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Antigua’s Legal “Pirate Site” Authorized by the World Trade Organization

During a meeting in Geneva today the World Trade organization (WTO) authorized Antigua’s request to suspend U.S. copyrights. The decision confirmed the preliminary authorization the Caribbean island received in 2007, and means that the local authorities can move forward with their plan to start a download portal which offers movies, music and software without compensating the American companies that make them.

warez-agLast week we broke the news that the island nation Antigua and Barbuda wants to start a Government run “pirate” site.

Today, this plan came a step closer to reality when the Caribbean country received authorization from the WTO to suspend U.S. copyrights during a meeting in Geneva.

This decision affirms the preliminary approval that was granted to Antigua in 2007 after the country won a gambling related trade dispute against the United States.

At the moment it’s still unclear what Antigua’s exact plans are but TorrentFreak is informed that the media portal will offer movies, TV-shows, music as well as software to customers worldwide.

Antigua’s Finance Minister Harold Lovell said in a comment that the U.S. left his Government no other option than to respond in this manner. Antigua’s gambling industry was devastated by the unfair practices of the U.S. and years of negotiations have offered no compromise.

“These aggressive efforts to shut down the remote gaming industry in Antigua has resulted in the loss of thousands of good paying jobs and seizure by the Americans of billions of dollars belonging to gaming operators and their customers in financial institutions across the world,” Lowell says.

“If the same type of actions, by another nation, caused the people and the economy of the United States to be so significantly impacted, Antigua would without hesitation support their pursuit of justice,” the Finance minister adds.

The Government has not given a time-frame for the release of the site, which has been in the works for a few months already. Ideally, Antigua hopes to settle the dispute before opening up their free media portal but there are no signs that the U.S. is going to comply with the WTO rulings.

Thus far, the U.S. has only warned Antigua that “Government-authorized piracy” would harm the ongoing settlement discussions.

“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,” U.S. officials said earlier.

However, these comments haven’t changed Antigua’s course. Emanuel McChesney, Chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Investment Authority, is not impressed by this apparent scare tactic.

“We assume this is just rhetoric for public consumption, and we look forward to the United States putting aside these tactics and focusing their future efforts on thoughtful negotiation rather than on hyperbole and intimidation,” McChesney.

The Antiguan government further reiterated today that the term “piracy” doesn’t apply in this situation, as they are fully authorized to suspend U.S. copyrights. It is a legal remedy that was approved by all WTO members, including the United States.

If Antigua does indeed pull through, it will be rather interesting to see how the U.S. responds. It might add a whole new dimension to the ongoing “war on piracy.”

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  • f*ck you USA

    Antigua 1, MAFIAA 0

    lol, i’ll never use it but i’m glad to see it

    • anon

      Im definitly moving to Antigua !!

      By the way, bring th old comment system back !! This one sucks.. how much time you guy at Torrentfreak will figure that out ??

      • bobmail

        Yup, you can go there and pay twice as much for staple foods and so on. Smooth move!

        Oh, and BTW: This version of discus (disgust?) sucks monkey balls.

        • Chilly8

          But if Antigua really goes for broke, and totally allows any pirate site to set up that wants to, you could make enough money to more than cover the higher food costs.

          I read once that when Richard O’Dweyer was finally nicked, his TVShack site had raked in something like US$300,000 in a year.

          So if Antigua goes for broke and allows any pirate that that wants to to set up shop in the country, you would probably make several times that amount with the right website.

        • bobmail

          Does not compute. Either you are saying that piracy for money is a working business model (which makes it illegal almost everywhere) or it isn’t. Considering AG is an island, you don’t think that their internet connections are going to be easily blocked off from entering the US and such?

          If there is money in piracy, then you are admitting that commercial piracy exists, and that is a real problem, no?

        • Guest321

          Yeah sucks for you and your paymasters eh bobby?

        • bobmail

          Hey guest… FUCK OFF. I don’t have any paymasters, you stupid idiot.

        • Guest

          Yeah Guest321, we’re not supposed to know that bobmail works for the MAFIAA.

          He’s supposed to be all undercover and shit, don’t'cha know?

          If you keep saying he’s not fooling you they might fire him. :(

        • markh

          it seems you have a paymaster otherwise you wont waste your time trolling, troll getting agressive hahaha because you lost

        • Scary_Devil_Monastery

          You mean you post the garbage you do for free?

          That’s just…I mean, even clowns do get paid…

        • Guest

          Holy fuck, bobmail. You need to sober up before you post on TF, because your reply has shit to do with anything Chilly8 said.

          Your comments have gone from plain old trolling to… Whatever madness this is.

        • icec0ld

          “saying that piracy for money is a working business model (which makes it illegal almost everywhere) or it isn’t”

          Not in Antigua. It’s UN sanctioned plus US law and copyright only has the weight it is given by other governments.

          “Considering AG is an island, you don’t think that their internet connections are going to be easily blocked off from entering the US and such?”

          And the US would willingly detonate this landmine? You do realize that countries with internet cables either

          a. own the cables themselves

          b. are owned by a business entity that runs them

          “If there is money in piracy, then you are admitting that commercial piracy exists, and that is a real problem, no?”

          There is money in piracy. It’s called “making content easy to obtain and cheap to purchase with minimal fuss”. Hollywood is more interested in bolstering DVD and Blueray sales and squeezing cash from whoever form people who would or are likely their customers, potential or otherwise.

        • Ardvaark

          “Considering AG is an island, you don’t think that their internet
          connections are going to be easily blocked off from entering the US and
          such?

          What the flying fuck? You have absolutely no idea of how communications work do you?

          Geographical limitations affect the ability to limit what data enters and leaves a country as much as screaming at a tree will make the leaves fall.

          If the cables won’t go to the USA maybe they can go through Venezuela, Cuba or , you know, any of the other 8 our 9 closer, neighbour countries? Also you don’t need to be directly connected with other country’s cables to communicate with it… Welcome to the internet. And you know what? you don’t even need cables! Since Antigua is an island they can actually use satellites! imagine that! I bet your single grey cell hadn’t even grasped such concepts yet!

        • bobmail

          You better check again… you want to bet the connectivity comes from US companies? You need to dig up your undersea cabling map to understand what I mean. You might grasp what is really going on here. They can go live with their pirate sites, and the US will obligate US companies to stop offering them service or be liable. End of problem.

        • Joe Brown

          then the us is going against the world trade organization and there shall be severe punishment, and no cutting of the cables either.

        • icec0ld

          The US sever internet cables at the behest of Hollywood?

          Honestly, you’re so full of it.The US doesn’t own those cables. Telecommunication companies in the US (big fucking difference) do and to cease connectivity to any one place would irrevocably harm internet speeds worldwide.

        • bobsuckit

          lol @ Bob For Claiming to know alot … of horse poo. For starters Those Usa Telco Companys actually have forign investors. So Closing links is never going to happan, And Even if it does there is always another route out of america.

          think of it this way, Is the usa had the power to stop the internet to a certain country, places like North Korea would be cut off years ago. Also Not all lines are owned By Usa, Heck Facebook just laid a 40mil(Guessing-Dont rember) Line Between asia and asia :P .

        • markh

          hahahaha you are funny and stupid

        • Scary_Devil_Monastery

          And the US will be sending a message to the WTO that “We don’t give a flying fuck what you say”.

          Which can turn into a bad move as the WTO owns the right to abolish every trade treaty the US ever made with the rest of the world.

          Real smart move. Almost Anon-quality.

          So let me get this straight, your master plan is for the US to take a WTO decision affecting an industry even smaller than the pet toy industry and turn it into a trade war which could gut the US’s ability to keep one single company afloat anywhere else in the G20?

          I’ll have to rethink my earlier snap judgement. Maybe you DO work for the copyright industry because no where else would we find such a singular lack of common sense.

        • Ardvaark

          Here’s where it gets hilarious, I do understand exactly what is going on. Underwater cables aren’t usually financed by a single company because they are expensive, also, those companies are usually on separate countries.

