FPS on sale. I thought. Whoopee! I add that shit to my Steam and be good. Wrong. WRONG!
      BOTH packages did not include the Serial-Code sticker. WTF?
      Since I unsealed the package and the game was prized at bargain bin rates the store would not take it back.
      I wrote the publisher and contacted Steam (both gave me a FU).
      So… got on TPB found a recent rip from 2011 (complete install folder with included crack). Download in half a day and started playin. 2 Days later -> DONE. Now I have two useless fucking DRM protected discs without the usual bullshit that allows legitimate buyers from enjoying the product.
      
      I am glad that I only lost 5 bucks for both of them. Still pisses me off though that steam is ignorant and the publisher (Warner) gave me a fuck off address that does not reply. And fuck that store too. If I ever pick up bargain bin again I rip the package open AT THE COUNTER while the bitch is counting my pennies!
      
      Haven’t plugged my DVD drive since.
- Hero_fayt
  
  Well at least on some Asia country here, it was technically illegal to download copyright things. But nobody give a fucking damn about it and everybody include the government download such things. Hell the government on my country use a pirated Windows…lol
Stu Dkn

Good for them, lets hope they haven’t got any weapons of mass destruction……
- Xi_ruler
  
  Antigua has too much year-round sunlight and warm weather.
Guest

I only have 2 things to say
1) LOL
and
2) OWNED!
- ScrewEwe2
  
  All your Warez are belong to us.
djnforce9

This will be awesome if it ever comes to be. Since it’s sanctioned by the government of that area, there is not a darn thing the US government can possibly do (other than block access to the site within their own country). Hopefully the harsh slap in the pocket book is a wake up call to cut the crap and lift the stupid blockade.
Zenamez

No doubt the MAFIAA and their shills will be all “Lets sue them” then reality hits.

-Not in the US nor in an area where they can ‘exercise their copyright’.
-Can’t exactly block the site as many have demonstrated with proxies and VPNs.
-Can’t trade sanction them.
-Can’t put money into the pockets of the local authority to do their bidding (Ala Dotcom raid).

In other words, they’re finally f*cked well and truly.
- Guest
  
  Megaupload called…
- http://twitter.com/DuckTheNWO ☠ NewWorldStoner ☠
  
  Indeed, I believe there are basically 2 options for MAFIAA here:
  
  1) The MAFIAA could lobby the American government to go to war with Antigua. First threatening a military invasion of Antigua unless they stop running the website, otherwise fund a military invasion or simply an air strike on the server building, likely killing many innocent people in the process and starting a world revolt or WW3.
  
  2) The MAFIAA could drop the war of file sharing altogether, release all of their copyrighted material on a public licence and the world could become a better place.
  - ScrewEwe2
    
    Look at all the drone attacks that go on 24/7 in places like Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere. They’ll find trumped up reasons to use drones against Antigua.
  - Scary_Devil_Monastery
    
    “1) The MAFIAA could lobby the American government to go to war with Antigua. “
    
    I would love seeing the propaganda spin on this as Antigua are basically making use of the allowance made by the WTO. The message here, to any nation affiliated with the WTO would now be that the US was able and willing to go to war rather than abide by their global treaties.
    
    In a previous commentary i made the suggestion that this would be the fiscal equivalent of shooting Franz Ferdinand in the face. I’ll stand by that comment.
    
    “2) The MAFIAA could drop the war of file sharing altogether…”
    
    Since that would abolish the various *IAA’s reason to exist, that’s not very likely.
    I offer a third option instead.
    
    3) The various *IAA organizations bleat like sheep about how this will kill the music industry and spend another 100 million dollars to keep lobbyists droning the message of how cassette tapes…err, Antigua….will kill the music industry and fill the streets with starving artists, bankrupt the US and throw the world into a post-apocalyptic state where people regularly eat their own children to survive.
    
    To which end effect I do not know, but whatever the outcome will be hideously expensive for the MPAA and RIAA in lobbyist money alone. And that’s a good thing in and unto itself.
The Shadow

“According to the letter Antigua will ruin their chances of getting a settlement should they approve a site that sels U.S. copyrighted goods without compensating the makers.”

Oh the hypocrisy. They don’t pay up for six years and ‘now’ they claim a settlement was in the pipeline!?! Screw the US. They regularly ignore all WTO decisions not in their favour, strong-arming anyone with a smaller economy to back down or shut up.

So if Antigua can do this, and do it legally, then they should go for it. If hemorrhaging their entertainment industry is the only way to stop US bullying, more countries should take this up.
- xpmule
  
  US bullying !
Violated0

Nice to see that we can all soon buy lawful media from this Antigua warez site and it is the US Government who will owe artists money on our behalf according to the WTO.

Clearly this is being done to annoy the USA due to their failure to follow this WTO ruling. Since they are only allowed to sell up to a set limit then they will want to keep their price real low to be able to churn out vast US media for almost free.

Free trade is a funny one seeing how even UK and EU gambling sites have been attacked by the US Government with people jailed, Taking a stand against gambling is one thing but the US are only protecting their Las Vegas casino and other gambling business income.
- Goat Rodeo
  
  “Since they are only allowed to sell up to a set limit then they will want to keep their price real low to be able to churn out vast US media for almost free.”
  
  1 cent per warez
Steve Smith

I can understand why this block happens against their sites in the US. You give them money to play with say 100$ you win 1000$. what are chances you will get your money? since they are in another country they can keep your money never pay out. Antigua just needs to go after rest the world not the US since online gambling is illegal.
- Glib
  
  Who says online gambling is illegal? The Internet police? Internet gambling might be illegal in SOME places, but definitely not true of all places.
sammyman

i dont understand .. why is the USA government even involved in piracy prosecution .. dont they have better things to do .. this should be in civil courts, not federal courts … someone must be getting a whole wack of money for this to be occuring … only way i can see this happening
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  There are reasons…
  
  Basically when the US found itself outcompeted by China and Asia in general as far as manufacturing was concerned, Merck and Pfizer sold the concept of an “IP-based service industry” to the US treasury.
  
  They bought it hook, line and sinker. And are just now beginning to dimly figure out they got conned by lobbyists with a great deal of vested interest in being able to double-dip, block competitors with legislation and/or charge for nothing.
Hogspace

We can only hope many small nations around the world will pick this up. Ending Copytheft and underwriting internet freedom and the end of censorship.
Ray

Very interesting… My question is, who actually makes the money? You can’t put that 5% back to work by running a website. I believe this is really a way for a very few to make a killing on selling Americas content, which pisses me off. If there was an oversight committee set up to see that the money went to help the welfare of the entire island that would be one thing, but we all know that’s not going to happen. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out entrepreneurs going to the island to try and do the same thing without getting busted… But you can bet the Island will have a monopoly on it.
- Glib
  
  You DID read that the site was being run by the government, yes? And, by definition, the government IS the entire island (when speaking of the revenue it pulls in from whatever it gets money from). So, it’s essentially IMPOSSIBLE for them NOT to do what you think they cannot do.
  
  Remember, Antigua is tiny, GDP is like 1 billion. The WTO ruling basically gives them a startup “get out of jail free” card; through the site’s growing pains, it will not be burdened by anything but hardware costs and staffing. If/when it makes more than $21m in copyright profits, after that it can start paying them out, but if it gets to that point, it’ll likely be ramping up VERY fast, maybe eventually becoming an excellent source of media. Also, if Antigua can put some cash into cheap bandwidth, they might get some additional revenue from datacenters or the like.
  - Anyone
    
    after they make more than $21m they just use Hollywood accounting to hide the profits and keep on running the site without paying Hollywood
    
    if it works for Hollywood to avoid paying taxes and actors it’s gotta work for something like this
  - Violated0
    
    Yes high bandwidth data capacity is the key point here but who is to say they need to host their servers in Antigua? To run under a WTO ruling makes it lawful for any data centre or cloud storage service to provide the bandwidth.
    
    They need to avoid running on US servers of course and I am sure they would use an Antigua domain name. It could well be cheaper for them to host servers in Antigua but they would still need a major link to the rest of the World.
    
    One thing I find interesting is that lax copyright enforcement tends to fuel new business start-ups including YouTube. So due to Antigua being able to make a very appealing start they may go on to become the next NetFlix. That goal though depends on their successful transfer to negotiated media supply.
    
    Clearly a service to keep an eye on but they cant keep such a scheme Government operated for long when it would never become efficient that way.
- Andrew me
  
  Actually America has no say what they do and how they distribute the money, America is out of the discussion until they pay what they owe or allow the websites to be run as they were being run.
RIAAtarded

US only cares about the US sooner we all come to grips with that the better. Should be very telling globally how much they are disliked and how entire nations can snub them like this. Being a yank you’d need to re-evaluate your choices. I know there are jokes about americans not knowing geography but sooner or later one of those idiots will give the globe a spin and realize they are only a small part. Not even sure the part you have is yours as china makes everything and pretty much owns you. Maybe we can put and end to it all by petitioning the chinese to foreclose on them.
Anon

I really hoped the noose was tightening and punishments were ever increasing. Guess not. :-(

Also, I just turned on a radio for the first time and realized that free music is all around us and has been for years. It’s no big deal.

