
Year of the storm - nreece
http://thepiratebay.se/blog/204
======
danieldk
It is sad, but I cannot read this blog post. The Dutch equivalent of the
RIAA/MPAA, named Brein, sued two of the major Dutch ISPs for not blocking
access to The Pirate Bay. Brein won the court case, and the judge required
these ISPs to block The Pirate Bay starting yesterday.

Now I am met with this when visiting thepiratebay.se:

<http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/blokkade.png/>

Internet censorship is now real in The Netherlands

~~~
drostie
I'm at work at the TU Delft right now, which lets me access thepiratebay.se,
but I might test this with my Internet connection at home to see whether it is
blocked.

If it's censored at the DNS level, you can get around it by using an open DNS
server rather than your internet server. If it is censored at an HTTP level,
then you can get around it by using HTTPS. (Although I just tried this and
thepiratebay.se uses thepiratebay.org's security certificate.)

But if it's censored by IP address, then the problem is much more pressing and
you'll have to use a proxy. One project that I will shamelessly plug makes
your traffic indistinguishable from HTTPS connections, but it gets to be a bit
slow (read: use it for twitter and text websites and metadata files, but not
for downloading gigabytes of stuff), it is at <https://www.torproject.org/> .

Open question for other Nederlanders: Is there any political activity focused
on dismantling Brein's censorship that I can join? Is there a Dutch-centric
EFF?

~~~
warp
The closest thing to a dutch EFF is probably Bits of Freedom, <https://bof.nl>

~~~
rickmb
Which does absolutely fuck all as soon as the magic word "piracy" appears.
They're barely acknowledging this is happening.

Ask yourself: what has BoF done for us lately? Or ever?

~~~
wladimir
_what has BoF done for us lately? Or ever?_

Educate people about the need for internet freedom / privacy, which is a good
way to get broader popular support.

~~~
rickmb
Educate who?

BoF barely communicates externally besides preaching to the choir. Lobbying
seems to be limited to relatively powerless left-wing opposition politicians.
Getting _broader_ support is exactly what they very much don't do.

And so far the result has been exactly what you would expect: we've been
railroaded with measures violating privacy and limiting online freedom, with
very little protest.

~~~
wladimir
I don't claim to know the details, and I'm certainly not trying to defend them
or something. But even if they're not as effective as they could be, every
"bit" helps.

------
sudonim
Freedom is a threat to government. The promise of freedom gets governments
elected. Exercising freedom makes governments resort to violence.

Censorship has always been around. How many of the books once banned by the US
have you read?:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governm...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments#United_States_of_America)

How many of the wikileaks cables have you read?

99% of The Pirate Bay is people downloading entertainment. Sometimes it's
entertainment not available yet in their region. Sometimes it's a show on
cable that aired last night. Reducing the friction for consumers to get
content is a business problem. The Pirate Bay thrives because big media fails
to solve that problem.

But 1% of the time - maybe less, The Pirate Bay links to content that will
have no other home. Where powerful people can't squash it. If we have no place
outside the reach of national governments where things that make them
uncomfortable have a chance to spread, then we have no freedom.

So, while The Pirate Bay is the seedy underbelly of copyright infringement on
the internet, it also gives you freedom. We need to protect that.

------
icebraining
_We have, ourselves, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is
neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we
shall prove ourselves once more able to defend our Internets, to ride out the
storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if
necessary alone.

Even though large parts of Internets and many old and famous trackers have
fallen or may fall into the grip of the Ifpi and all the odious apparatus of
MPAA rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall
fight in France, we shall fight on the ef-nets and darknets, we shall fight
with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our
Internets, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall
fight on the baywords.org, we shall fight on the /. and on the digg, we shall
fight in the courts; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a
moment believe, the Internets or a large part of it were subjugated and
starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the Anon
Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in Cerf's good time, the New World,
with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of
the old._

Signed;

The Pirate Bay Crew - Always when needed.

<http://thepiratebay.se/blog/172>

EDIT: This is an _old_ post, not current.

~~~
rickmb
Thank you for the copy-paste.

The fact that I now have to rely on others to republish this information
because as of today it is being censored for me makes me very, very sad.

I'm 45 years old, I was born and raised in the "free world", and this is the
first time in my life I am confronted with the painful reality of censorship.

Regardless of what one might think of the Pirate Bay, this feels so very, very
wrong.