          For example with Antigua there’s a fibre optic cable across all the Caribbeans which, surprise surprise, is owned partially by the US and… France and Antigua’s very own ISP!

          So such decision is NOT up to the US alone.. boo hoo…

        • yikes

          I like this! so I am ringing in LOL. The US is like 16 Trillion dollars in debt. backing you up I would say the US is in no position to block any country. If the WTO members wanted out of the debt the US Owes the USA would become the property of another country most likely china.

        • http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole

          So…..you’re suggesting……that the US, who violated the GATS treaty, and had sanctions imposed upon them as a result…should prohibit the sanctions? Wouldn’t that further violate the GATS treaty and prevent Antigua from carrying out commerce internationally? (It would) Wouldn’t that lead to even worse sanctions? (it will)

        • DickTater

          o…..you’re suggesting……that the US, who violated the GATS treaty,
          and had sanctions imposed upon them as a result…should prohibit the
          sanctions? Wouldn’t that further violate the GATS treaty and prevent
          Antigua from carrying out commerce internationally? (It would) Wouldn’t
          that lead to even worse sanctions? (it will)

          No they went through proper channels and the proposition was voted on and upheld. Antigua has the right to not recognize the US Patent Office. This is very significant and I would be in the bet that the rest of the world will follow suit and the US Patent office will be soon a Joke only to US residents. The rest of world will be free and only the US will remain in the communist grip of Hollywood, Corporate American and the US Patent office. “Free Country My ASS”

        • http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole

          No they went through proper channels and the proposition was voted on and upheld. Antigua has the right to not recognize the US Patent Office. This is very significant and I would be in the bet that the rest of the world will follow suit and the US Patent office will be soon a Joke only to US residents. The rest of world will be free and only the US will remain in the communist grip of Hollywood, Corporate American and the US Patent office. “Free Country My ASS”

          fully agree, and approve. Only replying to indicate that I was being strongly sarcastic and am actually in favour of Antigua’s actions…it’s about time.

          On reddit there are strong pro-american stances indicating that action against Antigua, in terms of site blocking, DNS blocks, and ICE-related takedowns are not only legitimate but unavoidable and necessary. while I can appreciate pro-american sentiment, there’s a big difference between the american people and the american government, and I’m glad to see it not reflected here at least.

        • ScrewEwe2

          And many of us can use VPN’s, Proxies or TOR to access Antigua from just about anywhere we choose in addition to alternate DNS servers. Blockie no Workie.

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Gawain-Fraites/693895566 Gawain Fraites

          What I knwo is that there’s two ISP providers in Antigua, LIME which is the phone company and ACT which most likely use cables. They get their feed from Guadeloupe like us here in St. Kitts who use Cable. So it’s soo much re-routing crab that even if they block some the traffic they won’t block all. Plus all the traffic won’t be coming from the US. So don’t think it’s so easy for the US to just simply restrict their ISP from providing the Antigua site service. There’s always a work-around.

        • Kiesha

          u forget the internet say from one connection connects to many and makes things faster (ie bittorrent)… say seeder is 5KB upload and is done uploading in 1 day but there are 5 or more leachers (less wtv) and they are uploading up to 20KB if needed each = one slow + others = fast (er)

        • Guest

          No, Chilly is being silly. Piracy for money is never a “business model”. Otherwise RIAA damages would actually make sense.

        • DangDickWad

          No, Chilly is being silly. Piracy for money is never a “business model”. Otherwise RIAA damages would actually make sense.

          Piracy is only Piracy because they call it piracy!

          IE: You listen to music you didn’t pay for on the radio! Yes someone else is paying for it and the term piracy would still apply because you didn’t actually pay for what your listening too!. It is being shared with you by someone who paid for it.

          So as far as RIAA goes:

          They are by far the “largest Pirate Organization on EARTH” They have not produced managed or created a single Movie Soundtrack or Product. They charge the Artists. They Sue the end user. They produce nothing significant for the furtherance of the artist or the movie/record industry.They basically try to “steal from everyone and give nothing back” (“Pirates of the Caribbean”)

          Now Piracy as a “business model”

          Well sorry to say this but piracy is a great business model. Maybe not in a conventional sense but if it was just a bunch of good old boys trying to deliver free content for free than that would not be good. but the world doesn’t work that way. like Google and Facebook you give away the free stuff to draw traffic. That is the “Business Model” Traffic means advertising money. It means partnerships with organizations and people with money.

        • Scary_Devil_Monastery

          ” then you are admitting that commercial piracy exists, and that is a real problem, no?”

          Was that a straw man or an attempt at moving the goal post? Both?

          Go read the pirate party platform on what constitutes commercial piracy. Then we’ll talk.

          But I’m not surprised a pro-copyright troll would be assuming everyone else is going to angst over facts.

        • Boltie

          1. They are going to be selling the software. At what price nobody knows, but it will be cheap and they get to claim all profit.

          2. They have to begin paying for the rights once they make 20 odd million. Not much really. It’ll be good for a kickstart company to get a fast growing userbase, but the follow up service has to be worth paying for.

          If they don’t play this right, it may end up costing more in putting together than they are going to get back. A wait and see with this one.

        • Boltie

          They could just sell to their own people which may improve their education and entertainment choices. It would also make that 21 million last a few years.

          I’m not sure what’s to stop them from giving stuff away and thereby making no money back? This will means they never hit the limit to trigger payment to the rights holders again. Free forever?

        • http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole

          It’s not piracy when the government and WTO have officially sanctioned it. fuckknob.

        • POV

          It’s not piracy when the government and WTO have officially sanctioned it. fuckknob.

          WTF: Since when has government not been in the piracy business? Ever heard of the IRS or DMV or The Department of Revenue or the Criminal Justice System. Just because they Sanction it doesn’t mean it isn’t piracy it just means it is Government sanctioned Piracy. When you go to court for piracy it only means that the government sanctioned the piracy not you downloading it so pay the fine.

        • http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole

          big difference when the world trade organization has authorized your country to ignore intellectual property agreements like the berne convention. that’s not piracy, because piracy (in terms of file sharing) is categorized as “The unauthorized duplication of goods protected by intellectual property law (e.g. copying software unlawfully).”

          having it authorized by the WTO means it’s not unauthorized, see. it’s part of the very definition of the word.

        • teenygozer

          Government sanctioned pirate = “privateer”. Because we need a new word and the best new word is a revived old word.

        • Frank Merton

          Maybe I misread but only the government is going to be doing this.

        • Chris

          They aren’t going to let random pirate sites run. They have the right to set up their own site to sell US created media online without repaying the US copyright holders.
          The idea is they can recover the money they lost due to US shutting down their gambling by selling these media.
          If they let anyone set up a pirate site they would not be able to make money off sales and so that is not what they will do. This is a two part, fuck you guys in the US and make some money plan. They won’t drop the make money part.

        • Guest

          Well, Baghdad bobmail, if you don’t have anyone paying you to be this obtuse and ignorant, then yeah, you pretty much ARE stupid.

      • vetyu

        I prefer this new comment system, the most voted comment goes to the top and you can also downvote, much better than the old one. Thanks Torrentfreak for changing i hated the old system.

        • Guest321

          Yeah that’s one of the good side effects. Relevant comments will swing to the top and troll comments which are mostly always rhetoric will languish at the bottom so as not to waste anyone’s time. Not a bad change afterall I must admit.

        • john doe

          Yeah, but do you ever read the comments section again, the next few days, for more interesting comments?

          If you do, and you order by “best”, then you’ll notice that on the next days lots will be shuffled, and you can’t just skip to the point you left before.

          If you only change to “newest” on the second read, you’ll most certainly have to re-read lots of crap you already did, losing time again.

          So, it seems this option actually saves time only for the “one time readers”.

      • BJonesTF

        The old system is not coming back. disqus has been moving over to this (‘disqus 2012′) for the last 6 months or so and is discontinuing support for the old setup. And once a system is moved to 2012, it can NOT be moved back.