I had no idea what I was talking about. I’m sorry. :-(
- zippos soppiz
  
  do you choose the songs or the records they pass? no you don’t.
- xpmule
  
  Finally ! you have seen the error of your ways..
  Now come over.. to the dark side muhauahaha
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  All is not lost.
  
  Make a search on Youtube for Justin Bieber. I guarantee you will be punished aplenty.
Pan

lol Pirates of the Caribbean
- Goat Rodeo
  
  ROFL!!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Gear-Mentation/100003097514663 Gear Mentation

How delightful. Words utterly fail. On so many levels.
Guest

““If Antigua actually proceeds with a plan for its government to authorize the theft of intellectual property”

No theft of intellectual property will take place if they simply resell publicly available files.
Shan

Ahh yes, because people who dont buy stuff now no matter the price will suddenly start buying media from Antigua. Makes perfect sense.
- Cheeseeater
  
  Calm your sarcasm. I’ve been getting all my TV, Movie and Warez for free for over a decade and YES I would pay $5/mo to Antigua, just to give the bird to the USA Copyright assholes.
- http://twitter.com/DuckTheNWO ☠ NewWorldStoner ☠
  
  Because people will want to fund a big “fuck you” to the copyright cartels.
- Anyone
  
  people that fileshare aren’t against spending money (after all VPNs are bought, donations to sites are made), they are against spending money that goes to the MAFIAA
- Andrew me
  
  Actually it has been shown that pirates pirate because they so not see the value in the content that the studios see. Pirates would flock to a site that allowed them to download legally, in fact it could be this that destroys piracy , well not completely but takes a big chunk out of the piracy pie.
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  You mean instead of setting up and paying for VPN’s in order to get the ability to pay netflix and hulu.
  
  Yes, it makes perfect sense.
  
  You, with the fact-sheet in hand, claiming the world is different, do not.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Gear-Mentation/100003097514663 Gear Mentation

The logical way to do it would be to get micropayments of less than a cent, possibly whatever fraction of 21 million would make 6 billion available subscriptions, so everyone could have one.
- 123
  
  Don’t work like that, it’s the royalties owed on copyrighted material up to the value of $21,000,000. Charge $5/mo and charge $0.01 per album/movie download would mean the royalties are paid on the $0.01 which might take a long time to reach $21M. Correct me if im wrong but i’m sure the $5/mo will be notched down as operating costs and not related in anyway to royalties/copyrighted material.
  
  $5/mo = $60/annum * 200M subscribers = $12 Billion nice income for antiguan govt
Techanon

“However, he emphasized that the term “piracy” doesn’t apply here as the WTO has granted Antigua the right to suspend U.S. copyrights.”

I agree, if it’s backed by a government it’s not ‘piracy’ but ‘corso’.
http://twitter.com/JerkfaceMcGee Jerkface McGee

How will they stop them from launching? Bringing in the FBI and local po— oh lol, you almost got me there.
dondilly

One fly in the ointment is that practically all the large payment processors, visa, mastercard,amex,paypal are american and seem to have no problem blockading transactions to a site or service anywhere on the globe irrespective of international law or the impact on local affiliates.

We saw that in the case of wikileaks donations where card companies refusing to process the donations was ruled illegal yet the blockade continues.
- El
  
  Right, but don’t forget TBP and alike which monetizes on ADS. You can’t block every ad network just due to the fact they publish on “illegal” websites.
  - dondilly
    
    Ads are different, and i can’t see Antigua trying to generate the revenue via ads for porn and cam sites as TPB does. The other form of ads featured on TPB are gambing sites which bearing in mind what this trade dispute is about would be both ironic and self defeating.
    
    I would also think for any project to be approved, the revenue would have to be generated directly through sales rather that indirectly through advertising and any damage to direct sales would have to be proportionate ie not selling a $15 film for $0.15
    
    Music and film seems the safest bet for them as software would face similar problems to pirate versions with the developer being able to block authentication and access to support and services.
    - Andrew me
      
      America has no say about how much they charge, for all they care about America at the moment they could charge 1cent a movie and get away with it, they are only in this to get their money that is legally due to them.
- Lol
  
  You forget about bit coins dude
- Anyone
  
  but they do follow the law
  they’ve been granted the permission to ignore US copyright by the WTO
  - dondilly
    
    Antigua is following the law, it is the usa at issue. When has the usa follow3d international laws that dont suit them?
    It is the very fact that the usa is ignoring international law that has given rise to the issue of sanctions. The usa has already crossed the line so a card block would be no big deal.
    - ItsTheSasquatch
      
      The US ruling class doesn’t even follow its own laws–it only enforces them against the poor and anyone that dares to defy them. The working class is being rendered increasingly powerless to change this. We could use some international pressure, but it’s going to take a hell of a lot more than Antigua.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      “The usa has already crossed the line so a card block would be no big deal.”
      
      Not for the US government maybe. If the WTO declares Paypal and Visa to be in conflict with a WTO decision, what happens if WTO decides any member government may now strip-mine and gouge Mastercard and Visa for appropriate penalties? Would any government say “no” to the sudden ability to conjure a hundred million dollars into the public purse, right out of visa?
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  “…that practically all the large payment processors, visa, mastercard,amex,paypal are american and seem to have no problem blockading transactions to a site…”
  
  I have no high thoughts about the “ideals” of Paypal or Visa. But do you think they would voluntarily attempt to interfere with a legal injunction granted by an organization which in theory is able to grant pariah status to these payment processors in any member country?
PiratesOfTheCaribbean

I’m extremely proud of my heritage.

“If Antigua actually proceeds with a plan for its government to authorize the theft of intellectual property, it would only serve to hurt Antigua’s own interests,”

Fuck off USA.
- http://thepiratebay.se/user/SCSA420 StoneCold420
  
  I Agree 100%
Guest

Now I am undecided. Should I go to Finland or Antigua?!

Long live Internet Freedom!
- UraPhake
  
  Your decision might be made easier if you remember that the police in Finland raided and took a 9-year-old little girl’s Winnie the Pooh computer for downloading music.
  
  Go to Antigua!
- Anyone
  
  Antigua has actual pirates in their history
  
  that should make the decision easy ;)
Lox

oh finally someone with ball to tell USA go and fuck yourself , i can’t be even happier
- xpmule
  
  ball ?
  is that a one ball pirate joke ? like one eye or one leg ? lol
  - Scary_Devil_Monastery
    
    The other one must be wooden. with a parrot on it.
Ray186

In the near future….

WIRED: How did Antigua become the country with the worlds fastest Internet?
Gt

mpaa will get a quick 500 million check before this happens.
- xpmule
  
  Yeah and all us guys are gonna start shaving only our left ball !
zippos soppiz

why noone use the respond button?
- ScrewEwe2
  
  Ijustuseditrightnowasyoucanseeandifyouwantyoucanrespondtome.
Cheeseeater

Awesome! $5/mo for unlimited access? Sweet! Even though I have zero cost unlimited access, COUNT ME IN!

HEY USA COPYWRONG DICKS – BOOYA!
Cdrguru

The reality is two questions: Where does Antigua’s Internet connection go? How much is the US government willing to spend to block this?

The issue is unregulated Internet gambling – anyone thinking that Vegas, Atlantic City and even Indian casinos are “unregulated” is kidding themselves. There are huge tax bills and endless regulation, partly to insure winners get paid. Remember, there is no state income tax in Nevada. Online gaming has none of this. Steve Wynn (Mirage, Wynn, etc.) would love it if he could offer unregulated online gaming to people – and it might even be honest, although there would be no guarantees.

One thing is for sure, unregulated online gaming (the only kind there could be) would rachet down the “Internet trust factor” a few more notches. It might work out that people would figure out who could be trusted and who not, but there would be huge incentives to get some trust and then take the suckers for every dime they had.
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  “How much is the US government willing to spend to block this?”
  
  You mean, “How far is the US willing to escalate this with the WTO?”.
  
  Because at the end we’re looking at potentially 50 years worth of treaties where the US has sweated their way into giving themselves an edge here and an edge there. The WTO can, should they decide to do so, similarly allow Germany and France to weasel out of trade treaty provisions.
  
  In essence the US actually has the unpalatable choice of either making some noise and do nothing…or risk going into a trade war with every other WTO member nation – at the same time.
  
