Slashdot Mirror
The Pirate Bay — "Just a Very Large Hobby"
praps writes "In a fascinating interview with two of the founders of The Pirate Bay entitled 'Are they baby-eating monsters or what?,' Swedish news site The Local discovers that far from being the radical Robin Hoods of the digital age, Peter Sunde and Fredrik Neij are actually 'polite, humorous and down-to-earth.' They may run one of the biggest sites in the world but 'it's just a hobby that's grown to be very, very large.' Financially, they are 'happy as long as it doesn't make a loss,' and both hold down regular IT day jobs. And apparently they spend a lot of time with a Bedouin in the Sinai desert."
Meanwhile I take piracy very seriously and treat my baby-eating as a hobby.
and i guess it got fixed. that was fast.
What, did they expect them to be carrying RPGs, in small boats, off the coast of Somalia or something?
Towards the Singularity.
Peter Sunde and Fredrik Neij are actually 'polite, humorous and down-to-earth.'
And does this surprise anyone? I think most will find that most people that work in IT are this way. Sure there's the occasional elitist that likes to think their shit doesn't smell, but on the whole I'd say most people in IT are reasonable, easygoing people.
Hollywood's lawyers are just as committed to fantasy as their screenwriters...
Seriously, though, what would you expect the operators of something like the pirate bay to be like? IT guys with a strong(and probably slightly odd) sense of humor seem exactly like what one would expect. I suspect that they have a sheeple index far, far lower than average; but, contrary to depressingly popular belief, the desire to not be fucked around with doesn't inevitably lead to all sorts of outrageous depravity.
An endash isn't even typographically acceptable there. It should be an emdash.
It's called a secret identity for a reason. I bet if you check with their dry cleaner you'll find that they go through a LOT of tights.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
hehe what do you want to bet that if the picture showed the inside of the tent it would show the pirate bays off site backup server...I mean even microsoft uses tent computing...
-Ours is the wisdom of Solomon, the magic of Merlyn, the fall of Icaris.
I'm looking for another guy to bareback my gf (late 20s, white, cute to average) while I watch. If you're disease free, white, well hung, not too old, not too fat, etc, and live near Virginia Beach, let me know.
I can meet 2 of those 6 requirements. Why do these tech jobs always have a huge list of required skill sets?
If you're disease free, white, well hung, not too old, not too fat, etc, and live near Virginia Beach
Well, you've come to the right place for disease free and white.
Not sure how close our mothers' basements are to Virginia Beach though....
Boot Windows, Linux, and ESX over the network for free.
about the origins of the Robin Hood legend.
In the earliest documented version of the legend in anything like recognizable form, Robin and his Merry Men beat and rob a monk, then later on they decide to kill the monk and his page because they were afraid they would testify against them.
The whole system of sheriffs was a form of oppression forced on the population by their Norman overlords -- that much the later legends sort of get right. Monasticism was a byproduct of a Christian society in which the highest echelons made their living by murder, robbery and extortion, and in which sins could be expunged through gifts to the church. The history of medieval monasticism was a story of reformist zeal followed by rapid accumulation of wealth and corruption, recapitulated over and over again.
But notice: While it's obvious why robbing and killing sheriffs and monks might be considered admirable, apparently this doesn't stop at that. Killing the page was considered quite as merry and shrewd.
There's a lesson in this.
When the law becomes abusive, it's too much to expect that resistance to it take the form of highly principled disobedience. Once defying the law becomes seen as just and right, fine distinctions like between a corrupt church official and an innocent child witness go out the window.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
My hobbies include &ndash too!
This guy's the limit!
... and keep sticking a weed up The Man's ass!
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
When people say it's not about the money, it's generally about the money. Sorry, TPB guys, but I don't believe you're not making a *phenomenal* amount of money from this thing. Note that they say they are IT "consultants", they don't have a normal day 9-5 job.
Which is great -- more power to them for making money -- but I don't buy this whole "we're just normal guys havin' a bit of fun" crap. They know that if they're seen as making tremendous profit from the work of others, they'll be seen a lot differently, socially and legally.
Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
...which they make a shitton of money out of.
Hmm.
I write bullshit
Peter Sunde alias brokep, recently wrote an excellent essay about how TPB has been treated by Swedish media. For those who (like me) can read Swedish, the link is provided here.
I don't have the energy to translate it right now, but if any other Swede would like to, please do. Until that, try the google translation
Quantum hacker.
... , or "avast"?
... but all good things (that can be attacked by the RIAA/MPAA will) come to an end.
As much as I love Pirate Bay, the central website model can't last.