        So it’s staying as it is. Like it or lump it.

        And the side effect that it’s better on mobile systems, and doesn’t have the site-breaking script errors when it comes to moderation. Oh and fixing some compatability errors between the latest wordpress and disqus is a HUGE plus too.

        • bobmail

          yeah, but sadly, it moves discussions around based on votes and fucks up the flow, which means that relevant but unpopular statements are lost, while singing to the choir “fuck the MAFIAA!” posts all sail to the top as every kiddie clicks the up button. Basically, it breaks discussions here and makes it worth a lot less to bother posting.

          My solution is to corrupt whatever post is on top, and turn it into the current discussion regardless.

        • http://insight.pinkonbrown.org/ Dr P Fenderson

          There’s a little dropdown by the “Discussion” tab. If it’s ordered by “Newest” or “Oldest”, it won’t sink posts due to votes.

        • john doe

          But the default seems to be ordering by votes / “best”.

          I’d say many people will not notice the option to change and will get used to just read the first comments (the next ones are inferior anyway, right?) and leave faster.

          In fact, using this order by “best” makes it extremely annoying to reread the comment section for new comments the next day, because it breaks the sequence almost completely.

          Having to register to downvote is very silly. What’s next, mandatory FaceBook?

        • MadAsASnake

          Well, I guess you are neither relevant nor popular. Despite it being about the brightest post you have ever made.

        • markh

          why you think that everone is a kiddie. I bet that you are one 12 year old

        • Scary_Devil_Monastery

          What you are saying is that people trying to peddle arrant nonsense such as your own low self aren’t going to be able to hog the lion’s part of the debate just by spamming straw men?

          Yes, that’s a crying shame, actually, as I like to use material such as yours and Nejtillpirater as a shining example of how copyright fundamentalists think.

        • http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole

          you could always just….go away…….

        • BJonesTF

          It’s funny you say “My solution is to corrupt whatever post is on top, and turn it into the current discussion regardless.”

          When people take that attitude with copyrighted material, – that they don’t like the availability chosen, they’ll just try and get it to how they prefer it – you’ll scream blue murder about ‘criminals’ and so on (and don’t tell me that’s not what you do because unlike most people, I read 90% of the comments on here – it’s what I do, see the badge – and 99% of yours)

          The flow is based on one of three settings, ‘best’, ‘newest’, and ‘oldest’. Mine’s set to ‘oldest’ (because I can see by ‘newest’ in the mod panel)

          If you want to stick with ‘newest’ or ‘oldest’, there’s a simple suggestion – get an account. BONUS it’ll tie all your posts together, and make it harder for people to impersonate you.

          Not like it’s that hard to do. you know how I know? Because 90% of the automated spam bots use accounts. And two of the mods have been pushing for the end of anonymous commenting – mainly because they’re tired of the childish spam and impersonations and hope it’ll cut out the cruft.

          You know what else? it might give a little more credibility to your posts.

        • gaiapunk

          What about Flattr, is that coming back?

        • anon

          Well could you by default sort it by old?

        • Guest

          Please set Disqus to show Oldest by default. This way it will be a mix of old with new system and everybody will be happy!

        • BJonesTF

          ‘best’ is how it’s set for unregistered. That’s how it goes..

          If you like to have it automatically sort, there’s an easy way – get an account.

        • Anonymous

          ‘best’ is how it’s set for unregistered. That’s how it goes..

          If you like to have it automatically sort, there’s an easy way – get an account.

          Sounds like someone is a Disqus fanboy

        • http://blog.ssokolow.com ssokolow

          Any chance we could get a message informing users of RefControl that they need to whitelist “disqus.com” to get the comments to load?

          It took me several weeks of either missing comments or using alternate browsers before I thought to check that.

        • Guest

          No, that’s a weak justification. I know the comment data is stored independantly from the actual comment system. So you could ditch Disqus and switch to something that doesn’t suck less rotten ass without losing anything.

          At minimum – at MINIMUM – make it default to sorting threads in normal chronological order instead of this abnormal bullshit it’s got going now.

          I mean, jesus, this is so lame that we’re standing together in unity with bobmail to say it needs to change. Fuckin’ troll of the universe, filesharing-is-an-evil-worse-than-satan bobmail. On one hand you should pat yourself on the back for pulling off that epic feat, but on the other…

        • Guest

          D’oh

          *doesn’t suck rotten ass

          I, uh, blame that on new Disqus. Yeah…

        • sukass

          I didn’t see a suck less rotten ass setting in the config so I deleted my ass and now use a weinner

        • BJonesTF

          “switch to something that doesn’t suck less rotten ass”
          Well, since no-one’s said what is wrong with this, except you don’t like the default ‘best’ for unregistered users (and yet the cries of condemnation for the ‘FIRST!’ posts was universal, and frequently commented on, until they were deleted)
          Oh, and some people were careless and overly broad in their settings.
          The first issue is easily solved by registering and the second by being a bit more careful in your OWN settings (we can’t do anything about your decisions)

          And frankly, I prefer the ‘best’ being the default. it means that comments with some quality will rise, and trolling, abusive, empty or otherwise useless comments won’t get a boost based on responding quickly to your RSS notice to post crap.

        • ScrewEwe2

          Brian, I posted a few day’s ago that I think the new format sucks, but it does come with some advantages and I’m getting moar used to it, as will we all.

        • Anonymous

          They’re discontinuing the old system? so what? can’t you just carry on with the old comment system regardless? or are all your comments are belong to disqus cloud? as in stored on THEIR servers? eek!

  • Guest

    I might visit it.. after consuming all the free content on the TPB

    • anon

      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,”

      high-tech industries ?? really ? I think this is what the type of country they hope to establish in !!! Not that MAFIAA’ss country USA !!!

      • Guest

        why is this posted as a reply to my comment? there’s nothing even remotely related to it

        • http://echavez74.myopenid.com/ CiEZ

          your mama

        • Guest

          er.. good one?

        • Anyone

          so that it is further on top

    • DerZ

      I figured i would reply to your comment ‘Guest’ with something actually pertaining to your OP unlike some others that can’t seem to figure it out.. lol

      Anyways, I am an avid supporter of TPB and I will always be a loyal pirate, but in these circumstances I have to agree with Antigua’s stance here and I for one will certainly be visiting their new site when and if it comes to fruition for simple reasons… First it’s obvious that the U.S acting like the super gods they think they are, can do what ever they like to whom ever they like regardless of any laws prohibiting them from doing so or bother to care about the people and places it effects.. Antigua is in need of the world to come together and say “NO” the U.S is WRONG and we will help to provide aid in their time of need no matter what or how the U.S feels about it. I will be happy to dish out my hard earned $$ for movies, TV shows and any other software offered by Antigua as long as the price is reasonable and I am willing to bet it will be dirt cheap! Even though of course it will all be available VIA TBP and other portals of our community here for FREE! It just makes the point we are making that much stronger when we CHOSE to pay for it.

      Another reason is just to really stick it to the MAFIAA.. When they catch a glimpse at the numbers this new source will be providing of practically free software, movies ect.. they will most certainly go ape shit so to speak… When they start crunching the numbers in the usual massively inflated fashion the mafiaa always does they will claim to be losing TRILLIONS due to Antigua and I will be sitting here with a huge smile knowing I helped contribute to that!! No matter what way you look at it its a WIN for the rest of the world and a big fat ZERO for the MAFIAA and the USA ….

      KOPIMISM 4 LIFE!!!

      • bobmail

        Don’t you mean Communism for life? it’s the same thing, you want all the content to be collective and shared without cost, without consideration for how it is created.

        Zero for the “MAFIAA” means zero content for you. Don’t you grok that simple idea?

        • BuddhaFacePalmed

          LOLZ, American Imperialism at work here.

          How arrogant you must be that zero cash for an organization that only existed for 81 years will completely halt human creativity that has been ongoing for 50,000 years.

          MAFIAA is a parasite. No contributions to the human civilization and only serve as a cautionary tale for when businessmen have too much cash and time on their hands.

