Pirate Bay defendants found guilty, sentenced to jail

[gonzo]

Heres a lesson for the dumbass at the Zoo selling collected celebrity pics as content....

The four defendants in the Swedish trial of The Pirate Bay have been found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison and $3.6m fine. I don't know much about Swedish copyright law -- and the defense rested on the technical boundaries what constitutes an infringement -- so I have no idea if this is the kind of judgment that is likely to survive the inevitable appeal.

A more interesting question is whether The Pirate Bay will disappear now. After the illegal seizure of its servers in 2006, The Pirate Bay supposedly adopted a distributed architecture with failover servers in other jurisdictions that were unlikely to cooperate with EU orders. If The Pirate Bay shuts down, it's certain that something else will spring up in its wake, of course -- just as The Pirate Bay appeared in the wake of the closure of other, more "moderate" services.
With each successive takedown, the entertainment industry forces these services into architectures that are harder to police and harder to shut down. And with each takedown, the industry creates martyrs who inspire their users into an ideological opposition to the entertainment industry, turning them into people who actively dislike these companies and wish them ill (as opposed to opportunists who supplemented their legal acquisition of copyrighted materials with infringing downloads).
It's a race to turn a relatively benign symbiote (the original Napster, which offered to pay for its downloads if it could get a license) into vicious, antibiotic resistant bacteria that's dedicated to their destruction. Throughout the trial, the Pirate Bay defendants have played up their image as rebellious outsiders, arriving at court in a slogan-daubed party bus and insisting that their position was to defend a popular technology rather than illegal filesharing.
Prosecutors made a major slip-up on the second day of the trial after failing to convince the judge that illegally copied files had been distributed by the site. They were forced to drop the charge of "assisting copyright infringement" and focus on the lesser charge of "assisting making available copyrighted content". They had been seeking SKr115m (£101m) in compensation for loss of earnings due to the millions of illegal downloads facilitated by the site.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/17/pirate-bay-defendant.html

[RawAlex]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10221943-93.html

hahahahahahahahahaahahahahahaha *weeze* hahahahahaha

What's swedish for "don't drop the soap in front of bubba"?

[Toby]

These guys seems to enjoy the martyr role. Not so sure most others running similar sites would feel the same.

[TheEnforcer]

Whoops.. I'm sure this gives encouragement to programs who's content is being stolen by others as well...

[tony404]

its amazing how different the comments are on this board compared to the jungle. lol

[gonzo]

its amazing how different the comments are on this board compared to the jungle. lol

Members of this board are busy working and not trying to sell stolen content or convince people they are experts.

[Forest]

Umm guys i think your missing somehting here

they have an APPEALS process there. Their Lawyers could keep this tied up for a very long time.

so I dont think they are out shopping for soap on a rope just yet

[RawAlex]

Umm guys i think your missing somehting here

they have an APPEALS process there. Their Lawyers could keep this tied up for a very long time.

so I dont think they are out shopping for soap on a rope just yet

Appeal all they like, the prosecutors now have all they need to get stuff removed from the site, and the RIAA and MPAA have pretty much seen the gate open wide.

These guys will be buried so far under paper they will need a snorkle just to breath.

[Forest]

Appeal all they like, the prosecutors now have all they need to get stuff removed from the site, and the RIAA and MPAA have pretty much seen the gate open wide.

These guys will be buried so far under paper they will need a snorkle just to breath.

you mean their lawyers will

i dont see much changing there in the near future.

[Paul Markham]

Umm guys i think your missing somehting here

they have an APPEALS process there. Their Lawyers could keep this tied up for a very long time.

so I dont think they are out shopping for soap on a rope just yet

Forest I expected more from you, LOL.

This is just a war in a long battel to stop pirates and thieves. It's not the end. Plus Lawyers cost money and that's the key to this.

I don't care if they go to prison, I want to see them lose their homes like others they hurt have.

[LAJ]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10221943-93.html

hahahahahahahahahaahahahahahaha *weeze* hahahahahaha

What's swedish for "don't drop the soap in front of bubba"?

Icke gör det droppa tvålen foran Bubba.

[Forest]

Forest I expected more from you, LOL.

This is just a war in a long battel to stop pirates and thieves. It's not the end. Plus Lawyers cost money and that's the key to this.

