In an election year in both Sweden and Britain it's interesting to understand - what is a pirate anyway? Or more to the point - what does the Pirate Party stand for? And that's just the question that Michael Davies has put on his blog with an open letter to Andrew Robinson, leader of the Pirate Party. He asks a number of pertinent questions, on politics and pirates, on copyright and patents and on the importance of the rights that copyright enforcement increasingly infringes.
The entry has seen promises from both Andrew and Piratpartiet leader Rick Falkvinge to answer in more depth - responses I look forward to reading. In the meantime, on The Pirate Party Forum, JohnB has given a long and full answer of his own... and maybe, in the fullness of time I might try and add my view on these questions here...
Put simply... the internet has brought huge changes in how we communicate - and equally huge changes in the possibilities to track and monitor our everyday lives. How society decides to use or constrain these forces, for better or worse, is an intensely political question and one which demands focus and attention by us, the populace - otherwise other interests in industry, law enforcement and in government will do what they can get away with. They will do what they can - not what they should.
If you want it any other way you need to make your voice heard.
Shouting louder, means shouting in unison....
Welcome on board.....
Showing posts with label pirates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pirates. Show all posts
Friday, 5 February 2010
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Blogging Swedish politics
A new site with hopefully a good future is Politometern. Basically a swedish political blog portal with great search functions and statistics. Over 130 pirate blogs listed - and all at the click of a link. (Knowing a bit of Swedish helps ;-)
Not surprisingly the site shows Pirate bloggers way out in front when it comes to covering rights, privacy, copyright, ACTA and the FRA.
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
Not surprisingly the site shows Pirate bloggers way out in front when it comes to covering rights, privacy, copyright, ACTA and the FRA.
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
Monday, 9 November 2009
Danish Anti-pirates give up
In a moment of prescience I mentioned last week the difficulty in providing an adequate standard of evidence to find people guilty of copyright infringement on the web – something that makes the concept of guilty until proven innocent particularly distasteful.
Now the Danish Anti-Pirate group have officially given up. After seven years they conclude that the chance of getting a conviction without a confession are too low to continue working to prosecute infringers.
But it's still OK to cut off peoples internet on the basis of an accusation... isn't it?
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Now the Danish Anti-Pirate group have officially given up. After seven years they conclude that the chance of getting a conviction without a confession are too low to continue working to prosecute infringers.
But it's still OK to cut off peoples internet on the basis of an accusation... isn't it?
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
An Open Letter to the Music Industry
Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Swedish Pirate Party, Piratpartiet, has issued an open letter to the music industry - following a speech he made at a music industry event in Manchester. While reports of the event are interesting for the reaction the speech generated, Rick's letter is a 'must read' for anyone interested in digital rights and the future of copyright. Right on the button....
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
A royal view on copyright...
I was reading the paper at the weekend and came across an interesting article by Pelle Snickars, head of research at Kungliga Biblioteket - the Swedish Royal Library. The article discusses the Google books project and the ramifications of the internet on the availability and distribution of our common culture - in particular it draws attention to the majority of the books being scanned which are not in the public domain - but not commercially available either. Orphaned works that are effectively lost to our collective online heritage. It is a state of affairs that he ascribes to over-extensive copyright..
"A series of independent studies have shown that cultural products such as books, music or films have a commercial value on the market during a five-to ten-year period. With some extremely few exceptions – and Google Book Search is about the General rather than the particulate – then demand drops dramatically. Even if the "long tail" in the long term will perhaps extend the commercial potential for various cultural products, it is a consumption pattern that will continue for a further period. For example, when American copyright demanded that copyright owners extended their rights after 28 years, it was less than 15% that bothered to. The incentive to extend rights to a commodity that no longer generates profit was fairly negligible.
That almost nine out of ten copyright owners did not find it worthwhile to renew their rights ought to be a cause for reflection, but developments have rather gone the other way. As several network activists and progressive law professors have said, the extension of the terms of protection over the past decades have been unusually narrow-minded given how the Internet developed during the same period. Future historians will in all probability be asked how the lawmakers were thinking that could lock in the whole cultural production of the 20th century at the same time as the Web was developing as a global distribution channel available to all citizens."
(translated by Bing.. with a bit of help from me..)
Laws should be about getting the best deal for society - but clearly today copyright fails to deliver. It's no coincidence that Piratpartiet are advocating greatly reduced copyright duration to bring back the balance between creators and society. If you don't believe me, go to the library and look it up...