        • Anonigga

          Zero for the MAFIAA means more independent content. Independent movies and music are a million times better than anything the major labels/studios are putting out, anyways. Not that I’d expect you to concur since they’re paying you to write comments like that.

        • SoundnuoS

          Independent movies and music gets pirated like the rest and since they sell less in the first place, getting pirated isn’t good for them.
          Piracy, in the end, is more likely to kill independent production.

        • MadAsASnake

          A lot of Independents are really happy to be pirated. It means that a lot of people get to hear them and the more people that hear them leads to more opportunities to make money. Now, if your material is crap, you probably won’t make much, but even then, you’ve heard of Rebecca Black? In your model, an independent simply remains unknown in any event. Pretty obvious why you teach and don’t do.

        • SoundnuoS
        • MadAsASnake

          I did not say all, pretty sure quite a few (like yourself) feel music is such an important an special creation that anyone that makes it should be mandated guaranteed riches and the entire population should be hounded just in case. Really simple. If they don’t want their work shared, don’t put it in the public domain.

        • Guest

          @SoundnouS

          It’s rather sad that the MAFIAA has managed to con even a number of indie artists in to thinking piracy is bad, and even sadder that there are a number of indies out there who are so egotistical they can’t accept any personal responsibility for any failure and scapegoat piracy instead.

          But the truth is that piracy creates sales. And that truth is inaliable no matter who tries to deny it, and no matter how many times.

          http://www.google dot com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=pirates+%22buy+more%22

        • MadAsASnake

          It’s even more of a shame that the repressive, destructive behavior and downright bullying from MPAA, RIAA and others have hardened ideas on sharing. Now, had the media industries welcomed the Internet, IPods and the like and worked them into new business models, like in 1999/2000, they would be in a much better position today. Instead, they were arrogant enough to think they could destroy the Internet. These polarized attitudes probably do make it harder for indies.

        • SoundnuoS

          Piracy increases sales? Math does not add up. Sales have been dropping like a rock since 2000. During that period internet usage has gone from 30% to 75% + in developed countries.

          That means that in absolute numbers the people doing online piracy has increased significantly (approx. 50% according to the latest survey.)

          With that logic sales should have been increasing quite a lot during the 2000′s.

          Considering that the countries that are taking measures against piracy are reporting comparative increases in sales also seems to indicate that piracy is in fact removing sales.

        • MadAsASnake

          I think you’ll find a more confused picture than that. You seem to have forgotten iTunes – which has mullered sales more than piracy ever did, not to mention streaming services. Of course, the RIAA declaring war on all formats they didn’t control hardly helped. They were stupid enough to try to take out the iPod. iPod won, sorry.

        • SoundnuoS

          And I’ll requote myself:

          Considering that the countries that are taking measures against piracy are reporting comparative increases in sales also seems to indicate that piracy is in fact removing sales.
          So why are those extra sales appearing if piracy is supposed to be increasing sales? Shouldn’t it go the other way then?

        • Guest

          lol

          Communism? Really? You’re using Communism as the boogeyman?

          Still living in the 1960′s, eh, pops?

        • Yo

          This guy bobmail is clearly at least 70 by some of his terms and ideas so I think he will probably die soon as people that bitter do not live too long…

        • vetyu

          I signed up for this new comment system just to downvote your comment, I hope the MAFIAA will die and go bankrupt one day and hopefully another company will step in with a more up to date business model, better content, reasonable priced, and release content online worldwide on the same day as US.

        • icec0ld

          Dunno. It’s worked so fucking far hasn’t it?

        • Ardvaark

          Don’t you mean Communism for life? it’s the same thing”

          C’mon seriously? Please at least educate yourself before posting nonsense and making a fool of yourself.

          Communism advocates the equal distribution of all goods for the whole population. We on the other hand advocate equal and free right to access to all information for everybody. Two very distinct ideologies.

          What you advocate on the other hand is limiting access to content for everybody which is basically censorship. Funny enough, those that actually advocated censorship were communists and fascists.

          So you’re basically fighting what you yourself advocate.

          I suggest you get physiologic help and you might avoid the straight jacket for now.

          One last thing, zero for the MAFIAA means the end of artificially limiting unlimited resources, inflated prices and limited access to content which leads to more for everyone.

        • historyOfInternet

          communism or kopisism (an official religion look it up) mafiaa down would mean internet like it should be like it was when it was started – 2 years and a few more possibly before us govt crackdown and mafiaa helping them etc. look up how the internet was and how people want it vs how they changed it. go back to clothed model sites before godaddy deleted 1600 + without warning and before, see how and what everyone really wants, and if u did deep enough, how the world is really run and by that i mean by those in govt what they want also with rest of population

        • DerZ

          This has all been discussed and proven 1000′s times which contradicts your comment and leaves me with the only logical assumption which is your a TROLL :) Rather then feed you your much needed dose of attention ill end it here and let the votes speak for themselves.

        • MadAsASnake

          Zero for “MAFIAA” means we get rid of a set of noxious and parasitic organisations. that do not create content and who’s actions tend to be counter-productive for creative artists and disruptive to everybody else. Good riddance.

        • markh

          very funny how you use the term communism. I bet you dont even know what it is. I had friends from cummunist countries and it is not like you mention. So you are again ignorant and talking about things you dont know

        • Scary_Devil_Monastery

          Every law, every economist, and every lawyer will agree on one thing about copyright – that it is an exception to market rules.

          So no, the problem here is that the one closest to endorsing communism around here is your own low self.

          This makes you look a bit like the unholy hybrid of a stalinist commissar and a pulpit-thumping friar from the 16th century.

  • townie2

    where do i sign up?

  • brUcE|g

    I would pay whatever Antigua’s site wants me to pay for legal torrenting ALL. Piratebay should change it’s domain here. At least add one

    • Bananas

      It does not mean that warez etc will be legal. The rights probably will belong to the gov.

  • OneEyedWillie

    It is only fair that they fuck the usa after the usa raped Antigua.

    • Kalium

      WTO wouldn’t let Antigua do this in the first place if the USA didn’t fuck Antigua’s economy first. I’m actually looking forward to see how Antigua will dodge further attacks to its economy when its legal warez site goes live.

  • anonymous

    i wonder what the USA would do if there were more countries that realised that what is being expected of them will only help the USA and it’s businesses and then stood up to them? would the USA want to go to war with the world, just because the world told it to swivel as far as copyright is concerned? it’s about time that the world realised that the USA is not the ruler and about time the USA realised that it has no right to rule the world. dictatorships in all forms need to be defeated, as do all forms of tyranny! the world doesn’t need the USA with it’s present mentality of ‘we are the best! everyone needs to do as we say!’ but the USA needs everywhere else, maybe just a little bit from each place, but it needs all those little bits!

    • austinhamman

      you have made the classic mistake of conflating what’s good for the COUNTRY with what is good for the LEADERS.
      the leaders get lots of help getting re-elected (campaign donations where legal, a rhetorical lightning rod where not) not to mention back door deals that help the politicians.

  • Fantastic

    http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/risky-business/sundance-2013-harvey-weinstein-talks-414022

    “All of these companies are stealing from us,” he (Weinstein) told the crowd that included producers and Sundance regulars Jason Blum, Albert Berger and William Horberg. “When [former Sen. Christopher Dodd,
    president of the MPAA] said, ‘We’re gonna get these guys,’ the
    president backed off. I don’t think he’ll back off now. It was an
    election year, and he had to take pragmatic political stance to
    survive.”

    Hang on to ones butts. Again I don’t put it past these goons to pull some kinda Embargo or something to twist Antigua’s arm to make them do what they want.

    • salvagesalvage

      Then they all go into their gold plated limos and went back to their mansions, victims of theft each and every one.

      • bobmail

        Wait, are you describing Fat Kim Dot Con?

        • Anyone

          the MAFIAA actually stole from Kim Dotcom
          that was actual theft, not copying

        • Guest

          You’ve already seized that, dumbshit.

