TorrentFreak

As reported earlier today, the UK Pirate Party has taken the difficult decision to shut down their Pirate Bay proxy service. The law firm representing the party has informed TorrentFreak that due to the state of the law, choosing to carry on providing the service would be “untenable”. While PPUK’s move will be unpopular with some, it does mean that the party can put this episode behind them and fight another day.

It’s not unusual for some to conclude that the Pirate Party and The Pirate Bay are one and the same thing. But while ideals may be shared, with the former often jumping to the defense of the latter, there is no direct connection. However, the Swedish Pirate Party is The Pirate Bay’s Internet service provider, something that several filmmakers are calling to be made illegal. Party leader Anna Troberg is defiant and says there’s nothing illegal about providing a digital postal service.

Two targets of a police raid on PRQ this week have been revealed. Authorities still aren’t talking, but the boss of the hosting company says one of the seized servers belongs to Sweden’s former number two torrent site Tankafetast. The second domain of interest is Appbucket, which appears to be the same site targeted by the FBI during the summer. Meanwhile, the Swedish Pirate Party is basking in a huge spike in member signups as a direct result of the raids.

The Pirate Party movement reached a new milestone yesterday with the world’s first elected Pirate Mayor being voted into office in the Swiss town of Eichberg. With an overwhelming 63 percent of the total vote, Alex Arnold defeated two candidates from the political establishment. The 31-year old software programmer is eager to steer the small Swiss town towards a prosperous future.

Next week the Dutch will elect their national parliament for the coming four years, and for the second time the local Pirate Party is on the ballot. According to most polls the Pirates have a decent chance of securing at least one seat, a milestone for the movement as it would be the first democratically chosen Pirate in a national parliament. One of the main goals of the Pirates is to fight increased censorship and the growing influence of the copyright lobby.

One of the world’s leading Pirate Bay proxy sites has been battling a crippling DDoS attack this week. Since Wednesday, the reverse proxy service operated by the UK Pirate Party has been under assault, rendering the service inaccessible to many of its users. The site they aim to facilitate access to – The Pirate Bay itself – has also been under attack. Both sites are fighting back and are determined to come out on top.

There are dozens of Pirate parties around the world and although run by different people, most have something in common – the proud use of the word ‘Pirate’ in their name. But for Taiwan’s Pirate Party the term is causing all kinds of problems. The High Administrative Court has just ruled that the Party cannot use the word ‘Pirate’ to describe themselves, since citizens will confuse the Party’s aims with those of sea-based criminals.