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
"A series of independent studies have shown that cultural products such as books, music or films have a commercial value on the market during a five-to ten-year period. With some extremely few exceptions – and Google Book Search is about the General rather than the particulate – then demand drops dramatically. Even if the "long tail" in the long term will perhaps extend the commercial potential for various cultural products, it is a consumption pattern that will continue for a further period. For example, when American copyright demanded that copyright owners extended their rights after 28 years, it was less than 15% that bothered to. The incentive to extend rights to a commodity that no longer generates profit was fairly negligible.
That almost nine out of ten copyright owners did not find it worthwhile to renew their rights ought to be a cause for reflection, but developments have rather gone the other way. As several network activists and progressive law professors have said, the extension of the terms of protection over the past decades have been unusually narrow-minded given how the Internet developed during the same period. Future historians will in all probability be asked how the lawmakers were thinking that could lock in the whole cultural production of the 20th century at the same time as the Web was developing as a global distribution channel available to all citizens."
(translated by Bing.. with a bit of help from me..)
Laws should be about getting the best deal for society - but clearly today copyright fails to deliver. It's no coincidence that Piratpartiet are advocating greatly reduced copyright duration to bring back the balance between creators and society. If you don't believe me, go to the library and look it up...
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Redefining piracy
Christian Engström, Piratpartiet's MEP reports on proceedings at JURI, the EU committee on legal affairs, who have been debating counterfeiting and piracy - specifically this document:
Enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the internal market
- which contains plans to set up an 'observatory' on counterfeiting and piracy.
It's an initiative that PP blogger Mikael Nilsson describes as "a comprehensive campaign to, together with the copyright industry, find the best methods to chase and brainwash the population"
Christian, who sits on JURI as part of his work at the EU parliament, took the chance at the meeting to point out that counterfeiting and piracy are not at all the same thing - and that piracy is is not a judicial term and they in fact mean copyright infringement.
He's only partly right since (maritime) piracy is defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 as "any criminal acts of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft that is directed on the high seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on board a ship or aircraft." (It must be true... Wikipedia says so...). ..which begs the question what does that have to do with intellectual property and copyright?
Christian's point though is that lumping non-commercial file sharing, which Piratpartiet wants to legalise, with counterfeiting, which we don't, muddies the waters - and really only to the benefit of the copyright industry.
In the comments to the article 'Daniel' points out that use of the term piracy is most probably because it's stigmatising meaning has taken root. ..and of course he's right. Talking about 'Piracy' is intended to imply that something bad is happening and the term can't be considered neutral or impartial.
Which set me thinking... we need a campaign to take back what is ours. Conservatives have conservatism. Liberals have liberalism, and Pirates have piracy. In a political context Pirates now means the pirate movement, and piracy by analogy properly ought to mean "following pirate ideology" - sharing culture, opposing intellectual monopolies and above all respect for civil and human rights (like privacy).
In which case... an observatory on 'piracy' would be a good thing... (We need more people looking out for our rights and principles)
Anyone care to sign up?
Enhancing the enforcement of intellectual property rights in the internal market
- which contains plans to set up an 'observatory' on counterfeiting and piracy.
It's an initiative that PP blogger Mikael Nilsson describes as "a comprehensive campaign to, together with the copyright industry, find the best methods to chase and brainwash the population"
Christian, who sits on JURI as part of his work at the EU parliament, took the chance at the meeting to point out that counterfeiting and piracy are not at all the same thing - and that piracy is is not a judicial term and they in fact mean copyright infringement.
He's only partly right since (maritime) piracy is defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 as "any criminal acts of violence, detention, or depredation committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or aircraft that is directed on the high seas against another ship, aircraft, or against persons or property on board a ship or aircraft." (It must be true... Wikipedia says so...). ..which begs the question what does that have to do with intellectual property and copyright?
Christian's point though is that lumping non-commercial file sharing, which Piratpartiet wants to legalise, with counterfeiting, which we don't, muddies the waters - and really only to the benefit of the copyright industry.
In the comments to the article 'Daniel' points out that use of the term piracy is most probably because it's stigmatising meaning has taken root. ..and of course he's right. Talking about 'Piracy' is intended to imply that something bad is happening and the term can't be considered neutral or impartial.
Which set me thinking... we need a campaign to take back what is ours. Conservatives have conservatism. Liberals have liberalism, and Pirates have piracy. In a political context Pirates now means the pirate movement, and piracy by analogy properly ought to mean "following pirate ideology" - sharing culture, opposing intellectual monopolies and above all respect for civil and human rights (like privacy).