          How did HADOPI reduce casual filesharing to the point that they had to send out MORE letters, not less?

        • salvagesalvage

          Ha! Ha! He’s fat so you called him fat!

          No, I’m describing the Hollywood elite who are still making millions and could be making more if they understood how the Internet works. I don’t know if they are stupid or unambitious but those are two words I would not use to describe Kim Dotcom.

        • Fantastic

          The Internet is a market they (MAFIAA) largely ignored (likely just checked it off as a fad after the Web 1,0 crash) but then Web 2.0 came back and they just thumbed their nose at its again and didn’t take notice till any Joe with a camera and some editing knowledge can put together more entertaining media monthly then movies they churn out in a year. Its the fact that the Internet is a free and open market they would have to compete in that really riles them and they would rather break it then learn how to play nice with the other kiddies on the playground. Its what Weinstein really means by “All of these companies are stealing from us,” not Piracy but an open marketplace that challenges them and their archaic monopoly.

        • ImJustBoasting

          Fantastic reply is fantastic!

        • Comedian_just_like_bob

          Only if you’re Boobmail.

    • Guest

      I hear the New Zealand anti-terrorist forces have been kinda bored lately; maybe John Key could rent them out to the US again?

      • MadAsASnake

        Doubt it. Pretty much everything they do turns into an embarrassment for Key. Probably best they do nothing.

    • markh

      They can embargo what they want but this is approved by the WTO meaning it would be embargo only from the us, like usa has with cuba. Cuba is trading with europe, asia, and middle and south america, So it does not hurt

      • Chilly8

        If the US were to go far as as enacting a ban on travel to Anigua, this would apply to those using US passports. Dual nationals could use their other passport to go to Antgua and would be not subject to OFAC or state department imposed travel prohibitions

  • guest1

    inb4uscencorship

    • Fantastic

      Great American Fire..er Freedom Wall..yea “Freedom” pbhht!

  • Ipickedaname

    Does this means that everyone will want to move their servers to Antigua now? if it does, whoever said “It also would serve as a major impediment to foreign investment in the Antiguan economy, particularly in high-tech industries,” is a moron.

  • Anonymous

    While the Antiguan website, itself, may be legal, YOU will still be violating copyright by obtaining copyrighted materials through it (unless you’re within Antiguan borders).

    • Guest

      That doesn’t any make sense. There should be no copyright violation if you’re “pirating” from a place where the USA’s copyrights have been suspended.

      If the USA wants to recognize it as a violation of their copyrights then don’t they have to renounce their membership to the WTO?

    • http://twitter.com/Power2All Power2All

      Ehhh wrong.
      In most countries downloading is legal, upload isn’t.
      And let now just them providing the upload stream.

      Thus I pull my middle finger up :)

      • http://www.facebook.com/richard.richardson.5661 Richard Richardson

        No – that is the whole point. They will have a charged for streaming service that is 100% legal – including the copyright.

        They have the right to choose what they like up to $21m a year (with 5 years saved up) on whatever US copyrighted stuff they want to sell and they get to do this legally. They can bundle this with other content that they have paid the copyright licensing rights for. This way they can sell a lot of content with some of it taken without the copyright holders permission and the rest just a normal Netflix like service

    • markh

      really only usa and a few other countries downloading is illegal the rest is legal

      • Guest

        Downloading is legal in the US.

    • Violated0

      That is not true at all.

      Antigua took a free trade dispute to the WTO and won their case meaning the USA had to pay compensation to Antigua. However the USA refused to pay so this has become the lawful seizure and resale of United States assets.

      As the WTO clearly state the copyright on this media has been suspended making it unenforceable which also means to avoid any dispute issue you only need to prove where you got it from.

      • Anonymous

        Still illegal in the US. In cases where WTO and US Law has a dispute, US Law always trumps WTO so no attempting to say you got it from Antigua will not help you.

        • Violated0

          I am sure the United States will always be an exception to the rule but it is true there may be a problem if they want to IGNORE the WTO ruling.

          Keep in mind the Justice system works independently from the Administration meaning while officials may try to take action it would be hard to uphold this case in Court like worldwide WTO approval certainly violates the wilful aspect;

        • Wallace

          “so no attempting to say you got it from Antigua”
          Attempting to say? I think it will be successfully said. And who would ask? And how would they know?

          Like any such dispute, it isn’t illegal unless a judge says it is, and the WTO will also want to weigh in on whether “U.S. law trumps WTO.”

      • http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole
    • Chilly8

      Easy solution there. Use a VPN in Antigua to make it look like it was downloaded from Antigua. You can buy a three month subscription to an Antigua VPN from IAPS security services for 24.95 Britisj pounds.

      And since this service keeps no logs, your usage of the site will be untraceable.

      I’ve got my Antigua VPN account, and I am set to go, just as soon as they open for business.

    • MadAsASnake

      Bit of a minefield for jurisdiction. But then, this does not rescind that in Antigua – the US never had it.

  • Guest

    ANTIGUA FUCK YEAH!

    • anon

      Other nations across the globe should really take some inspiration from Antigua.
      It’s insane that a little nation is actually fighting like no other big nation will.

      Go Antigua !

  • bobbleHead

    This what some one writhed WILL happen be wary and BUY Antigua product, (real competitions with TPB)

    * * *
    Fantastic Anyone • 4 days ago

    −

    US declares war on Antigua and bobble head Biden goes rolling around in a tank screaming like a loon.

    • MadAsASnake

      I think if Cheney was still around, an invasion would be a serious possibility.

  • Anyone

    yay for privateering sites
    and from a region that is known for its pirates and privateers no less

    this is great

  • http://www.peoplesnote.org Don Reba

    I’m sure US has been itching to use aircraft carriers in the war on piracy for a while now.

    • MadAsASnake

      More “Mission Accomplished” signs coming? I’m surprised they didn’t fly one of those over the DotCom mansion.

  • http://twitter.com/CrAppl_dot_com St1ve Joebs

    Glad I bought extra popcorn ;)
    Kick their ass Antigua!

  • Ray Carroll

    The American people don’t trust or believe anything the government says, and they expect the rest of the world to?

    • 2013sUxAlready

      Why else would they even falsify information and hunt down whistle-blowers from Wikileaks and such? They can expect the populace to believe shit as long as they explicitly stated the facts (their facts) and ran it trough the media (corrupted). Doesn’t matter if they are lying because nobody can prove it if any information was made up UNTIL it is too late (see G. W. Bush Jr. administration). They use their media networks to lie to our faces and preach their twisted views to every nut out there that did not get the big picture. Then they skew the information provided by independent or publicly financed studies or censor it altogether

      http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-pirates-are-bigger-music-fans-than-average-consumers-121113/

      http://torrentfreak.com/republican-copyright-myth-debunker-fired-121207/

      http://torrentfreak.com/file-sharers-buy-more-movies-121018/

      http://torrentfreak.com/file-sharers-buy-30-more-music-than-non-p2p-peers-121015/

      And please don’t forget the government backed “Anti-Piracy” groups (Ughhh the IRONY) that are there to provide intel (illegaly monitor users so the state can’t be sued for breaking privacy laws) and promoting a perverse perspective of a society where children can be prosecuted for downloading a SINGLE fucking CD of their idol that didn’t even WORK and then going out and buying the real deal at a store – including the confiscation of a laptop and thousands of taxpayers having to back that operation.

      A HUGE FU goes out to these parasites. If they where after Kiddiepr0n I’d cut em at least one slack but god damn. They are throwing everybody under the bus by stating that the internet MUST be regulated BLAH BLAH (fink of teh Kinders xD). Some of them even INSIST that IP = USER … YEAH RIGHT!

      These are grass-roots fascists of any colour with a perverse streak of control addiction. I have never heard of these groups before the big torrent era blew up and cyber lockers popped up at every corner. How they came to be, who in their right mind would want to join them and WHAT in the fuck the people working for such groups HONESTLY believe in. I believe 99% worship teh M0N3Y$ – nothing subtle about that – the other 1% just want to piss on other people’s rights or maybe the people themselves D:

      ’nuff said

  • salvagesalvage

    If they do what Hollywood should do (let me give them $5 to $10 for movies with no DRM bullshit) they will have my business.