~~~
icebraining
Sorry, but that was an old post, it just felt appropriate :|

~~~
rickmb
Yeah, figured that out by now...

Still, it just reinforces the insanity of the whole experience: I now have to
rely on others for this information. My ability to evaluate that information
has been compromised.

------
Erwin
So the Pirate Bay is now a bastion of freedom that lets users in Syria and
North Korea download the latest episode of Glee? (The current most popular
torrent there). I'm a little confused about what their greater noble political
purpose is.

To me it sounds like a place where you can get your TV shows in a more
convenient way than waiting until they appear on channels you have, or
download that movie you can't be bothered to pay $10-$20 to see.

How about real civil disobedience? Have TBP require to put in your full name
and picture and the reason why are you downloading the full Microsoft Office
package. Put that full list on the front page on TBP, let the government see
the tens thousands of people who refuse to follow the unjust copyright laws
and are ready to go to prison for breaking them. Now you're making a
statement.

Or alternatively, produce your own independent content. Supposedly with
today's technology it's easy and cheap. Wouldn't it be an amazing blow against
this evil "MAFIAA" to one year from now go to TBP home page and see how the
most downloaded file is not the latest Hollywood $250 million movie, but an
independently produced short? If every user who tweeted against SOPA/ACTA
would now tweet about that cool CC-licensed book/game/movie they just saw?

~~~
bad_user
I don't get what your point is - do they need a greater and nobler political
purpose other than giving access to whatever people want?

Also, Microsoft Office is extremely expensive for people in third-world
countries. Pointing people to free alternatives that aren't fully compatible
and that have a different interface is not the answer. Microsoft's Office is
required for most corporate documents and it is assumed when working computer
knowledge is requested from employees.

You're also suggesting that TBP should violate the privacy of its users. What
do you think this would accomplish? And I'm sure the government would love
having that list straight from the horse's mouth.

~~~
VMG
_I don't get what your point is - do they need a greater and nobler political
purpose other than giving access to whatever people want?_

They are misrepresenting themselves.

Further, if they really had free speech and helping suppressed peoples in
mind, they would remove most of their infringing content and provide a
platform that can't be attacked on grounds of copyright infringement.

~~~
absentbird
Well Wikileaks didn't have copyright infringement claims against it and it has
suffered massive blows to funding and traffic.

TPB exists because people care about it. People care about it because it
provides something relevant to them.

~~~
VMG
Then why does TPB mention Syria and North Korea at all?

Why not be honest?

"We exist because people want Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 for free and we
can help them"

~~~
Andrew_Quentin
Did you wonder why people from Syria and North Korea might actually want to
visit that website?

I found the figure mentioned of 100 visitors from North Korea daily pretty
amazing to be honest. I checked my own site stats and though there are
visitors from 183 countries not one is from North Korea.

Pirate bay is not just movies. You can download plenty of books from it for
free, university textbooks, philosophy, whatever.

------
VonLipwig
Hmm.

"""What binds us all together is a strong belief that what we do is good."""

What is 'good' about the pirate bay? A site which is 95% dedicated to sharing
copyrighted content?

The Pirate Bay exists to make money for its founders. This is why it has so
many intrusive ad's constantly popping up. They aren't on any mission. They
are just raking in money at other people's expense.

"""Our 3 friends and blood brothers have been sentenced to prison. This might
sound worse than it is. Since no one of them no longer lives in Sweden, they
won't go to jail. They are as free today as they were yesterday."""

Does this mean they are on the run? As they have been sentenced to 4-10
month's I would just serve the time and be done with it. Surely this is better
than constantly watching your back and avoiding being extradited back to
Sweden.

"""But what enrages us to our inner core is that the system, the empire, the
governments, are still allowed to try to boss you and us around with one law
crazier than the other"""

Yes.. the system.. the empire.. surprised they didn't mention the people in
black suits? The pirate bay is such a target because the people who run it
humiliate and insult people with very deep pockets. They aren't victims, they
enjoy the attention.

~~~
toyg
_A site which is 95% dedicated to sharing copyrighted content_

[citation needed]

 _The Pirate Bay exists to make money for its founders. This is why it has so
many intrusive ad's constantly popping up._

The Pirate Bay exists to make it possible for people to share content, but
bandwidth and infrastructure is not free.

 _The pirate bay is such a target because the people who run it humiliate and
insult people with very deep pockets._

And? Is it written anywhere that people with deep pockets should not be
insulted? If anything, their position of privilege should make them less prone
to knee-jerk reactions.

 _They aren't victims, they enjoy the attention._

I think you should talk to your analyst about that complex, hating extrovert
people is quite the negative attitude.

~~~
VonLipwig
"""[citation needed]"""

Sure, however I doubt I am far off. The site is called The PIRATE Bay. Shall
we play a game of spot the legitimate content?
<http://thepiratebay.se/top/300>

"""The Pirate Bay exists to make it possible for people to share content, but
bandwidth and infrastructure is not free."""

Of course it isn't however the owners are making no attempt to remove
infringing content. They know their business is helping to distribute
copyrighted digital content and they profit from it. Sure, they need to cover
their costs but they don't run it to be a beacon of freedom. They run it for
the $$$.