In which case... an observatory on 'piracy' would be a good thing... (We need more people looking out for our rights and principles)
Anyone care to sign up?
Sunday, 4 October 2009
John Lilburne: Beauty and free thinking
Photo: Freebornjohn #359
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
A Pirate broadside in German elections
Congratulations must go out to Piratenpartei - the German Pirate Party - for winning an impressive 2% of the national vote in the recent parliamentary elections. Set agains a showing of just 0.9% in this years EU elections this shows a strong rise in interest and awareness for Pirate issues and Pirate politics - free cultural exchange, copyright and patent reform, and respect for individual privacy.
Not yet enough for a seat at the table... but plenty enough for established parties to sit up and take notice. A clear mandate at the ballot box goes a long way to strengthen the message...
Congratulations!
(As spotted at Michael Geist. Also at more analysis at Torrent Freak)
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform
Not yet enough for a seat at the table... but plenty enough for established parties to sit up and take notice. A clear mandate at the ballot box goes a long way to strengthen the message...
Congratulations!
(As spotted at Michael Geist. Also at more analysis at Torrent Freak)
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Right symptom, wrong diagnosis: Lily Allen on music piracy
Lily Allen has made the headlines talking about the impact of filesharing on the music industry - but while she recognises the symptoms she really is pointing to the wrong diagnosis...
(The original post has dropped off her blog.. but it's widely quoted - like here at the Times...)
In her blog in an article targetting the Featured Artist Coalition opposition to stricter measures against filesharers she complains that new musicians are finding times hard...
Quoting...
"The coalition also says that file sharing is good because it “means a new generation of fans for us”. This is great if you are a big artist at the back end of your career with albums to flog to a new audience, but emerging artists don’t have this luxury."
..and further on
"They (music executives)have been complacent about new technology and spent all the money on their own fat salaries, not industry development. As they start really to lose out from piracy, they’re not slashing their salaries, they’re cutting what they invest in A&R (artists & repertoire). A&R people won’t have the funds to take risks, which again makes British music Cowell puppets."
New artists struggling, artists with back catalogs doing nicely thank you, and record companies unwilling to take risks are precisely what you expect - not from piracy - but from the structural change that online digital music has made to the business. New artists compete not just with their contemporaries but with every artist ever released. Back catalog sales suck sales from new artists, and record companies get better returns selling old tracks than developing new talent.
Lost sales to piracy are hypothetical... (no one really thinks a teenager would cough up another $800 for all the downloaded tracks on their mp3 player do they? ) Competition from millions of back catalog tracks is real and the key element that puts new music at risk. (Why total music sales are dropping is a different question for another post)
Two things are needed...
(The original post has dropped off her blog.. but it's widely quoted - like here at the Times...)
In her blog in an article targetting the Featured Artist Coalition opposition to stricter measures against filesharers she complains that new musicians are finding times hard...
Quoting...
"The coalition also says that file sharing is good because it “means a new generation of fans for us”. This is great if you are a big artist at the back end of your career with albums to flog to a new audience, but emerging artists don’t have this luxury."
..and further on
"They (music executives)have been complacent about new technology and spent all the money on their own fat salaries, not industry development. As they start really to lose out from piracy, they’re not slashing their salaries, they’re cutting what they invest in A&R (artists & repertoire). A&R people won’t have the funds to take risks, which again makes British music Cowell puppets."
New artists struggling, artists with back catalogs doing nicely thank you, and record companies unwilling to take risks are precisely what you expect - not from piracy - but from the structural change that online digital music has made to the business. New artists compete not just with their contemporaries but with every artist ever released. Back catalog sales suck sales from new artists, and record companies get better returns selling old tracks than developing new talent.
Lost sales to piracy are hypothetical... (no one really thinks a teenager would cough up another $800 for all the downloaded tracks on their mp3 player do they? ) Competition from millions of back catalog tracks is real and the key element that puts new music at risk. (Why total music sales are dropping is a different question for another post)
Two things are needed...
- Musicians. Stop expecting record companies to discover you and market you. The internet gives you direct access to the public...
- Cut copyright terms. Hard. The only thing that will persuade the industry to invest more in new talent is to take away the crutch of a fat back catalog and focus them on finding new music and artists to promote. Copyright is supposed to promote creativity not stifle it....
Monday, 21 September 2009
Piracy & Telecoms - taking the fight to Europe
I confess I've not seen it mentioned in the British press - but Swedish bloggers - at least the piratical ones - are all aware that the Telecom package is going for it's third round with negotiations between the elected parliament and the unelected council of ministers.