    • Alrock

      First half of the movie for free, if it’s good enough to keep you interested then charge for the rest, that way only good films will make money & the rest won’t, no matter how good the trailer makes it look.

      • salvagesalvage

        That’s an interesting idea and certainly fair.

        I would also pay Netflix / Hulu more if they had streaming for movies that are in the theatre.

        That would probably crush a great deal of the casual use of bittorrents right there.

        But these are all realistic and practical ideas that don’t make lawyers any money so naturally Hollywood won’t consider them until they’ve spent millions trying to fight the future.

      • Violated0

        Official PPV services have run that idea but they only show you the first 10 minutes to see if it is the type of movie you would want to rent.

        • Alrock

          10 minutes is not enough, if they where really confident of the film it would be only the last 10 mins that you pay for.

        • http://gene-poole.tumblr.com Gene Poole

          …except for porn. The first 10 minutes of porn is all anyone really needs.

      • Guest321

        Megavideo used to run on that concept for free users. They would cut off a movie at 70 minutes and ask you to pay for premium to see the rest. Of course MV with its unlimited content/traffic for premium users was a good deal and a no brainer. I certainly wouldn’t pay anything on a per movie basis. I watch way too many movies for that to be viable.

    • Adam

      Agree. I bought anydvdhd from slysoft in antigua, and I hire blurays for about $2 each and rip them as ISOs to my server. I think Im doing the right thing – supporting the local video store who in turn support the distribution chain and the filmakers. Technically Im a pirate, but IMHO this should be the legal way to do it! Better for them than me torrenting it, and I always get a good HQ rip.

      • Chilly8

        Since you are not doing that for commercial or private financial gain, you are not committing a criminal act under the DMCA.

        • MadAsASnake

          It’s also nigh on impossible to detect.

  • Richard A. McFeely

    there is a severe problem with this: if the content distributed is the true likeness of a WIPO (white-power) entity, then the content is a severe liability if accessed, transferred, or otherwise provided to WIPO region victims. The 21 million USD value is also implausible, if their market claims 0.99 cent USD as the value of an mp3/video/cd likeness, they will exhaust this year allocation value in less than a day. More importantly, it is unlikely that parties outside of the exception would be legally safe from aggression by another terrorist institution, meaning: unless your “state” has banned the american propaganda or otherwise already bucked WIPO/etc, then in no way will AG’s exemption be of any use to anyone except the terrorists who will persecute you.

    • Gordon M. Snow

      We did a lot of work on a Somali based data distribution infrastructure, including creating systems that obsolete all of your consumer market software, but if your consumer device is not infrastructure or is not within the auspice of an international authority nor authority of the flag institution, then it is not plausible in current legal definitions to secure your personal devices nor the “private” networks that it uses for communication and thereby impossible to provide services such as this, even as a globally recognised international infrastructure protection organization. This has been the case for over a decade, irregardless of the crimes by the terrorist american institution.

  • Baba

    “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,” U.S. officials said earlier.

    Translated that means: ‘ Do what we tell you to do, or we are going to fuck you up, ok!’

    • markh

      i don’t tjhink so. it is just a country crying

      • Guest

        Let them cry, the USA needs to be bled try of tears all cos they decided to side with these copywrong idiots, I’d laugh my ass off if WW3 starts over something as ultra-lame as copywrong anyway.

    • Adam

      Yeah, what settlement? It sounds like the USA screwed them years ago and has really f**ked up their ecomony and have been holding them to ransom. Im glad they have said “were not waiting for your non-existant resolution while we suffer. We are going to do what you wont and promote investment in Antigua and fix ourselves up!”. Nobody can create product in the USA in the tech sector without a massive budget for patent lawsuits. I would say that legal protection from such rubbish is a great incentive to invest in other countries.

    • Anonymous

      Translated that means: ‘ Do what we tell you to do, or we are going to fuck you up, ok!’ Then the gambling industry will make it their mission to fuck with the USA, they already are banned there so if the USA start denying trade to other countries like the UK or Europe for example, then I would expect some serious money changing hands to make gambling legal, or the money would go towards what the USA likes to call ‘Terrorism’ but of government officials rather than the public.

  • Guest

    This is perfectrly legal and fine, those big labels and studio poor poor multibillionaire guys crying that antigua is “stealing” from them should read the law.
    Copyright is not a right, it is not property, it is a provision given by the congress.
    Their own government gives it, and their own government can not give it or take it away and their government fucked up they lost and now they had to give some of that copyright away, but it belonged to the government in the first place.

  • stupid kiddieshits

    ernesto get the fucking warez.ag logo off the fucking article, they are NOT related!

  • Zero

    It only takes one US hating country to become a very popular nation and there are plenty that have cause to hate the US jackboot.

  • Someone..

    We can dream about this but let’s be real for a second shall we? Even if we imagine that Antiqua and Barbuda opens up a “pirate portal” how good could it possible be? I would imagine bandwidth costing a ton of money, I mean even Australians is complaining about bandwidth costs and they should sure be better connected than a country like Antiqua.

    Considering this, even if they open up a pirate portal I doubt they could allow access to full HD movies for example, the bandwidth cost is simply gonna be too high for something like that. So we’re back to streaming MP3 in 128kbps and SD content?

    I could see this being attractive to people who genuinely cares about the outdated copyright laws and are determined not to break them. But for the rest of us? Why not pay a few dollars a month for USENET its just as safe much much more content and is most likely gonna be much much faster than what this portal could ever offer.

    • john

      Are you stupid? Do you think Antigua is doing this just as a fuck you? It’ll most certainly be monitized and I assume new hosting providers will pop up as a government supported safe haven for all “piracy” related sites to generate new income.

      • Someone..

        Sorry, it’s you who are stupid.

        This is not gonna be a safe haven for piracy, this is gonna be a single site (portal) controlled by the government to recoup the 21$ million in damages that the US owes them. After they recoup the money they will shut the site down.

        All this agreed upon by WTO, they are not doing anything illegal.

        • IRGenius

          dude it said $21 million dollars annualy. that means every year.

        • MadAsASnake

          Pretty sure they’ll use the same sort of accounting the MPAA / RIAA use though.

    • Anyone

      this will provide a safe haven for tech investments
      even if the connection to Antigua might not be great currently (I honestly have no idea) this will attract investors that set up lines and data centers

      this is great news, and hopefully other nations will follow
      without copyright and patents the economy just does so much better, look at China that doesn’t give a flying fuck about IP and their economy is booming

      • Someone..

        It’s not gonna be a safe haven for piracy or government accepted piracy, this is gonna be a single controlled site where they can recoup the money the US owes them in damages. No piracy site except the one ran by the government will be tolerated and once they recoup their 21$ million the site will be shut down.

        • Anyone

          it is a safe haven for the government run site
          that needs lines and data centers, too

          and with “Hollywood Accounting” that $21m can last forever

        • Reasoned Mind

          Safe or danger no longer applies here. Every download is already legalized. I don’t think they will stop there when they reach 21m$

        • DannyB2

          Poor Antigua, even with WTO approved sanctions against the US
          allowing Antigua to ignore US copyrights, they may never make
          back their $21 Million judgement.

          First Antigua would have to set up a store to sell US
          copyrighted property. Then Antigua would need to set up various
          government agencies that bill “fees” to the store, thus
          causing the store not to be profitable.

          Those stores might have to sell Billions and Billions of
          dollars worth of US IP before they become profitable enough to
          recoup the WTO award of $21 Million. I mean Star Wars still
          isn’t profitable.

          The US might object, but under Hollywood Accounting rules, this is acceptable practice.

  • Minchi

    They should’ve hired Kim dot com on this. Too bad Kimmy boy wants to get “legal” on New Zealand.