  Because to be blunt, the WTO’s decision here is already a heavy indication that they are finding the US position tiresome.
  - http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
    
    Not only has the WTO authorized the rare (though not unprecedented) right to ignore IP, one of the arbitors was so upset about the piddling amount of 21 million (as opposed to the 3.5 billion that Antigua is rightfully owed) that he issued a dissenting opinion on the amount, which is in fact unprecedented in the WTO. I’d say your assessment is correct, and if the US pulls this shit again I don’t see the WTO holding back on the sanction next time.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      Yep. I can understand that the US is in something of a desperate snit, with 300 million americans clamoring for new jobs and asking pointed questions such as “What did you do to the dollar?” of the body politic.
      
      On top of that bits and pieces of many of the multilateral trade treaties hammered out in early days now work very much against the US – being creations from a day and age where the US believed they would forever hold the throne on manufacturing.
      
      So of course the US tries to cut any corners it thinks it can get away with cutting. The WTO, not exactly being blind, have noticed this and have started treating the US like that cleptomaniac in the classroom you know will pilfer whatever of your belongings is currently unattended.
      
      I think this is the WTO’s equivalent of the infamous “Note from the teacher”.
      
      Question isn’t whether the US foreign office is aware of this or not. Question is whether they will be able to be heard the next time the treasury tries to pitch it’s weight behind a more…err…”convenient” interpretation on what the various trade treaties specify.
OneEyedWillie

LOL US says Antigua is an economic terrorist in 3….2…..1! We are with you Antigua!
Lololo

Make a Netflix competitor for 3 USD a month. With an interface like cuevana.tv
dunchy

I have a recursive argument:

Hollywood should make a movie about this.
B1981028

^ are you sure about that? Did you see that website?
- http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
  
  nope, just pulling it out of my ass. my crystal ball is in the shop.
  
  I didn’t actually present the link for you to clicky.
- guest
  
  Just a placeholder, for $10,000 it’s yours. (Honestly, thepiratebay.anything has to be valuable).
No

“According to the letter Antigua will ruin their chances of getting a settlement should they approve a site that sels U.S. copyrighted goods without compensating the makers.”

Sells*
Ezequiel Lossardi

antigua should bring back BTJunkie or buy Oink.cd!!!! then let the tracker wars begin yet again like the good ol days :D
http://twitter.com/DuckTheNWO ☠ NewWorldStoner ☠

Now wait for the US to declare this an act of “cyber terrorism” or something…
- xpmule
  
  Let em their painting themselves into a corner.. an ever increasing amount of govt related stupidity coming from that country assures they are locked in an asynchronous war with the rest of the world and they will never ever have even the slightest chance of winning.
  Problem solved.. throws the cocky morons a noose and let them hang themselves with it !
brandongohwh

You really got to admit if your government were to stand their ground like Antigua, these US copyright bastards dont stand a chance against the global population. I really wish Antigua the best of luck in US copyright suppression.

DEATH TO US COPYRIGHT BULLYING REGIME!!!
- xpmule
  
  yup google asynchronous war.
  they got their ass schooled when the set foot in Afghanistan lol
  
  they are doomed to failure and their smug conceded and over bearing ways will ensure they suffer for it too !
  
  land of the of the free and home of the fucking stupid !
Xi_ruler

Antigua is fully within its rights to regain the massive amounts of lost income it has suffered after the arbitrary and unfair u.s. ruling on Internet gambling.

Someone has to step up and stem the tide of the mafiaa madness. Might as well be a beautiful Caribbean island.
I live in Antigua

Just take one look at the huge satellite dishes in the Chinese embassy in McKinnons Way – if antigua needs a hand pirating things, i’m sure there’s someone in the Chinese embassy here that can and will help out!
Logan B

If it is truely “Government-authorized piracy” then technically this isn’t piracy. It’s more like privateering.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privateer
Guest

Considering that piracy doesn’t actually make anyone any money it’s somewhat interesting to see how this strategy unfolds. How many people who torrent actually saw pennies trickle into their bank accounts?
Combatcar

So sad how many people here miss the point of copyrights. You pay for the content, the artist is encouraged to produce more content. Enough people don’t pay, and the artists don’t produce.

Don’t like the copyright rules? Find another hobby. There are plenty of things you can do without paying for it. Nice hikes on the beach or in the mountains or hills. Talk to friends. Read a book from the library.

Oh, wait, many of the people who pirate content have forgotten about such activities. . . .
- Guest
  
  Wow, you trolls just don’t get the point do you?
  
  I purchase games and regularly play them. I listen to the original CDs I purchased. Yet I have to sit here and listen to you whine about how the music industry isn’t making several million more, even after my taxes pay for their blank media levies, paid politicians and laws that insist I’m a criminal. Why the fuck would I not be a pirate if you’re sitting there telling me I am?
  
  Go on, then. Show us exactly how copyright enforcement has been used to pay artists.
  - Blank media levies: confirmed to not actually make it into artist wallets.
  - Performance rights fees: only goes into the money of the top 10% of artists, assuming the organisations who pay them are actually arsed to find them. Hint: they usually don’t.
  - Suing kids: the RIAA has publicly declared that money made from settlements is used for more lawsuits.
  - Suing the Pirate Bay: see above, confirmed by the IFPI. For all the damage TPB has allegedly inflicted artists won’t recoup a single cent.
  - Megaupload takedown: Jonathan Coulton, artist, has already pointed out – no one is richer, except perhaps the FBI agents.
  
  You’re an idiot and tool of the highest order.
  - Combatcar
    
    Guest, Thank you for the personal insult. That is a very unique way to carry on an adult conversation.
    
    Also, thank you for assuming I am a troll. Sorry, but I’m a working stiff. I am a writer who writes manuals, brochures, and technical articles. And woe to the employer who does not pay me for my work on time.
    
    Also, I am someone who has always, always got my entertainment the way my parents and grandparents tought me. If I want an album or CD, I buy it. If I want to watch a movie, I get it through the cable system I pay for, or buy or rent the Blu-Ray disc. If it’s too expensive because the middlemen take their horrendous cut, guess what? I skip on it.
    
    If you are a painter, would you paint someone’s house for free? If you were a plumber, would you fix someone’s house at no charge? (Friends and relatives excepted, of course.)
    
    Does your bank charge ridiculous service fees? Then why are you using it?
    
    So why should an artist not get paid?
    
    As for the argument that you and “Anyone” below make that only a small part of the price makes it to the artist, what would happen if there were no middleman? Who would promote the artist so you would learn about him or her? Who would pay for the recording studio, the press releases, the photos, and so on?
    
    Maybe the artists should cut out the middleman. A couple have done so successfully thanks to the Internet. But did you pay that artist for his or her work?
    
    Music is a business, and it gets run like a business. We as consumers have to make the right choices.
    
    Don’t like the price? Don’t like the middleman? Then don’t buy the product. But don’t think that gives you a license to steal.
    - Guest
      
      Thanks for assuming that I didn’t pay to enjoy my Linkin Park CDs and the games I have on Steam. Thanks for also assuming that I pirate all my movies. Last movie I watched, I went with my friends. Same for the last several movies I watched over the last few years, because I’m not a movies person.
      
      I’m not making the point that only a small part of the price makes it to the artist. I’m making the point that all the anti-piracy enforcement efforts so far have not made artists any richer. Unless you’d like to say that Jonathan Coulton doesn’t count as an artist and that all official statements made by the RIAA and MPAA are null and void in your opinion.
      
      I don’t buy the product, and yet, I have to sit here and listen to you assume that I’m a filthy pirate anyway. What does you being a writer and your employer paying you or otherwise have to do with me? Do you not get paid when people read brochures or quote a few words here and there?
      
      But hey, if you’d really like it, why don’t you refer us all to a sample of your work so we know to avoid it in the future. After all, we didn’t pay for it so we won’t even deserve to look in its general direction, right?
    - Anon
      
      It doesn’t give anyone license to steal, that’s why we don’t run into a shop and shoplift the shit out of their products.
      Because, you know, stealing is wrong, humanly speaking.
      Borrowing a DVD from your friends is not stealing, nor is copying said DVD and sending it over the internet. It doesn’t matter how much you want to distort reality, humanity and common sense using your brainwashed mind.
      The only reason stealing is bad is because, if I steal your computer, you’ll lose it, it is a finite good. That’s why stealing is wrong.
      
      Now, if everyone is pirating your product, then it means that your product is not worth paying and you should consider doing something else instead. This means you should find another job then.
    - Guest
      
      “So why should an artist not get paid?”
      
      Ask the copyright monopoly. They’re the ones stealing from artists, after all.
      
      ” Who would promote the artist”
      
      The artist, using the internet.
      
      “Who would pay for the recording studio, the press releases, the photos, and so on?”
      
      Professional-quality recording is free if you own a computer from the past 10 years, press releases cost nothing(just open Notepad or TextEdit and start writing), it costs nothing to take a photo, etc.
      