Amongst the things that's up for debate is the provisions of amendment 138 that would ensure that no-one can be disconnected from the internet without it first going to court. For some reason the council of ministers don't really want to sign up for this and have proposed an alternative wording -which leaves it open to each country to decide whether you get a judicial hearing in advance - or get to object after the event. The difference in wording is subtle but the difference in meaning is huge. Innocent until proven guilty becomes guilty until proven innocent... which simply put, ain't good enough.
On top of that the provisions of the bill as is will permit ISPs to filter content and restrict users or traffic types - carving up net neutrality just as the FCC are laying out guidelines to protect it in the US.
Piratpartiet's MEP Christian Engström is among those joining the negotiations from the parliamentary side - It's great to see Christian in the thick of it so soon, working to keeping justice and integrity on the rails - and it's nice to know my vote went to a good home.... Just a bit of bugger that he needs to...
Links: Christian Engström, HAX on the parliamentary delegates, ..and read the truly excellent analysis by Monica Horten of the University of Westminster, Communications and Media Research Institute (CAMRI)
Amongst the things that's up for debate is the provisions of amendment 138 that would ensure that no-one can be disconnected from the internet without it first going to court. For some reason the council of ministers don't really want to sign up for this and have proposed an alternative wording -which leaves it open to each country to decide whether you get a judicial hearing in advance - or get to object after the event. The difference in wording is subtle but the difference in meaning is huge. Innocent until proven guilty becomes guilty until proven innocent... which simply put, ain't good enough.
On top of that the provisions of the bill as is will permit ISPs to filter content and restrict users or traffic types - carving up net neutrality just as the FCC are laying out guidelines to protect it in the US.
Piratpartiet's MEP Christian Engström is among those joining the negotiations from the parliamentary side - It's great to see Christian in the thick of it so soon, working to keeping justice and integrity on the rails - and it's nice to know my vote went to a good home.... Just a bit of bugger that he needs to...
Links: Christian Engström, HAX on the parliamentary delegates, ..and read the truly excellent analysis by Monica Horten of the University of Westminster, Communications and Media Research Institute (CAMRI)
Friday, 18 September 2009
Join the Mutiny
"We are a network of activists who have come together to create an exciting, safe space for discussion, critical theory and alternative media."
I just came across Join the Mutiny and thought I'd share it(them?) with you. And if you are in London on the 24th you could do worse than check out their first event ... "Money on Trial" - films from Greenpeace and speakers from among others War on Want and the Pirate Party...
On Technorati:Join the Mutiny
I just came across Join the Mutiny and thought I'd share it(them?) with you. And if you are in London on the 24th you could do worse than check out their first event ... "Money on Trial" - films from Greenpeace and speakers from among others War on Want and the Pirate Party...
On Technorati:Join the Mutiny
Britain a lost cause...
Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Swedish Piratpartiet made a throw away comment on the state of affairs in Great Britain in a reply to a comment on his blog. "Det är kört". The race is run, it's finished... a lost cause.
The UK government continues to push the boundaries for state surveillance at the cost of individuals privacy, and the chance to reform copyright to meet the needs of the digital age is being squandered in legislating to defend outmoded ideas on how culture should be created, distributed and shared. Big business has the ear of the government, and Big Brother is alive and well in the corridors of Westminister.
But government is not the people. The number of people filesharing shows that there are many people that don't share establishment views on copyright, and privacy issues are a genuine concern for many.. Topics like the introduction of identity cards, and repeated incidents of loss of private data on millions of people have created an awareness that privacy matters and that blanket surveillance is not a good thing.
It's the people's job to watch the government, not the other way round... though governments it seems have a habit of forgetting that. Our best service is to continue to raise the awareness of the issues and make people aware of where the country is heading - and just as importantly that there are alternatives - that we can build an open, trusting creative society fit for the twenty-first century.
Awareness comes from the press, from advocacy groups like the excellent Open Rights Group, from industry, - and now of course from The Pirate Party. Britain is not lost.. just in dire need of a new map and a new direction....
Technorati on: UK,copyright,surveillance,The Pirate Party,Piratpartiet,
The UK government continues to push the boundaries for state surveillance at the cost of individuals privacy, and the chance to reform copyright to meet the needs of the digital age is being squandered in legislating to defend outmoded ideas on how culture should be created, distributed and shared. Big business has the ear of the government, and Big Brother is alive and well in the corridors of Westminister.