  • Masau Fuku

    I must say I’m (almost) torn.

    On one hand, the US acted poorly regarding gambling, not copyright – so this is essentially punishing the entertainment industry for the wrongs of the gambling industry.

    On the other hand…the entertainment industry has done plenty wrong to justify this (and much much more) anyway.

    Hopefully, Antigua will develop a good distribution model, have good, easy to use software, and offer stuff at a reasonable price (and at release date – though that may prove difficult). And, even more hopefully, the entertainment industry will take notice of the success, adopt a similar modeland finally enter the present instead of still thinking it’s the ’80s.

    I know, I’m overly optimistic, perhaps even borderline delusional to hope the entertainment industry would actually move forward.

  • http://echavez74.myopenid.com/ CiEZ

    Our DOD and FBI/CIA hackers gonna take this down, just watch. If we can write virus’s to take down nuclear reactors then………

    • markh

      then perhaps hackers will hack the nuclear instalations on usa soil, wanna see what happends

  • http://www.thedallemagnes.info Angel

    I wish more countries would tell the MAFIAA to screw off. Copyright in the states is being used in a horrible way. Not that I’m completely against copyright, but it really needs reworked and redone.

  • ChaCha Dingo

    Oh not mess with the Americans after they just bought all those guns?

  • John Francis

    This is the action that the media industries have been afraid of for years. And its not just some group of free loaders looking to open a torrent site.

    With the Antiauan gov taking this action it now lets everyon know that such actions are legal in international world. That the United states, with it bought and payed for, politicans. Do not have the final say over file sharing.

    Good luck to them and we will watch how the US Gov tries to undermind them in the future.

    • djnforce9

      Exactly. It’s not like the US can mess with them with threats in regards to trade because they are already doing that which necessitating creating this protest site in the first place.

  • bonebone1

    Investment will surely come to Antigua through this move. Being a safe heaven for servers that are afraid of being judged as pirating will surely welcome the option of moving to these somewhat remote places. I am sure some corporations will find an interest in connecting a big fiber-optic cable to the islands to facilitate access to servers located there.

    With this piece of news I would see it worthwhile to invest in companies that could potentially benefit from this move; Fiber optic companies, Server companies, etc.

  • cupid_stunt

    i hope they have very very pi eyed squared big cables and bandwidth, and who knows, some other countries may follow the leader, could this be the start of a parallel cyber universe?

  • Too bad

    Too bad that if an angry american aligator stomps on a cable in Florida , all antigua is cut from the www.

  • markh

    Antiqua tried its best The government of the USA are just lying bastards. see wto http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds285_e.htm

  • Pingback: Световната търговска организация даде зелена светлина за пиратския сайт в Антигуа // [Gr] Educational Blog : Новини

  • Violated0

    I will certainly check out this Antigua media website once it is up and running to see how well it works.

    The USA have certainly got a problem now when if they do a Antigua settlement agreement and payment then other countries will line up to do them same. However if they do nothing then this because an official f**K over of their usually harsh MPAA/RIAA endorsed Copyright protection .

    Well in this part of the woods it is the most official WTO approved “pirate” site you can get in terms sharing media without approval of the offical media owner or payment to them. This is not to say that payment cannot be done in extra agreements with this Antigua start-up when their service would be rather finite once this “trial” period ends if not.

    This is a great opportunity for them to become one of the World’s largest media portals but of course to become glorious they have to do many things right and few things wrong.

  • Kenshen

    Pirates of the Caribbean :D

    • John Doe

      I feel like this will be the first thing I will download just out of pure irony. XD

  • louis

    plz o the same for porn please.

  • George Gervin

    We, ahem, are uh… receiving some preliminary reports re. some Cuban insurgent activity on the island of Grena.. err… Antigua. While we hope these reports prove inaccurate, we are prepared to take “appropriate” action to protect American busin…. errr.. Antiguan civil liberties.

    -US Government

    • Guest

      In addition, new intel from the Department of Defense suggests that Saddam Hussein’s WMDs were, in fact, smuggled out of Iraq during the Iraq War and were hidden in Antigua. It may become necessary to send armed forces into Antigua to verify this intel.

      - US Government

      • joexxx

        Why would you blow up your own bank?

    • Guest

      That made me laugh hard.

  • kat

    out of desperation he mpaa will make a netflix like site to compete. of course it will be very expensive but have tons of movies. nothing but good can come out of this whole thing.

  • Amodity

    ….anyone see the connects to Katz?

  • WCKicksAss

    Wow they opened REALLY FAST! This is great.. +10000

  • JordanKratz

    Awesome News ! And if Antigua is really smart it will allow Servers and VPN’s to Operate there.
    Antigua I am ready to Open up my Wallet to you.
    Anything to put the life out of the big bad MAFIAA.

  • DesmondTheMoonbear

    This is wonderful! One issue I see here in the United States is the amount of uninformed citizens. At least in my situation, the adults I communicate with are lied to into submission. This all circles to a lack of knowledge and so if this was brought to anyone I know I would be halted with immediate opposition.

  • Right

    Will Aiplex DDoS them?
    Yeah right. That’ll be harder. Fact that the WTO authorized it makes this really interesting. Looking forward to hear news about it in the upcoming months.

  • Internet_Zen_Master

    This brings a whole new meaning to the phrase “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

    • MadAsASnake

      Is Hollywood complaining that they stole that idea? I think the original was Caribbean…

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  • The Guy

    So it was authorized by the WTO? Well now, i’m going to get some popcorn and watch how this unfolds.

  • Pi

    Just make sure you can pay in bitcoins, and you’ve just developed an entirely new market.

  • VenkRonk

    Sounds like a pretty cool place to me dude!

    ImaAnon.tk

  • still kicking

    Considering that the majority of the huge US media companies, and Wall Street financial firms like Goldman Sachs, are controlled by the same ultra rich interests that dominate US foreign policy in the Middle East, hard core Jews, there are some very interesting long term possibilities from this movement. All these interests, both in business and within the government, work together to create a highly censored version of reality for their own financial and political benefit.

    Just as the free flow of information has allowed various groups and parts of the world to realize the hold their own corrupt governments have over them, and have revolted against this, actions such as what is taking place with Antigua serve to provide new sources for people to understand how they are often deceived by traditional institutions.

    There is a revolution taking place in communications with one side dominated by manipulative greedy powerful elites and the other side of people who are realizing how their freedoms are being destroyed. Copying a CD or movie may sound trivial next to the fights for freedom in places like Syria but it all comes from the same starting point.

    The end result is far from certain as can be seen by the increasingly authoritative actions of the ironically Liberal US government pursuing almost Fascist actions in coordination with large businesses to somehow stop technological advances except where they can be used to control their own citizens. If Hitler were alive today he would have to flip a coin to decide where to live so as to continue his work. The US for its still potent industrial might and willingness of its people to blindly follow politicians who promise everything. Or Israel where he could happily murder Palestinians in the name of a superior ideology.

    I hope Antigua is just the first of many places to tell the foul powers that control the financial and political realms of the US where to shove it.

    • ScrewEwe2

      What do “hard core Jews” look like, so I can tell them from “non-hard core Jews”? Do you really think Hitler would choose Israel to live in so he could happily murder Palestinians in the name of a superior ideology? So what work did Hitler leave undone?

    • Hogspace

      “Or Israel where he could happily murder Palestinians in the name of a superior ideology.”
      You are a fucking idiot. HTH

  • Fellow Traveler

    Looks like copyright violation isn’t theft after all. It’s just a licensing dispute.

    • Bibmail

      No, no, it is theft and also murder and also rape.

      However, stealing is not theft. If I leave a loaded gun on a table and somebody takes it, that’s my fault.

      • joexxx

        You’re getting good at that liberal logic! I’m impressed.
        It can be tough for anybody with a brain!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005069441277 Chuck N Dies Last

    Wow their ready to risk their countries economy to afford a cheese sandwich? Someone is smoking heavy reefer in the Antigua government.