Take WikiLeaks, before it started publishing unredacted content they served a
purpose. They broke some laws but they set information free. There was a
positive reason for it's existence.

What has the Pirate Bay done of value over the last decade?

"""And? Is it written anywhere that people with deep pockets should not be
insulted? If anything, their position of privilege should make them less prone
to knee-jerk reactions."""

Knee Jerk reactions? Really? Content owners file DCMA take down requests and
take other actions. The pirate bay respond by goading them.

<http://thepiratebay.se/legal>

There is little doubt that TPB is costing content owners real money by helping
people access torrents. The amount is obviously up for debate however when you
insult, goad and cause losses to Billion dollar companies you are asking to be
engaged by an army of lawyers and politicians.

The Pirate Bay could just quieten down. "You do your thing, we do ours." They
don't though do they. Instead they adopt the. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha you can't get
us."

Well sorry but you know, if millions of dollars of copyrighted content is
being accessed via your company. Large content owners will work to lobby and
pressure politicians to take action.. this isn't knee-jerk. This just natural
escalation.

"""I think you should talk to your analyst about that complex, hating
extrovert people is quite the negative attitude."""

ROFL.. sure because that was exactly what I was saying...

~~~
burgerbrain
You make the mistake of assuming that "pirating" is inherently and obviously
"wrong".

I, and _many others_ , reject that premise.

If you disagree, so what? We're quite used to people disagreeing, and have
gotten rather good at not caring.

PS:

 _"Instead they adopt the. "Ha ha ha ha ha ha you can't get us.""_

This attitude makes _zero_ sense to me. Why is it so wrong if they are
extroverted?

~~~
jrockway
The attitude is antagonistic rather than extroverted. Anyway, it all boils
down to a business strategy. The Pirate Bay enrages copyright holders, who
then go after _all_ "piracy sites". The weaker ones die because of the
increased legal scrutiny, while TPB continues to live. I'm guessing that TPB
served more pages _after_ MegaUpload died than they did before. And that is
money in the founders' pockets.

~~~
toyg
Copyright holders were going after "piracy sites" well before TPB -- see
Napster, Grokster, Kazaa, etc etc etc. Considering the founders are now facing
jail, and they've always been politically active, I'd say they are in it for
more than just "money in their pockets". I know, in this day and age, this is
hard to believe, but sometimes it's actually true.

------
iwwr
TPB have made themselves a kind of bastion against the copyright rentseekers
by being a visible and hard to quash target. The kind of money and effort
wasted against them is impressive.

Of course, what this verdict establishes is a precedent for hashes having the
same status as the original copyrighted content.

~~~
mahrain
Similarly, the issue has shifted from being about copyrights to being a threat
to civil liberties.

------
JonnieCache
_In this year of the storm, the winners will build windmills and the losers
will raise shelters._

I like this a lot. Is it a paraphrase or a quotation of something?

EDIT: apparently its a "chinese proverb."

~~~
absentbird
Does that make the copyright lobbyists Don Quixote?

~~~
redthrowaway
As apt an analogy as ever I've seen.

------
asm89
Screenshot for the dutch people that can't visit TPB anymore..:
<http://i.imgur.com/VVBiJ.png>

~~~
Ives
For Belgian people too...

------
lordlarm
For those not able to access the site due to ISP-blocking try setting your DNS
to 8.8.8.8 and/or 4.4.4.4 (which is Google's DNS server) as they often just
block the site in the DNS.

~~~
sp332
I think that's 8.8.4.4, not 4.4.4.4?

~~~
lordlarm
You are right sir!

------
chunky1994
[http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-moves-to-se-domain-
pr...](http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-moves-to-se-domain-prevent-
domain-seizure-120201/) Torrentfreak's artcile citing the above article and
explaining why there's a .se in the link!

------
funkah
Forgive me if I am a bit put off by the spectacle of a bunch of people calling
themselves heroes for downloading the latest episode of "Glee".

By the way, those hits from North Korea? Those aren't exactly coming from the
average man on the street.

~~~
burgerbrain
The free exchange of information is about the big picture. Who cares if
individuals use it to download Glee or call the king a pig?

And as far as I am concerned, _any_ flow of information into North Korea is a
good thing. Beggers can't be choosy.

~~~
funkah
It's largely a service to help people get content they could already get, but
at a lower price.

"Free exchange of information". As Frank Zappa would say, _pheeeeeuuuuuw_.

~~~
burgerbrain
If you don't care about the free exchange of information, then so be it. In
the mean time, I'll be glad that your opinion on the matter ultimately doesn't
make a difference. You cannot stop sharing.