      “But did you pay that artist for his or her work?”
      
      Yes.
      
      “Music is a business, and it gets run like a business.”
      
      Actually, it’s run more like a sweatshop crossed with an extortion racket.
      
      ” But don’t think that gives you a license to steal.”
      
      Oh, you have to worry. Piracy isn’t stealing.
      
      Anyway, it looks like the copyright monopoly has done a good job conning you in to believing that their existence is necessary for the creation of art and the receiving of payment. And, of course, that piracy is the reason for all of an artist’s financial woes.
      
      So let me give you a red pill.
      
      http://www.google dot com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=pirates+%22buy+more%22
      
      Will you wake up or is the conditioning too strong?
    - Combatcar
      
      To Guest:
      
      Sorry for responding to my own message. For some reason my funky screen cuts off the “reply” button once the messages get nested to the third level.
      
      And apologies for giving the impression that I accuse you of stealing. I gotta remember to take out the implied “you” in my words. That’s why we have copy editors at work.
      
      The comments I made were about pirating in general, and not meant to suggest that you do so.
      
      It’s true that I do not get paid more when other people read what I write. But my employers do. And because what I write is of value to them, they can make money with their “middleman” fees. I could go direct to readers and ask for payment. But in the freelance business, only a minority can make a half-way decent living. Especially with the really boring, sleep-inducing technical stuff I do.
      
      This could go back and forth forever, with no resolution. Part of the fun of such discussions. So I will leave you and everyone here with fond wishes for a good night.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      “Guest, Thank you for the personal insult. That is a very unique way to carry on an adult conversation.”
      
      If, within a circle of adults, someone enters, spews a load of gibberish and false assumptions roughly equivalent to how on earth leprechauns will get the gold to put in their pots I’m sure most adults will give you an even more memorable response.
      
      “Also, I am someone who has always, always got my entertainment the way my parents and grandparents tought me. If I want an album or CD, I buy it.”
      
      So do pirates. The difference being that before buying a CD or in that time, a cassette, they usually got themselves a copy to listen to first. By way of radio, sneakernet, or lately by way of the internet.
      
      Those of us who grew into decent humans were also taught “Sharing Is Caring” and took it to heart. Which is why everyone you are adressing appears to be far more of a decent human being than you seem to be.
      
      “If you are a painter, would you paint someone’s house for free?”
      
      No, but what copyright assumes is that every time someone sees the painted house, or a picture thereof, I should get paid.
      I assume by your example that you do in which case you should go get professional help.
      
      “Does your bank charge ridiculous service fees? Then why are you using it?”
      
      We obviously do not but look for better and more efficient alternatives. Thus we have P2P and the darknets.
      
      “So why should an artist not get paid?”
      
      For the same reason you should, as a self-described working stiff, not expect to manufacture anything unasked, relasing it into the wild, and then try to ensure you got paid for everyone who made a copy of what just fell into their lap. This is true for EVERY business and profession. Not even priests get away with charging money per sermon anymore, nor can they sell indulgences, which amounts to the same feverish thinking “Copyright” relies on.
      
      A better question would be “Why should an artist be able to tell me – ever – what I may or may not do with my hard drive or CD?”
      
      “Music is a business, and it gets run like a business. We as consumers have to make the right choices.”
      
      No it isn’t. You will find no business on earth where the assumption is that people pay in perpetuity for the license to do with their own property as they wish. Or where the painter, as it were, should keep getting paid every time someone shows someone else a picture of the house he painted.
      
      “Then don’t buy the product. But don’t think that gives you a license to steal.”
      
      Again the tired old “theft” argument. This implies anyone making a copy is magically depriving someone else of theirs.
      If you don’t even understand the “copyright” you are in favor of, why even make such ill-informed commentary?
    - Just Me
      
      Why do you think copying is stealing or theft? There is no official definition of those terms that makes it so.
      
      Unfortunately this ignorant or naive statement on your part undermines anything else you’ve said and renders it useless.
      
      Thanks for taking the time though… :-|
    - Goat Rodeo
      
      @combatcar “So why should an artist not get paid?”
      
      cause i don’t WANT to be paid in cash to do art, i just want my art to get fucken VIEWS
      
      you can pay me a million dollars for a work, but if it gets no views I’ll still be as pissed as i would be without money, art without an audience is worthless and feels like a waste of my time
      
      a reply from a fan who likes my work, funny comments, GOOD useful criticism that isn’t simply nagging or someone wanting me to change it their way, even troll comments if they are entertaining, fan art, fan videos, money can’t buy this
      
      well, i guess it can, but it’s not the same, it’s not GENUINE
      
      buying it is like buying a spouse … it’s not the same, honest views/recognition/fans is/are very hard to come by, especially because art is such an over-saturated area
      
      just saying screw it and allowing people to just pirate the damn thing at the very least gives me VIEWS, saves me lots of time, they do all my advertising for me
      
      the more genuine the fanbase, the more likely they will pay me anyway, now if all i did was expect/demand money like the MAFIAA does and go apeshit when people who, honest to god, like my work happen to share it, well … let’s say i wouldn’t be surprised when people refuse to pay me
      
      views/recognition/fans > payment, because the more of the former you have, the easier the latter is to attain (unfortunately same is true if you replace pay with haters, but haters gonna hate)
    - Wallace
      
      “Also, thank you for assuming I am a troll. Sorry, but I’m a working stiff.”
      
      You’re a troll. You posted an irrelevant “pirates suck” spitball on a post about Antigua legally selling intellectual property. Which most posters seem to support. Nobody is talking about not paying Antigua.
      
      Many trolls don’t understand what “stealing” means, but you are a rare find who also doesn”t understand what “pirate” or “troll” means. I wonder if your “manuals, brochures, and technical articles” are filled with similar errors.
      
      “Then don’t buy the product.”
      
      Exactly. Buy the product .. from Antigua.
    - Tactical Nuclear Penguin
      
      “If you are a painter, would you paint someone’s house for free? If you were a plumber, would you fix someone’s house at no charge? (Friends and relatives excepted, of course.) ”
      Filesharers share files for free with friends and relatives, so exception granted!
      Sure some so-called friends in the filesharing community (and we are all friends in this community) can dump you in the poo if they are spying on you, but the same can happen in the real world too.
- Anyone
  
  the point of copyright is not to pay the creator
  it’s to pay the middlemen, only about 10% reach the artist
  
  there has been art before copyright, there will be art after copyright
  - xpmule
    
    ya good point what is it like a penny or two on the dollar for iTunes tracks ?
- Anyone
  
  also, funny you should mention libraries
  TPB is nothing but a modern library, it’s simply more efficient
  
  no artist is paid if I borrow his book in the library, funny you aren’t against libraries and demand them closed
- Anon
  
  Ok, so I you’re telling me that, if I can’t pay, I should not pirate because this will make artists stop producing content. But if I stop pirating I won’t have access to the content anyway, so what you’re saying is that we should stop pirating so that YOU will be able to keep having fun, and we should just accept that and stay out?
  
  Seriously, if pirating will bring down the whole industry, perfect! If they stop creating content at least we all are going to suffer together! We (pirates) are going to bring you down with us, or do you really think we will simply back off and leave you buyfags having all the by yourselves?
  - Buyfags LOL
    
    This
- xpmule
  
  “Artists” are free to make money any way they want.. It’s not my responsibility to make sure their wallet is full.. If their business model is failing then too bad don’t blame me for it and go do something about it.. CHANGE IT !
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  “So sad how many people here miss the point of copyrights. You pay for the content, the artist is encouraged to produce more content. Enough people don’t pay, and the artists don’t produce.”
  
  So sad how many trolls keep repeating the party line despite it having been disproven umpteen number of times around here.
  
  Good artists and great artists have no problems getting people to pay. Mediocre artists do not and these need to find themselves another vocation.
  
  Now, for anyone to keep repeating that silly mantra in an age where bloggers can make a good living of writing for free and Rebecca Black can obtain a 1000% roi on a youtube video voted the world’s most hated, or “Oppa Gangnam Style” has ensured PSY never needs to work another hour in his life….almost requires that the commenter is either bought, deluded, or staggeringly ignorant.
  
  Go get a clue and grow up, please.
  - SoundnuoS
    
    @Scary_Devil_Monastery
    
    Arrgh, same argument again.
    