But government is not the people. The number of people filesharing shows that there are many people that don't share establishment views on copyright, and privacy issues are a genuine concern for many.. Topics like the introduction of identity cards, and repeated incidents of loss of private data on millions of people have created an awareness that privacy matters and that blanket surveillance is not a good thing.
It's the people's job to watch the government, not the other way round... though governments it seems have a habit of forgetting that. Our best service is to continue to raise the awareness of the issues and make people aware of where the country is heading - and just as importantly that there are alternatives - that we can build an open, trusting creative society fit for the twenty-first century.
Awareness comes from the press, from advocacy groups like the excellent Open Rights Group, from industry, - and now of course from The Pirate Party. Britain is not lost.. just in dire need of a new map and a new direction....
Technorati on: UK,copyright,surveillance,The Pirate Party,Piratpartiet,
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Do you want Privacy or Copyright?
The ever resourceful Cory Doctorow has posted excerpts from the Calgary Herald that highlight the fundamental conflict between copyright and the right to privacy.
"...current copyright laws are completely unenforceable unless the government or industry groups start to read every e-mail and analyze every form of online communication done by citizens... "
Which begs the question - which do you think is more important?
More on this interesting article over at Boing Boing - or here at the Calgary Herald.
Others blogging on: copyright, privacy
"...current copyright laws are completely unenforceable unless the government or industry groups start to read every e-mail and analyze every form of online communication done by citizens... "
Which begs the question - which do you think is more important?
More on this interesting article over at Boing Boing - or here at the Calgary Herald.
Others blogging on: copyright, privacy
Monday, 7 September 2009
Pirating statistics
The UK government has made much of the impact of piracy on the uk economy - and the scale of the 'problem.' Seven million people are engaged in piracy and they are costing a virtual fortune. (Virtual for as everyone knows one download does not equal one lost sale).
But seven million people?
BBC Radio Four's More or Less programme has been looking into the claim. What they find is reported here... but to cut a long story short, depending on what assumptions you make that 7 million could just as well be 3.9million.
Does that make a difference? Well - it means the government have a good head start on their target to cut piracy 70% for one thing ;-) ... but.... 3,9 million is still a pretty big number.
What does it mean exactly?
If you think of the UK population of 61.4 million it starts to sound like a small slice of society. But think again... there are only 26million households in the UK.. and in 2008 (when the estimate was made) only 16million households had internet access. That's around one pirate for every four households....... (which doesn't quite mean one in four households has a pirate).
Even without seven million to talk about you start to see what a broad slice of the population it is that doesn't accept the establishment view of copyright. And when we start to talk about cutting people off from the internet how many families are potentially affected by that policy.
You could also ponder how many families sit down on a Frday night to watch a film that little Darren has just downloaded... Now how many pirates have you got?!?
Also blogging on: Pirate Party,
But seven million people?
BBC Radio Four's More or Less programme has been looking into the claim. What they find is reported here... but to cut a long story short, depending on what assumptions you make that 7 million could just as well be 3.9million.
Does that make a difference? Well - it means the government have a good head start on their target to cut piracy 70% for one thing ;-) ... but.... 3,9 million is still a pretty big number.
What does it mean exactly?
If you think of the UK population of 61.4 million it starts to sound like a small slice of society. But think again... there are only 26million households in the UK.. and in 2008 (when the estimate was made) only 16million households had internet access. That's around one pirate for every four households....... (which doesn't quite mean one in four households has a pirate).
Even without seven million to talk about you start to see what a broad slice of the population it is that doesn't accept the establishment view of copyright. And when we start to talk about cutting people off from the internet how many families are potentially affected by that policy.
You could also ponder how many families sit down on a Frday night to watch a film that little Darren has just downloaded... Now how many pirates have you got?!?
The PPUK Facebook group has now passed 6 000 members and continues to grow...
Piratpartiet now has over 50 000 members and is the third largest political party in Sweden.
While in Germany, where there are soon to be new elections, 38.8% of students support Piratpartei - double the support of any of the mainstream parties.
Bloggande på:Piratpartiet,Also blogging on: Pirate Party,
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Democracy & the Internet
Democracy and liberty are things we take for granted... take a moment to watch this clip from PPUK and think about what's at stake as governments seek to control who does what on the net. Protecting net neutrality protects our democracy.
Privacy first: The Pirate Party and Piratpartiet working to protect your rights on the net.
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Innovation, Freedom, Telecom
The Greens and Piratpartiet are hosting a seminar at the EU under the title "Telecoms Package – Preparing for a 3rd reading". This is coming EU legislation which has consequences for both net neutrality and privacy on the Internet.