I don't care if they go to prison, I want to see them lose their homes like others they hurt have.

sorry to disappoint Paul but I am a realist.

As much as I would like to see this judgement kill pirates its just not going to happen

its the laws of supply and demand. Look at the drug war the US govt has been waging for 30 years. and there is still more supply (from what i hear) then ever.

As long as there are millions of people looking to dl full length movies for free there will be a supply for that.

on a side note how are you feeling? How is Eva and the little one doing?

[RawAlex]

Forest, I think the aim is for the easy downloading to be more difficult, if nothing else. When computer illiterate people can download a piece of software and randomly find movies online without trying, then it is too easy, converting potential clients into freeloaders.

Making it difficult for them, making them realize that they are freeloading, making them realize that they are in fact participating in breaking the law might actually change the landscape a bit. Driving it underground is good for everyone (even the file sharers)

[TheEnforcer]

Hmm... comparing pirating content to the drug war actually makes sense to me in the sense that it' an EXTREMELY uophill battle. On the other hand I think fighting the drug war the way they do now is stupid, imfringes on our freedom and all sort of other annoying stuff and it needs to eb DRASTICALLY changed in it's approach. Can't say the same for pirating content though.

[tony404]

http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-trackers-close-en-masse-after-pirate-bay-verdict-090420/

[RawAlex]

http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-trackers-close-en-masse-after-pirate-bay-verdict-090420/

the roaches are starting to scurry!

[Paul Markham]

sorry to disappoint Paul but I am a realist.

As much as I would like to see this judgement kill pirates its just not going to happen

its the laws of supply and demand. Look at the drug war the US govt has been waging for 30 years. and there is still more supply (from what i hear) then ever.

As long as there are millions of people looking to dl full length movies for free there will be a supply for that.

on a side note how are you feeling? How is Eva and the little one doing?

Sadly Forest you're right. For the consumers a Tube site represents a much better option than paid porn. Until paysite turn this around it will never change. Torrents are largely for the geeks and I tried to do it and it was not any use, after ages of downloading I ended up with a crap movie, at least I had not spent $30 for a months supply of them. LOL

For the record.
There are some very good site. But too few. We need to spend far more on the product and far less on dragging people to it. The money is there, the will to upgrade members areas is not.

[Paul Markham]

On a side note the family is fine. Victoria is a delight and Eva is nearly mended. I'm feeding myself via a tube in my stomach 100 ml every hour. It makes me fart and belch the most vile smell ever. But it's building me weight back up, I lost 35 pounds over the last few months, and I need to before I go into the third chemo session. The good news is the doctors are very pleased with the results of the first chemo, too early to tell of the second.

I saw the committee of specialists last week and their change of attitude towards me was so good I cried. They think I have a fighting chance.

[Forest]

On a side note the family is fine. Victoria is a delight and Eva is nearly mended. I'm feeding myself via a tube in my stomach 100 ml every hour. It makes me fart and belch the most vile smell ever. But it's building me weight back up, I lost 35 pounds over the last few months, and I need to before I go into the third chemo session. The good news is the doctors are very pleased with the results of the first chemo, too early to tell of the second.

I saw the committee of specialists last week and their change of attitude towards me was so good I cried. They think I have a fighting chance.

Thats great to hear paul.

[gonzo]

On a side note the family is fine. Victoria is a delight and Eva is nearly mended. I'm feeding myself via a tube in my stomach 100 ml every hour. It makes me fart and belch the most vile smell ever. But it's building me weight back up, I lost 35 pounds over the last few months, and I need to before I go into the third chemo session. The good news is the doctors are very pleased with the results of the first chemo, too early to tell of the second.

I saw the committee of specialists last week and their change of attitude towards me was so good I cried. They think I have a fighting chance.

Paul while we havent agreed on many issues in the past I do think you are a decent guy with your head and heart are in the right place.

For what its worth... please email me your links and banner for both your content store and your program 468X80 sized and I will run them for you here. Hell send me one 200x600 for which ever youd like as well.

email to gonzo@oprano.com

[Forest]

as i said above

------------------------------------------------

"TPB FTW

So the first verdict finally came, almost 3 years after the raid. You might have heard about it in the news...