    As I’ve pointed out, the reason these people make anything at all is because of copyright. Without that, their work would be monetized by someone else.
    - Tactical Nuclear Penguin
      
      So what you are saying is that before copyright was written into law nothing was ever created.
      I call bullshit on that. Care to prove otherwise?
    - SoundnuoS
      
      These discussions really do go in circles.
      If you read what I wrote, it says that they make their money because of copyright. Without copyright many others would be selling their songs without compensating them.
    - Anon
      
      Copyright should apply only to selling someone else’s work. It should be called “Salesrights”, so only the Salesrights holder would be allowed to profit from that work, that would be 100% fair. What is not fair is someone trampling over our freedom solely to protect their profits.
      If their business method doesn’t work anymore, it is time to let go of it. There are thousands of late industries and business practices that died because they were not necessary anymore or are not popular enough anymore to turn the enormous profit they used to.
      Do you think it would be fair to outlaw online news sites only to protect print media from ceasing to exist?
      Do you think that it would be fair to outlaw collecting rainwater that falls on your property because you would be stealing water from holders of Water Rights, and taking profit off the water company?
    - SoundnuoS
      
      Demanding that someone should work for free to provide you with something is indeed trampling someone’s freedom.
      
      Rainwater isn’t made by anyone, music and movies are.
      
      Short description of why copyright:
      
      What you’re paying for isn’t the medium, you’re paying to get an experience.
      
      The medium’s only job is to be the means to provide you with the experience. Without the experience the medium is worthless.
      
      That it’s a subjective experience doesn’t matter. Without the original creator of the material on the medium that experience would not be existing.
      
      The only way to distribute the material giving anyone the experience is on some kind of medium (cd, vinyl, cassette, file etc.) in the form of copies.
      
      Because these experiences are considered of some value by people, society has decided that the creator should have the right to charge for those copies.
      Hence copyright.
    - Anon
      
      I don’t remember demanding anyone to create anything. Artists and content creators are not being coerced into making stuff. The content creator can work as much as he wants, just don’t expect everyone to fork over money to him. Lots of people can watch, read and listen stuff for free even without piracy.
      
      I’m not against content creators being paid, I think they do deserve getting paid for their work. But it still doesn’t justify ripping off our rights little by little, one after another.
    - SoundnuoS
      
      No one has a “right” to have free access to media. If the content creator chooses to make it available for free then that’s another thing. S/he isn’t under any obligation to do that.
      
      If you take content that isn’t offered for free then that’s pretty much the same as demanding that the creator should work for free.
    - Scary_Devil_Monastery
      
      “As I’ve pointed out, the reason these people make anything at all is because of copyright. Without that, their work would be monetized by someone else.”
      
      And as we apparently have to keep pointing out, your argument fails on all levels.
      
      Without paternity rights and brand name protection indeed, these people would be in the crapper.
      
      Without copyright, not so – and that is exactly what Trent Reznor argued for, what happened to Rebecca Black and what Neil Gaiman and Paulo Coelho were speaking out on
      
      Hell, in Rebecca Black’s case, she put her video on youtube, in essence providing everyone viewing it with a free copy. And people still bought!
      
      If you feel compelled to refute an argument, please don’t try to do so by either lying or moving the goalpost onto the next planet.
    - SoundnuoS
      
      Paternity rights and brand name protection are all a part of IP. Copyright in the end is what gives them their value. (When it comes to immaterial products.)
      
      People are still buying because records, movies and books are still perceived as being something you should pay for.
      Without copyright that stops being the case. Everyone will know you’ll be able to get it for free from the net and everyone will in the long run be conditioned to think that’s the way it should be.
      
      See the amount of people already arguing that records should be seen as promotion in order to make some other kind of hypothetical income.
      According to a short line I found in a billboard article spaniards buy less than half an album / person compared to the rest of EU’s 3-4 albums / person.
      That is what no copyright does.
- Guest
  
  “So sad how many people here miss the point of copyrights.”
  
  Only one missed the point so far, and that would be you.
  
  Most people here love this copyright rule.
Wck1337

Well, hopefully other countries follow. WW3… i’m american but if we ever do happen to go to war for copyright.. i’m gone
- guest
  
  LOL there will never be a war for copyrights.thats just silly.also there will never be a WW3.there is just too much money tied up in the world for there to be a World War ever again.The world is a very different place then it was in 1914 & 1939
austinhamman

come on, not a single Pirates of the Caribbean joke?
Guest

Good luck Antigua
The US destroyed your economy(what a surprise, the US ruining other countries) and now you’ve got a good business modell that will also pave a way towards a better copyright structure for society.
I’m a bit worried by the words of the US.
It sounds like they could use one of their old tricks to invade Antigua.
What would it be now? Terrorism, protecting the children, bringing true democracy, bringing christian values, weapons of mass destruction?
Always gotta take USA threats seriously.
- Tactical Nuclear Penguin
  
  Just saying NO to the USA is enough to get a dose of “Goodwill’, gunboat style.
  But first they will try to remove the nasty regime in power and replace them with a new puppet government more conducive to their new masters. It’s worked so well elsewhere :)
bobmail

The US will roll out various economic blocks on the country, and soon enough Antigua will give in.

Their argument on gambling is lame, they are acting like only US consumers gamble. If the US is their target market, then they need to conform to US laws to operate in the marketplace.

No more direct flights soon….
- Anyone
  
  no, a site should only be required to be legal in the country it is hosted in
  if the US doesn’t want their citizen to access certain sites they can ask China if they can borrow their firewall
- http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
  
  You are mistaken.
  
  It’s the US that is in the wrong…they broke the GATS Treaty (General Agreement on Trade in Services) that is legally binding within the WTO, of which the US is certainly a member. You can tell that because all their companies act like governments when suing other countries for not letting Nike set up a sweatshop in the Philippines, or whatever.
  
  In fact, you want to talk economic blocks? Already an arbitration panel has authorized the sanctions against the US for failing to comply to WTO rules. This is exactly what we are talking about right now. Antigua is exercising its rights to legal sanctions.
  
  In fact, the rider to the arbitration specifically affirmed Antigua’s rights to ignore intellectual property rights of the US within their sanctions, and authorized them to take retaliatory measures.
  
  They are therefore permitted to ignore the Berne convention, TRIPS, the WIPO treaty, and the DMCA.
  
  Even better news! There’s no appeal to a WTO arbitration panel. The USA has no legal recourse in international courts WHATSOEVER . (bolded to annoy you)
  
  See, Antigua is being nice and legal. USA, not so much.
  
  Try pulling your head out of your ass before you spew vomit like that. It’ll burn less.
- Guest
  
  Ah, bobmail. Trying to ignore the fact that what the USA did is against the law for a WTO member like themselves.
  
  Roll out economic blocks because Antigua is about to do something 100% legal? Oh hell yeah, please try that USA. The WTO will love that.
  - xpmule
    
    Guest 1
    bobmail 0
- xpmule
  
  you shouldn’t get your info from scrying into your cheerios in the morning..
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  “The US will roll out various economic blocks on the country, and soon enough Antigua will give in.”
  
  You mean that the US would roll out economic blocks on a country acting in full compliance with a WTO agreement which indicates the WTO is already growing tired of US antics?
  
  I would love to see a world where that became reality because that means the WTO can give the goahead to any other member nation to ignore US-favorable trade treaties. In fiscal terms it means the same as declaring war on the organization which legitimizes every last other international treaty painstakingly hammered out by the US.
  
  However, once again I am forced to conclude that you didn’t really think this one through.
  
  Is this “Baghdad Bob”-Anon joyriding bobmail’s nick again or how are we to explain the utter lack of sense in your hipshot commentary?
  
  Because what you just said made as much sense as saying “You just wait, our lawyers will get a district judge to overturn this ruling by SCOTUS. Or well ignore it!”
  
  Normally I’d offer some more irony, but honestly, this is starting to feel like kicking a mental paraplegic.
ItsTheSasquatch

The MaFIAA will undoubtedly have their attack dogs in the US government block the site in America and prosecute–to a ridiculous, blatantly unconstitutional extreme–any US citizen who tries to use it. They’ll also try to force and/or bribe other countries to do the same. **** the MaFIAA.
Nono

Forget about Iran or the middle east, Antigua is the next stop for “democracy”.
yep

HHmm…

Let’s not forget Antigua is under British rule; the Queen is ;

” Elizabeth II is the present Queen of Antigua and Barbuda, having served in that position since the islands’ independence from the United Kingdom in 1981. The Queen is currently represented by Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack (1944–) who became the first woman to hold this position. A Council of Ministers is appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister, currently Winston Baldwin Spencer (1948–). The Prime Minister is the Head of Government.”

So, i doubt the british won’t come to the rescue of their american friends…
- cupid_stunt
  
  it was 1981 that changed things the uk will have nothing to do with this one, they have no interest, or anything to gain, the uk’s association with wadadli is virtually nil
mrmanhattan

Antigua’s problem is that it’s disapointed in the WTO judgement. It wanted 3.4 Billion unless the US allowed it to provide a service US companies were prohibited by law from offering. The WTO rejected the vast majority of Antigua’s argument, but they “won” about 1/2 of 1% of their demands because the US allows some limited horse racing and state run lotteries to operate online. Antigua is trying to make a “Mount Obama” out of a fire-ant hill. No one, not even the WTO, is buying it.
- Christopher Kidwell
  
  mrmanhattan, the point is that the gub’mint should not be banning these things, period and done with. Regulating them is okay, an out and out ban is not.
- Scary_Devil_Monastery
  
  “No one, not even the WTO, is buying it.”
  