More details on the seminar here...
7th September, 14:00 to 18:00 CET (an hour ahead of the UK).
The seminar will be streamed live on the Internet so there's no excuse not to get informed. This important legislation will have consequences for all of us.
Be informed and MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD....
Links:
Voice on the Net
La Quadrature du Net
More details on the seminar here...
7th September, 14:00 to 18:00 CET (an hour ahead of the UK).
The seminar will be streamed live on the Internet so there's no excuse not to get informed. This important legislation will have consequences for all of us.
Be informed and MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD....
Links:
Voice on the Net
La Quadrature du Net
Friday, 28 August 2009
Pirate Party ... it's official
While I've been off sailing the high seas, the Pirate Party have been taking big steps forward in getting the Pirate agenda on the map in the UK. In case you've forgotten that's:
- Reform of copyright and patent law. To legalise non-commercial file sharing and reduce the excessive length of copyright protection, and to ensure that when creative works are sold, it's the artists who benefit, not monopoly rights holders. We want a patent system that doesn't stifle innovation or make life saving drugs so expensive that patients die.
- To end the excessive surveillance, profiling, tracking and monitoring of innocent people by Government and big businesses.
- To ensure that everyone has real freedom of speech and real freedom to enjoy and participate in our shared culture.
So what's new?
From the top...
- The Pirate Party is now just that - a registered political party.
- ...with elected officials...
- ..and a leader, Andrew Robinson
- that you can join
- The Pirate Party is also getting into the news... including this article in the Telegraph and this nice one in the Guardian
- PPUK is also on Facebook. (Yesterday the group passed the 5000 mark) .
- ...and Twitter
If you are interested in fairer copyright, the right to privacy and want to halt the march of the surveillance society then check out the homepage and get involved....
Arrrrr.....
..or one of the other International Pirate organisations near you.
Wednesday, 26 August 2009
Shooting the messenger
The legal dance around The Pirate Bay took a new turn yesterday. The newspaper headlines were that they were shut down after their ISP was was defeatecd in court and threatened with fines as an accessory to copyright enfringement.
As I understand it it took about 3 hours for TPB to reappear. In the meantiime the judgement and consequences have raised solme eyebrows. Firstly, the TPB trial is up for appeal... So whether or not the Pirate Bay itself can be held responsible for abetting copyright enfringemenr is still not a matter of judicial certainty - and prosecuting someone for aiding and abetting aiding and abetting starts to sound somewhat tenuous...
But there are at least two other key issues that this judgement ignores. The first is that TPB is a channel of distribution for independant software and music providers. Closing TPB down has a direct impact on these players who are in no way involved in the copyright litigation. It seems deeply unjust and heavy handed to serve one groups commercial interests over those of other users of the site.
Perhaps more critical though is the issue raised by the Piratpartiet in their press release. This judgement sets a very dangerous precedent in making carriers responsible for the content of what is carried. It's constitutionally unsound, and ulimately leads to a complete loss of privacy of communication - a basic human right.
The courts perhaps made the 'correct' judgement based on the law, and 'Black Internet' responded in the best way to protect their commercial interest - but fundamentally this is a poor result for us the public. Applying copyright law to justify a breach of fundamentall rights and safeguards iis simply a travesty.
Thumbs down.....
As I understand it it took about 3 hours for TPB to reappear. In the meantiime the judgement and consequences have raised solme eyebrows. Firstly, the TPB trial is up for appeal... So whether or not the Pirate Bay itself can be held responsible for abetting copyright enfringemenr is still not a matter of judicial certainty - and prosecuting someone for aiding and abetting aiding and abetting starts to sound somewhat tenuous...
But there are at least two other key issues that this judgement ignores. The first is that TPB is a channel of distribution for independant software and music providers. Closing TPB down has a direct impact on these players who are in no way involved in the copyright litigation. It seems deeply unjust and heavy handed to serve one groups commercial interests over those of other users of the site.
Perhaps more critical though is the issue raised by the Piratpartiet in their press release. This judgement sets a very dangerous precedent in making carriers responsible for the content of what is carried. It's constitutionally unsound, and ulimately leads to a complete loss of privacy of communication - a basic human right.
The courts perhaps made the 'correct' judgement based on the law, and 'Black Internet' responded in the best way to protect their commercial interest - but fundamentally this is a poor result for us the public. Applying copyright law to justify a breach of fundamentall rights and safeguards iis simply a travesty.
Thumbs down.....
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