Pirate Bay, the massively growing file-stealing file-sharing website, is on trial in Sweden:
Four men linked to The Pirate Bay were charged early last year by a Swedish prosecutor with conspiracy to break copyright law and related offences. . . .
The group that controls The Pirate Bay, launched in 2003, says that since no copyrighted material is stored on its servers and no exchange of files actually takes place there, they cannot be held responsible for what material is being exchanged.
The prosecution says that by financing, programing and administering the site, the four men promoted the infringement of property rights by the site’s users.
OK, so why isn’t this just the Napster case with blond hair and blue eyes? Would you believe it’s the difference between good and evil?
What sets the Pirate Bay apart from other file sharing sites is that it publicly defend file sharing and claims it is a “force of good”:
“The entertainment industry is spending their last money on suing us rather than investing in new business models. It will hopefully be the demise of slow fat giants and the birth of an artist friendly, consumer friendly and sound creating culture,” Mr Andersson said.
This view is echoed by Rick Falkvinge, the leader of the “Pirate Party”, a Swedish political party formed as a result of the growing concern amongst the file sharing community that their civil liberties were being clamped down on as a result of the entertainment industry’s powerful lobby. The party has over 9,700 members and received 34,918 votes in the last general election.
“We believe that peoples’ [sic] right to free access to culture has greater value to society than the right of the holder of the copyright to get paid,” Mr Falkvinge said.
“The people’s right to free access to culture”? Oh, oh. Ohhh.
Um, all right, I’ll bite.
“The people’s right to free access to culture”? What the hell right is that? Is that something in the Swedish constitution?
I guess it’s Napster with blond hair and blue eyes, after all.
Then again, maybe not. Swedes don’t look quite as fair as they used to — and neither does Swedish law. So anything’s possible.
UPDATE: “Walk the plank!“
Originally posted 2013-11-14 14:25:43. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
No, it was something politicians decided 160 years ago (in 1849) when they opened public libraries. That political decision still stands.
Well we’ve had libraries even longer than that, Rick, but we’ve had copyright too.