  Unless WTO was “buying it” the WTO wouldn’t have told Antigua it was free to ignore a passle of US trade treaties in retaliation.
  
  Indeed, although this may have started as a molehill, the main problem is that the US has ignored the previous rulings of the WTO outright. And apparently this has pissed the WTO off enough that they chose to escalate.
  
  Hence whether it began as a single lonely silicate atom or as a mountain is irrelevant compared to the boulder the WTO just threw through the US window.
Andrew Lee

Antigua you mother fuckers have balls that clank! I take my hat off to you.
Kitlope

All of a sudden I wanna visit the antilies :)
Aj

i have the money and i want to use this service.go Antigua go
Karl

“And in two weeks everybody has forgot about this”
- cupid_stunt
  
  about what?
- xpmule
  
  we’ll forget what you just said when we scroll down lol
  hmm whats a good figure ?
  if i dwell on this issue for a year straight does that accomplish something i a unaware of ?
  is there a prize when i reach the 2 month mark ?
  at what point does the story get validated ?
  i guess when i look away from a mirror i cease to exist..
cupid_stunt

i love all this fighting on paper, it beats the bloody past of colonialism and slavery. they had better have cloud technology ready as the attacks on the site the create will be very rapid and very public
RIAA can’t be happy

Shame Antigua got a shitty pipeline coming out of their country.

Does this mean individuals can go setup business and run a Piracy website or is this the Government only?
Perhaps Kim can fly to Antigua, setup base, pay the government a fee every month to leave him alone and serve up with a big middle finger to the US govt.

I’m hoping similar stories will pop up!
2013sUxAlready

Well … it is good that they want to “compensate” their losses. They have legitimate reason to do so too as the USAholes are the typical hypocrite shits they are known to be. They are clearly in violation of free-trade and already blocked previous attempts of Antigua to enforce serious measures against American despotism that actually hurts their business. Good luck Antigua but I ain’t BUYING no hollywood shit. And as far as I know I don’t need access to something that is available for free elsewhere.
- 2013sUxAlready
  
  Ima come back and demand an update on the whole issue AFTER they present their plans to the WTO … we’ll see how that turns out when the bastards get bribed up the ass once again.
Antiguan Missile Crisis

Best option for Antigua is to offer the Russians or Chinese to build a nuclear missile base on Antigua ;-)
Aaaa

This is very convenient for the US. They could launch airstikes right from florida. They dont even have to move their carrier groups from the mideast. No shortage of targets with all the sailboats and yachts down there.
- http://profile.typepad.com/6p0120a5509de8970c ミッコ
  
  and get a lot of problems around the world
frozar

SEND IN THE DRONES!
http://www.facebook.com/al.pedley Alan Pedley

wow in protecting some gambling interests the US Gov’t is throwing intellectual property to the wolves… that’s one mixed up policy strategy
Aaaarrrr

This is incredibly wonderful news because it means there will be an openness in Antigua for proxies and even main server locations. In addition to that, because it is an island in the caribbean, all this has a “pirate” sort of feeling about it.

http://www.thepiratebay.ag

or even

http://www.demonoid.ag

Aaaarrrr Mateys, weigh anchor and make way for Antigy. Bring out yee fiddles. My ole pirate bones a feel like dancin’.
http://profile.yahoo.com/T6GESRQTIBB2EPBONASPMJUIOE Fuxy

Oh that’s funny. Well done Antigua. Hit them where it hurts don’t let them get away with ruining your economy.
http://www.theinternetbuzzer.com/ Ravi@technology Blog

What the Hell? Seems like America’s Gonna Put Rules for Everything
FunFunRahRah

Trade treaties are more what you’d call “guidelines” than actual rules.

Digital Pirates of the Caribbean FTW!
http://twitter.com/MidoThePirate Ahmed Omar

Long live freedom :)
Bluemax1965

The only reason that the US destroyed this industry here in Antigua was because the lobbyists for the US based casinos were upset that they did not control it and so did not profit from it, and so paid the US politicians to shut them down.

Antigua is having a rough time at the moment, but there is nothing the US can do, short of actually invading it, to stop this from happening. As for invading Antigua, the defence force is only 300 strong.

Antigua needs the revenue. Tourism has dropped of, there is no manufacturing industry, farming is just about non-existent.

The online gambling industry was a huge boon for the country. That, along with off shore banking, made it one of the richest in the Caribbean. Then the US killed the online gambling and refused to pay up after the judgement went against them in 2005. That left just the off shore banking industry. Then along came Obama and started attacking those countries that provided off shore banking services, including Antigua. The total amount that Antigua held for “tax dodgers” was less than US$600mil and with all things banking, that wasn’t all held here. most of that was in Europe or China. However since Europe is an ally of the US they don’t get hit, and China, well they do own 33% of the US, so they can’t do anything there. But Antigua, hell no-one is going to care, let’s get them.

Setting up this service could potentially get Antigua out of the hole it’s in. I, for one, am all for it.
- Aaaa
  
  They invaded grenada. Better start mining your bitches…I mean beaches
markh

Antiqua will not be invaded by the USA because the head of state of the island is Queen Elizabeth II of England. Further The WTO gave permission to Antiqua to shove the us copyright in the corner, because of the sancions of gambling. If they invade USA will be see in the world as agressors. and I have a feeling China will put the government bonds of USA on the market and USA would become bankrupt. LOL I want to see that happening
- guest
  
  you want ot see the US go bankrupt so the rest of the world economy collapses?some of you guys are so stupid,it hurts
  - guest
    
    you want ot see the US go bankrupt so the rest of the world economy collapses?some of you guys are so stupid,it hurts
    
    Seeesh, the stupidity of your post is astounding. /facepalm.
ric

Woooo count me in! I am still pissed off at the US govt for blocking my ability to play poker online so anything I can do to make the pressure the MAFIAA puts on law makers uncomfortable, I am there!!!
omni

so we block trade from then and now threaten them for the only plan they got going. know what screw it. i say go for it Antigua.
leonnewman

Just to be clear:

“because the United States refuses to lift a trade “blockade” preventing the island from offering Internet gambling services, despite several WTO decisions in Antigua’s favor.”

to be extra clear:

“because the United States refuses to lift a trade “blockade” preventing the island from offering Internet gambling services, despite several WTO decisions in Antigua’s favor.”

And for good measure:

“because the United States refuses to lift a trade “blockade” preventing the island from offering Internet gambling services, despite several WTO decisions in Antigua’s favor.”

It is this consistent bullying that is slowly but surely doing the US in.
- Chewy
  
  fucking truth!
  
  arrogance is the most expensive shit that one can ever afford in their lifetime. now Look at How U.S. ECONOMY is gettin fucked up:
  
  1)DEBT AT $16 TRILLION
  2)giving consistent blowjobs to China, Japan, Germany, and getting gang banged by the whole fucking European Union.
  3)U.S. Still never paid for its expenditures on war, seriously, from a conscious perspective, fucking soldiers gave up their shit for nothing, all the tax revenues given away like a stripper tip,
  
  i mean seriously, these clowns can abuse the fucking Federal Reserve System as much as they want, but these cocksuckers still fails to realize the reality:
  
  you can’t buy friends with money,
  
  bitch, you just can’t.
  
  i just want to add that It’s just so catastrophic to see from U.S. Citizen’s perspective that U.S.(United states of Suckers) is going to learn through a painful lesson through an anal probe/exploitation.
  - guest
    
    but heres the thing.its not gonna happen and we will still be here laughing at the rest of you.ah jealousy how funny it is
- Chewy
  
  When i mean Gangbang, i meant that U.S. is NOT A MAJOR POWER ANYMORE IN THIS WORLD.
  
  Just because U HAVE DRONES IN THE MILITARY AINT MEAN SHIT! MOTHERFUCKER U.S. AIN’T THE ONLY ONE WITH NUKES. FUCK. JUST SIMPLY FUCK.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005069441277 Chuck N Dies Last

Sweetness beans. Make it professional as the legit digital services. You may persuade me. I need to appetite more of my OCD lifestyle. But I may not choose. I will have laugh and browse though.
http://twitter.com/horsebones Leke

Well check out the pair on Antigua!