You, our beloved users, know that this little speedbump on the information super highway is nothing more than just, a little bump. Todays verdict has already been appealed by us and will be taken to the next level of court (and that will take another 2 or 3 years!)

The site will live on! We are more determined than ever that what we do is right. Millions of users are a good proof of that.

We have seen that some people that we dont know have started collecting donations for us, so we can pay those silly fines. We firmly ask you NOT to do this. Do not gather or send any money. We do not want them since we will not pay any fines!

If you really want to help out, here is a list:
* Seed those torrents a little bit more than you usually do!
* Buy a t-shirt and show the world where your sympathy is.
* If you live in Europe, vote in the election for the EU parliament in June.
* Continue to build the internets! Start more bittorrent sites, blog more, start your own lobby group, create, remix, mash up and continue to grow more heads on this amazing hydra that we know as the internets!
* Do not be afraid of using the network. Invite your friends to this and other file sharing systems. Calm people down if they're upset. We need to stay united.

And say it loud say it proud! We are all The Pirate Bay!"

http://thepiratebay.org/blog/151
__________________

[RawAlex]

What is really funny in all of this is that these guys have raked in millions and millions of dollars, all hidden off-shore some place, and they sit there playing the poor broke starving student routine (one of them is even nicknamed brokep). How long is the general public going to keep falling for the horseshit of these guys getting really, really rich off of the site and acting like they are poor?

[Forest]

What is really funny in all of this is that these guys have raked in millions and millions of dollars, all hidden off-shore some place, and they sit there playing the poor broke starving student routine (one of them is even nicknamed brokep). How long is the general public going to keep falling for the horseshit of these guys getting really, really rich off of the site and acting like they are poor?

as long as there are sheep to sheer and free content to be had

[gonzo]

What is really funny in all of this is that these guys have raked in millions and millions of dollars, all hidden off-shore some place, and they sit there playing the poor broke starving student routine (one of them is even nicknamed brokep). How long is the general public going to keep falling for the horseshit of these guys getting really, really rich off of the site and acting like they are poor?

I blame social engineering.

[Paul Markham]

on a side note how are you feeling? How is Eva and the little one doing?

Hi Forest,
this is Eva. As Paul told you I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking.

[miz_wright]

I think the most important bit in the BoingBoing article is this:

<snip>After the illegal seizure of its servers in 2006, The Pirate Bay supposedly adopted a distributed architecture with failover servers in other jurisdictions that were unlikely to cooperate with EU orders. If The Pirate Bay shuts down, it's certain that something else will spring up in its wake, of course -- just as The Pirate Bay appeared in the wake of the closure of other, more "moderate" services.

With each successive takedown, the entertainment industry forces these services into architectures that are harder to police and harder to shut down. And with each takedown, the industry creates martyrs who inspire their users into an ideological opposition to the entertainment industry, turning them into people who actively dislike these companies and wish them ill<snip>

As I may have commented before, we've now (and by "we" I refer to the entire entertainment community, adult and mainstream) but the consumer in a position where what started benignly ("My friend is far away and instead of making a taped copy of this CD and mailing it, I'm going to use this new fangled internet thing to see if I can send it to him") has become a massive "us" vs. "them" - and never the twain shall meet.

In this scenario, all players hate one another - they hate us 'cos we're the media conglomerates they see as evil; we hate them for being active thieves. The more we pursue them as criminals, the deeper they will burrow and find new ways to evade.

The question becomes, again, how do we protect ourselves without villanising and alienating our audience?

[Forest]

Hi Forest,
this is Eva. As Paul told you I'm doing fine. Thanks for asking.

EVA!!!!!!!!

Im so glad to hear your doing well. Hugs and Kisses to you and Victoria =)

[TheEnforcer]

Glad you are doing well....

[Paul Markham]

The question becomes, again, how do we protect ourselves without villanising and alienating our audience?

There is only one way, we reduce their profit margins. Harder to do with Torrents the Tubes.

None of these sites would be a problem if there was no money in running them.

So we take away the small percentage of buyers and leave them with the free loaders. The problem is do we have the will to upgrade?

I put something very simple like a live show and it improved ratios. If every site did it it would be death to the pirates. We, as an industry, appeal to our audience a lot more.

As I said do we have the will or will we carry on down this road?