  • Hogspace

    Hopefully Dotcom is talking to them right now

  • ahmede

    they hosted in romania? voxility is a heaven for warez hope they last. limehost

  • 1hhh1

    According to WTO they did it partly to force the US to comply with a previous ruling on gambling.They expect the US to comply within the next week or so if they do then this ruling will be cancelled.ie

  • 458849

    Score!

  • Guest

    Antigua + Bitcoin + VPN + Web Hosting = PROFIT

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  • Fugasmic

    I would expect the US government will launch “government sponsored DDOS & Hacking attacks” on the website”

  • MadAsASnake

    It would appear that the WTO (unlike the copyright maximalists) have a very clear idea of just how fragile the copyright edifice is, and also who the major beneficiary is. The US has made themselves fair game with their hostile takeouts of non-US gambling sites. I suspect the usual US response (hardening the line) will simply result in more of this.

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  • silversurfer

    voteing comeents has allways been crapp as ppl abuse it and get friends/m8s chat rom members click vote and bypass all posts to be #1 defeats the object off being a true first post and screws everyone over anyway back on topic ::

    hope this is a starting point for other counrtys to do the same USA do not own the web and DICktake to ppl

  • http://profile.typepad.com/6p0120a5509de8970c ミッコ

    Paypal, Visa, Mastercard will be blocking Antigua in 3 . .

    • MadAsASnake

      OK, so all that media goes out completely free…

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  • Vaudevillian

    Next on USA’s list: Declare blockade to Antigue, Then Say they are terrorists and declare war on the small nation.

    • SuxFor’Murrica

      Yeah. Al Qaida just arrived at Antigua’s shores in their banana boats from Somalia and Mali
      :DDD

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  • tiger97a

    glad to see somebody stand up and say enough is enough and if we don’t start doing that in the US then it won’t matter in the long run what any say and do.

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  • http://obbop.wordpress.com/ obbop

    People of the world,

    USA citizen here warning all that the elite-class and corporate-owned USA federal government is ready to sacrifice as many of the common folks of the USA as necessary AND, to murder as many of the federal government declared enemies as needed to ensure the wealth flow to the upper reaches of the USA socio-economic hierarchy continues,Please read “War is a Racket” easily found on the Web and onlt a few pages long.

    Written by a USA career military man who rose to the general rank he explains the evil inherent in a government owned and operated by greedy people who have brainwashed the masses of USA citizens that “their” government’s actions are correct and proper.

    The USA DOES do good deeds but any organization, country or even an individual who interferes with the wealth flow your existence is in severe danger!!!!

  • josh

    It’s the World’s middle finger at the USA.

  • Andrew Lee

    Popcorn anyone?

  • nukem_till_they_glow

    Well I can think of at least one way to shut the site down. A Carrier Strike Group.

  • Pingback: Antigua Set to Become Legal Pirate Haven? « vyagers

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  • tinwin

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  • gaiapunk

    Hell yeah, Antigua stick to your rights!

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=525434728 Andy Webber

    I can’t believe the bollocks I am reading on here from some posters. I’ll lay it out easy.
    1) There is an organisation called the World Trade Organisation. It is signed up to by virtually every country in the world and is used to mediate and make decisions over intra-national trade disputes.
    2) The USA unilaterally brought in a law which stopped Antigua from being able to sell gambling services the the USA. This is illegal under WTO rules.
    3) As a punishment to the USA, the WTO said that Antigua can sell digital copyrighted product without having to pay any US company copyright. The money made would help to offset the loss of gambling revenues by Antigua.

    It is NOT a pirate site, it is NOT an illegal act, it is a direct consequence of the USA breaching the free trade laws it so rabidly tries to enforce on other countries. The irony is breathtaking, but it has NOTHING TO DO WITH PIRACY!

    • Guest

      The irony is breathtaking, but it has NOTHING TO DO WITH PIRACY!

      The RIAA would strongly disagree with this and say that it’s state sponsored piracy regardless of WTO.

  • anon

    I’m curious how they will do it.

    I mean, the obvious Right Solution (TM) is :

    Make a library of everything that has ever been published ever. Get subscribers who pay by Visa or Bitcoin. Price the access at (cost+$21M)/amount of subscribers. End.

    Of course it won’t be done that way, but as soon as there exists a service that does that, it will soon be the only service in the world. There are other possible models, but “everything ever at flat rate” is a nice start.

  • FullTilt

    Is this about the Full tilt poker thing being shut down a few years ago? It’s the only gambling thing I can remember being shut down. I still have not got my money back yet.

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  • http://www.facebook.com/sapphicphoenix60 Ruthann Oliver

    David and Goliath all over again. love it.

  • Gary Watts

    An interesting question would be whether this will actually rejuvenate the economy? The US makes the arguments external investors and companies will no longer trust the country, but what does that matter if it is building jobs and improving the country? Also I’m guessing any stuff acquired from the website will still be subject to copyright law were I to buy from it in the UK? (Paraphrased from http://mygazbook.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/antigua-to-launch-legal-piracy-site.html )

  • HahaUSAsuxbags

    blobmail is just a fucking piece of shit troll, don’t feed the troll.

  • http://twitter.com/Cybdiver Cybdiver

    It’s not Piracy when it’s sanctioned. Pirates don’t get permission

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  • camelsnot

    doesn’t really help when copyright trolls can log seeders and prosecute locally. They could give a crap if it’s in Antigua or Antarctica. If companies can locally sue someone who grabbed a file off of Pirate Bay then they can easily go after someone who grabbed it from Antigua. It’s is kind of laughable. meanwhile everyone is whining about Disquss and login shit. Moronic.

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  • http://www.schoolanduniversity.com/ schoolanduniversity.com

    Let me go buy some bootleg stuff. Congress in the U.S. should have acted faster to keep this from happening. Too badd for them.

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  • Bertie

    Still the Antigua bashers are missing the point, let me clarify this for you:

    1) The US Gov commited a willful premeditated act of International Treaty Breach/Violation in their actions against Antiguan Gambling sites.

    2) The WTO is the undisputable Judge, the jury and excutioner” when it come to rulings on International Treaties and breach panaties.

    3) The US wanted to flex a bit of muscle and as a result landed before the Court (WTO). As a result the US were handed them their guts-n-garters on a plate. The WTO (the Court) decided against (verdict) the US Gov and decided they must forfeit revenues (the remedy) from copyright items to the sum mandated.

    4) Since this is a verdict from the Court, the downloading of material to the amount covered under this order is in line with the ruling and must be accepted by all signatories of the WTO Treaties. To do otherwise, under pressure form the US or any other reason, is contravention of the Treaty and will result in penalties against the transgressor country.

    5) Any action brought against persons downloading covered content from Antigua into the EU must take the verdict of the WTO into account, to not do so is also a contravention of the WTO Treatise.

    6) The US Gov could cut of all access from it’s shores to Antigua, but whay would they hope to gain??? The US is such an insignificant market when it come to an Antiguan point of view. Just look at the population numbers:

    US 315 million comapred to…
    EU 501m, Russia 144m, Pakistan 182m, Brasil 194m, India 1.2 billion and China 1.3 billion.

    7) Do you think South America, India or China are going to give a rat’s arse about what the US thinks when they have a WTO verdict in hand? Of course NOT. Not to mention all the other countries with 100m plus populations. Let the US stop all trade agreements with these countries in retaliation, they would only be cutting off the nose to spite their face.

    For any EU Gov that decides to do the evil bidding of the US, there is always they European Court of Human Rights, totally independant from the national governments. They take their justice very seriously and have no problems ruling against EU Govs or American “big business”. It has very large and powerful teeth with the ability to fine individual EU Govs into the 100 of millions and change any guilty ruling in ANY EU country court null-and-void FULL-STOP

    It really must be said that I am experiencing a great deal of “schadenfreude” in seeing the US Corporate/Gov with their backs to the wall as if waiting to be shot at dawn. Time will only tell if they US does the “right thing” for once or continues down the path of the “Dark Side”.

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