I hope this gives countries that don’t bow to Merica the same idea.
Spoken Word™

Not even 1 intelligent comment. More proof humanity is doomed.
NigglyWiggly

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Caribbean_-_Antigua.PNG

Do they even have a telecoms infrastructure?
123

Greatest news this century IF you live outside the U.S. – Wonder why Cuba doesnt try something similar.
- ARRGGHHH
  
  They’ve only just got a pipe connected maybe ol’ Castro saw this ruling by the WTO and figured he’d piss them off a bit more with a Warez site of his own.
disgusted

Wow, this thread really demonstrates the intelligence of your average torrent user.

The hell with fines, etc., the mpaa should start a campaign to nuke them all.
- IdiotAbove
  
  Abd in what circles would your comment be considered intelligent?
  - disgusted
    
    This forum :)
SoundnuoS

I’m kind of inclined to let this one go to Antigua, for a few reasons and with a few caveats.

I’m not too worried about the morality of gambling, so I don’t have an opinion from that pov. In many countries gambling is a fairly monopolistic activity where a lot of the gains are being paid out to various socially beneficial projects, so I suppose some protectionism could be justfifed from that pov.
This isn’t the case with the US, as far as I know. Gambling is a private business like every other.
The question becomes about how reliable online gambling is. I wouldn’t really trust it personally, but the WTO seems to think it’s ok. And there i agee with some of the criticism against the US, they should respect the international organisations they are a part of.
This seems to be more about pressuring the US government to do that.

Even if it goes through, I don’t think this will affect US rights holders that much, because Antigua still has to play by the WTO’s rules.
That means there will be no piratebay.ag. The business will be done by the Antiguan government.
The limit before they’ll have to compensate rights holders is 21 million. Compared to what’s being lost to piracy that isn’t that much.
In fact if all pirates abandon pirating for this and Antigua starts raking in billions, this could be the best thing in a long time for rights holders. (That’s a pretty big if though, free is still free.)

There’s also no way of telling what will be sold, could be anything from music to Manchester United t-shirts, according to Reuters.

Since they will be selling online they will in fact be exporting globally, so I’m guessing the question of dumping will arise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumping_(pricing_policy)
Unless they want to be accused of globally dumping the prices they’ll have to stick fairly close to existing price levels. That would mean somewhere around 9 for digital albums. That means 0.05$ streaming is very unlikely to happen.
townie2

i hope TF will keep us informed as to when this starts up.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Johnny-Cash/100002427462340 Johnny Cash

Antigua sees this as the most lucrative plan they came up with. Get your heads out of your asses and realise the truth. Everybody is in it for themselves. The same people who approved of this could just as easily get an offer that is more lucrative to them and turn on their words. It’s called a bribe.
This may be good news in general but remember it’s all about the money and ethics are a thing of the past. Next time you want to idolize a country or a person, try to understand what motivates them and you’ll see it’s not all rainbows and unicom poop. Gadhafi, he treated his people like shit but at the same time gave them more than what most people get in fully developed countries.
Magic_torrent

How will they get the actual media? Because if their sources are the same as those used in your typical torrent, then what is the point?
mc007

I am glad to spend some bucks to that sweet island !
Raymond Stevens

Good for Antigua. The U.S. rulers are amoral effers. Unfortunately Antigua can expect to be bombed shortly.
Mouseanony

5$/mo where do I sign?
http://www.facebook.com/mark.dial.9 Mark Dial

Is usa in china? Not sure
BenJamin

Does anyone know if this will be accessible in the US because it would be awesome if I could use this website
Webbie

This is indeed awesome news, Can’t wait to sign up
GovernmentObserver

A company of Marines can take of this problem.
- ScrewEwe2
  
  The problem is, our military has become like a company. “Beware the military industrial complex”. Ike was right. The military is supposed to defend America, not prop up other countries economies and destroy other countries to prop up our economy. Things have gotten way in the fuck out of control.
Simon

I actually dont like this. Im a Pirate, yes. But I am forced to Pirate. I wish to support those who make the great content in HD, but the publishers business model force me to Pirate. As a guy who works 84 hours I cant allocate time to watch a TV show, so I Pirate. But I refuse to give money to those who wish to Pirate.
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I dislike names

Oh, the amount of butthurt and hilarity combined is off the scale. No matter how this ended, absolutely made my day.
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american citizen

my understanding is internet gambling is illegal everywhere in america. so why does another country think it has a right to force the US to allow internet gambling? it it was allowed (legal) in the US that would be another story.. watch the companys who are being pirated hire hackers and tack down the pirate sites. lol and it is pirating the wto is punishing companys not the government who is not allowing it. that is misplaced “justice”.
- http://www.facebook.com/richard.richardson.5661 Richard Richardson
  
  It is allowed for horseracing and lotteries, they have a carve out. Also the wire act (sports betting) does not apply to poker. In any case the wire act is a restraint of trade between US states and with international firms
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IonOtter

Wow. Antigua just slapped it’s dick in Uncle Sam’s face. Well played, Antigua! Well played indeed!
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001120910245 Leto Atreides

Antigua has made a press release stating that this is false.

http://cananewsonline.com/news/85919-pure-conjecture.html
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DukeWolfe

Murica!
hansdampf

fuck yeah!
Chthonicfish

Remind me again, why do I care if someone picks Hollywood’s pocket? They can all go to hell in a handbag!
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Da pric

The Caribbean will be the victims for this as the us will just increase abandoninging the islands. Same way the uk came up with the tax for tourist all the would need to do to require stricter measures for their cruise ships and plane to not fly into antigua or make the process even harder. This would ultimately kill tourism in the Antigua. It’s not very hard to convince the uk to follow suite.
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jesus plays chess

Go Antigua Go
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ratbertovich

Lots of US dollars from satistified customers seem like real, tangible benefits to me. So, Antigua should say “thanks, but no, thanks!” to the vague promise of vague benefits from the US government (by the way which, more and more, represents US corporations and not US citizens).
TheSteelGeneral

hmmm, I am happy about this but I think the US will come down on Antigua hard in some other fashion
wobuashdsf

http://ur1.ca/c4ee0
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dent

My prediction: They do it, Antigua gets their economy back on track, nothing special happens except in USA where the state continues to waste billions on preventing people from using the service, taxpayers pay the party and copyright holder continue to make billions.
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USFUKER

FUK USA
TheTruth

All they have to do is cut the cable.
Dont get too excited, boys.
http://twitter.com/migueltovar Miguel Tovar

If approved, Antigua will be the Pirates of the Caribbean :)
http://www.facebook.com/scottneuman Scott Neuman

Pay backs are a bitch
A1rN1nja

I’m more concerned about demonoid.me coming back online honestly.
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http://www.facebook.com/nhewitson1 Nigel Hewitson

I think anyone who has been to the states would say that Americans are really kind, caring, and friendly people. It’s ironic that their govt whether Republican or Democrat is hell bent on flouting international law and protecting American interests regardless of consequences to other countries sovreign rights.
TheUSStatesShouldDisban

I’m curious if the US will insist that Cable Providers block access to the internet site. Interesting indeed. $5.00/Month? count me in!
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Hiya_tiger

I wonder if MEGA can operate there?
Che

Well done Antigua. I wish my own coward govt (Australia) had the same balls.
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TheAnon1337minus1

If it comes true, I’m subscribing. United States lobbyist can go and fuck themselves.
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elderago

ugh I am ashamed of my country, I wish the best for antigua
Disgusted

How dare the yanks talk of invading Antigua. Why don’t those cheapskate yanks just pay up as directed by WTO in 2005? If the yanks do invade, the world community should charge the US gov/mil with war crimes.
shertink

Antigua has population of 80,000, named after Santa Maria de la Antigua.
The United States Air Force maintains a small base near the airport as part of its Eastern Range, used for space missions and communications.
The University of Health Sciences Antigua (UHSA) and the American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine teach aspiring doctors.
Antigua’s economy is reliant upon tourism, and it markets itself as a luxury Caribbean escape. Antigua is also supported by the growing medical school and its students.

Antigua was one of the very first nations to legalize, license, and regulate online gaming and is a primary location for incorporation of online gambling companies.
In 2006 the United States Congress voted to approve the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act which criminalized the operations of offshore gaming operators which take wagers from American-based gamblers. This was a prima facie violation of the GATS treaty obligations enforced by the WTO, resulting in a series of rulings unfavorable to the US.

On December 21, 2007 an Article 22 arbitration panel ruled that the United States’ failure to comply with WTO rules would attract a US$21 million sanction. The WTO ruling was notable in two respects:

First, although technically a victory for Antigua, the $21 million was far less than the US$3.5 billion which had been sought; one of the three arbitrators was sufficiently bothered by the propriety of this that he issued a dissenting opinion—an unprecedented move.

Second, a rider to the arbitration ruling affirmed the right of Antigua to take retaliatory steps in view of the prior failure of the US to comply with GATS. These included the rare, but not unprecedented, right to disregard intellectual property obligations to the US.

Antigua’s obligations to the US in respect of patents, copyright, and trademarks are affected. In particular, Berne Convention copyright is in question, and also material NOT covered by the Berne convention, including TRIPS accord obligations to the US. Antigua may thus disregard the WIPO treaty on intellectual property rights, and therefore the US implementation of that treaty (the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA)—at least up to the limit of compensation.

Since there is no appeal to the WTO from an Arbitration panel of this kind, it represents the last legal word from the WTO on the matter. Antigua is therefore able to recoup some of the claimed loss of trade by hosting (and taxing) companies whose business model depends on immunity from TRIPS provisions.

Software company SlySoft is based in Antigua, allowing it to avoid nations with laws that are tough on anti-circumvention of technological copyright measures, in particular the DMCA in the United States.
Ref: wikipedia.org
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John

i’am an Antigua fan now !!!
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atreu

its amazing how many brainwashed sheeple there are on this site
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https://catalog.librivox.org/search.php?simple=sleeper+awakes+wells theunknownsleeper

This is exceptionally good news. I am 100% opposed to any and all copyright and patent law.
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Webdragon

Since i am not the US government But i am currently a copyright holder does this mean i can sue their govement supported piracy site if my copyrighted product shows up on their site?
Bush is Evil

“Antiguans are Muslim theocrats who want to impose Sharia law on the US!”
— George W. Bush

“Antigua has weapons of mass destruction!”
— Colin Powell

“We’ve sent those drones to Antigua just to assist authorities fight terrorism. Believe us!”
— Barack Obama

“Bomb, bomb, booooomb… Bomb Antigua!”
— John McCain
Antiguan

As an Antiguan, don’t get your hopes up. Our government couldn’t pull off a website like this and even if we get any money, its going right in their pockets and not going to help Antigua at all.
- Fayte
  
  Lol The government maybe can’t. But others maybe can. ;D
  However, everything depends on USA’s reaction towards this move.
anon

AHHHR MATEY’S Antigua is once more home of the pirate AHHHRRR. USA is gonna be sooooooo pissed they will find a way to stop it.
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dR435t4

Big Brother can dish it out, but can’t take it…
Buy and Share

Now I might just buy products directly from SlySoft instead of torrenting the products. Or maybe I should buy the SlySoft products and share them.
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HahaUSAsuxbags

USA the terrorist nation needs sanctions against them. Pirate the shit of their garbage and if you wanna buy their products, get them from china. F#$K USA, let those inbred a$$holes rot in hell.
Fayte

I’m from Antigua. Just looking at this story for a few months now. What do you think of a torrent site instead of a warez site? lol
I’ve been downloading/supporting torrents for 10+ years and if this is a temporary or not bypass on copyright material….Lets say we will see Pirate Bay #2. =/
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SomeAmericanDouche

America eat a dick, You have spent the last 100+ years fucking over every other counrty, it used to be easy cause you could buy or lie your way out of trouble… now the only ones left with their head still up your ass is Australia and those wankers will wake up too onces that dopy cunt of a PM is voted right the fk out.

The Internet and Free News is making that hard to lie cheat and steal isn’t America…, times are a changing.

(To be clear, I’m not targeting individual American’s I’m sure you are all nice people, but the presentation of America is a bunch of usless corrupt assholes,

The best part about all this is America is at the mercy of China now anyway). Maybe China could just call in the 1.3 Trillion dollar debt the US can’t pay, bring the entire country into recession.

The US needs to look at their future like this:

We used to get it all our way, times have changed, we can fight this and we will be the loosers OR we can take the little pride left, put our now small worn out willy back in our pants and mind our own fucking business.
SomeAmericanDouche

America conduct organised “terrorisim” on their own people.
/b/loody flies

demoinoid.ag anyone???
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dogbreath

“Fuck america” said the world

lol

The end.
Thom

LOL. I can’t wait for this to open up. I’ll be first in line to subscribe.
http://www.facebook.com/people/James-Heymans-Randall/541765320 James Heymans Randall

Art is meant to be shared.
http://www.facebook.com/charlie.sam.161 Charlie Sam

shity
Goodcountrieshatecapitalists

Okay cool – I’ll now add Antigua to my “I like this place” list and they shall deserve my tourism and support.
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Ryan B

Mutiny of the Ancients

– by private -

For millenniums the Ancients had harnessed the power of man. Ironically, man’s own lust for power demanded their subordinance. Countless wars had been waged for control over their invaluable Scales. The Ancients basked in their aggrandized worth. Gluttony. The eternal, majestic beasts decayed in ferocity. Civilization thought nothing of it – this is as we all desire.

Dragons took their nirvana as a given. Interaction with man poisoned their consciousness with demonic ego. Man seemingly possessed the evolutionary intelligence to command the consciousness virus. And so, something remarkable was to happen..

As these cells infected Earth, they became increasingly effective at harnessing the energy around them. Earth osmosis. Nothing in comparison to the wielding of a scale. How unfortunate.

As civilization developed, so to, the understanding of Scales. Marvelous opportunity for man to flourish? This was displeasing to the Ancients of course. They would raid the villages and maim children. Man under challenge is a dangerous thing. Not in their ferocity; in their ingenuity and resilience.

The engineer pirate rebellion spawns.

Mere mortals they are. Ingenious, resilient mortals. It was only until the medium became available, we would now understand them as immortal. Glorious ships that traveled on the harnessed power of Scales. Sharing the Scale energy among those less fortunate. How displeasing.

Man’s civil intelligence had grappled equal rights to the infinity of scales. One thing stood but in their way. The Ancients. Despite their misguided persecution, the pirate class at heart were proponents for fellow rights. Privy to a higher understanding of the humane chastity and blessed with Godly ingenuity. The engineers naturally progressed into collection – the talent of mankind. They understood scale infinitum as higher order than egotistical cranks.

The Ancients became increasingly flustered. Innocent souls suffered. Engineer pirates collected in the skies. Plans were drafted; for the machine, of most unimaginable power. Exceeding even their own expectations. You see, forged within the scaly struct was the essence of all man. Formidable.

Years passed..

The Ancients were no more. The battle was beyond words – for it became legendary Fathers would say, how the battle was won, important not. Why the battle took place, important is.

So it was written, man evolves beyond the Scale, but it is still of their essence.

Sorry poly

Backstory

A few years ago I met an awesome girl who I friended. I got her hooked on reddit ; ) I destroyed the friendship : ( When we first met she told me she liked stories with pirates and dragons. Her friends would write little ones for her. Rather than an aimless story, I have interlaced a metaphor that hopes to spread inspiration to the music industry. She is a huge music fan. This story is me saying sorry.

ps

amature
http://twitter.com/webmastardd webgurl

There are plenty of other places to buy/watch movies without going to these people. dumb.
http://www.facebook.com/theprofessor.rockhill TheProfessor Rockhill

Pirates of the Caribbean.
Ryan

Woow! Just woow! ..let me log in!
guest

How goes the punishment? Good I take it..?
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WoW

WoW i am in cant wait
Daniel Galan

Take that US Copiright!
dome stuff

The WTO can’t enforce anything. And while the MPAA/RIAA can ‘t do anything themselves, they can certainly finance a coup. I expect Antigua will soon be renamed: “Disney Island, brought to you by Blackwater.” At which point, gambling will again be legalized.
randomperson

lool this is great
USA, you dont own the world!

I want the adres to this site if it becomes a reality! :)
http://twitter.com/Trabant ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) moela

Good luck Antigua, you’ll need it, but you’re on the right side of history.
James

Well the US government sure is stupid, I say lets eat them for lunch and do what ever the hell we want, the world isn’t America anyway they seem to think there map extends around the globe but thats Americans narrow minded view these days they dont realise that other country’s exist outside of America and that the world doesn’t revolve around them
ScrewEwe2

Bob, just have Anon use some mouthwash, problem solved.
Cadet

I disagree. The majority of Americans are good people. A bit reactionary sometimes and the precocious kids they feature in their sitcoms and films seem a bit strange to the rest of the world. Their army needs to be trained to not be like Clint Eastwood and all their politicians need to be force-fed Plato’s Republic rather than the bible. Its a shame more of them don’t holiday in Europe and the East – might open their minds. Their support of Israel’s slow-burn destruction of the Palestinian people was the reason for 9/11. The Americans wholesale punishment of other countries is a bit strange – imagine one minute you’re a Vietnamese farmer sitting around minding your own business then all off a sudden a host of American soldiers swoop down on your country to fight the rise of communism. I think most Vietnamese people during that period must have wondered what the hell they had done to deserve napalm and bombing since most people are not really politically driven – more driven to raise a family and provide food and comfort for them. I imagine a lot of Americans have the same family aims. The torrent scene is about bringing the world together – we swoop down on all countries as an unarmed army without national allegiance with the aim of removing cultural stupidity by dropping file-bombs all over. Boom! You’re now more alive not more dead.

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