Systems like Cubit seem promising. Hopefully in a years time we'll have moved to a more distributed model for torrent file search and delivery.
Wow, typography humor. That's something you don't see every day. =)
Next, an in depth discussion on kerning. ;-)
Cheers
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
While I hate the **AA almost as much as the average Slashdotter, I'm feeling a bit uneasy by reading this kind of news. That's one thing to criticize the whole IP scam that companies are trying to bring down to our throats, but it's another thing to sanctify torrent sites and treat their owners as if they were part of some sort of Jet-Set. What's next ? A new about how mininova's top uploader got laid ? How can we be taken seriously when fighting against the copyright nazis with news like this ? On the other hand, most of the torrent sites I use where discovered by realing Slashdot :)
Hm... the /. front page as well as this page's title still shows "&ndash"
Quantum hacker.
Some style guides do allow the use of the en dash surrounded by space, although the predominant english guides suggest using em dash without surround spaces.
It also hasn't been completely fixed, it's still missing the semicolon in the title element.
-- Don't Tase me, bro!
First off, there are several articles putting Peter Sunde (brokep) in the same context as one of the main uploaders, Tiamo. (http://thepiratebay.org/user/TiAMO/)
Secondly, if this is a non-profit hobby-business. Why do they need a outsourced (tax-free, tax is very high in sweden) israeli company to run their advertising network (slack copyright laws there)?
Nobody gives a fuck. Really.
In soviet sweden pest control you!
And their favorite film is Donnie Darko, about a human with powers over time?
Crap. We've got a couple of Fremen-in-training here. Arrest them before they can cut off the flow of spice!
I doubt that. I remember hearing Sunde on the radio two weeks ago where he said that they just barely broke even. And I frankly don't see where they would get wads of cash from, ad revenue is not great, and there are maintenence costs.
Sweet, I'm in VB. Post some pics on 4chan so I can decide if shes worth it.
I run a music torrent tracker. People are more than happy to pay me for the great service I provide which according to the users, is 100 times better than they commercial offering out there. And nobody is calling me names because I make a few bucks to pay for the server. I have record labels coming to me asking if I can "secretly" release their un-released tracks on my tracker and make it look like they've been pirated by a "warez" group so it looks authentic, because more people will download "unreleased" material and they`ll get the word out about their label. I have also been contacted by bigger labels asking me if I'd be nice enough to remove a specific song they've released because it`ll be a big money maker, and I do. None of these people including the labels and the artists want to go to court, and they're quite happy with having some of their stuff released on trackers, as long as the people downloading the tracks think otherwise. A lot of this stuff is NOT what it seems, and a lot of the times - labels and artists are on "our" side, but they can't say it and have to depend on my discretion. Many big-name artists have an account on my tracker, and have many gigs of downloads and uploads.. you have to remember, they are also "users" just like you and me. So this whole image of owners of the pirate bay being money-grabbing hooligans is absolutely out of whack, I`m a regular guy, you are - and so are they.
The magical number is: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
(late 20s, white, cute to average)
Cute to average.....dang I'm too good looking for the job I guess.
Post a link to pics and I'll get back to you.
Sorry, TPB guys, but I don't believe you're not making a *phenomenal* amount of money from this thing.
Oh yeah? How much money have you given them? Did you buy a tee-shirt or something? If its just a matter of selling ad banners, then I can see them perhaps doing as they say; breaking even. TPB isn't Google by a long stretch. It also sounds like they're paying tax on their income. And anyway, aren't the criminals those who download stuff? I guess the Swedish government could nail the TPB guys for being an accessory to a crime. If it's even a crime to share data, which has yet to be properly established as far as I can see.
Still, I wouldn't be surprised if these guys eventually went to prison. The Swedish government has already invested significant time and resources in their destruction, and after a while it's no longer about who's right and wrong, it's about satisfying egos and justifying one's job. And not being an embarrassment on the world stage. The TPB guys are playing with fire. If the Swedes are ineffective, then I can see private agents 'removing' the problem. Everybody knows Hollywood has no soul.
-FL
This was in 2006:
After several Swedish magazines attempted to calculate advertising revenues for Pirate Bay, Svenska Dagbladet said that the advertising revenues for the past four months reached 600000 SEK (84000 USD or 65400 EUR). This information was provided to the magazine from the advertising company Eastpoint Media. Svenska Dagbladet reminds that in reality even larger sums are involved. Pirate Bay operates internationally and advertising sales are therefore also international and being sold by more companies than only Eastpoint Media.
Not too shabby.
Yet another in a long line of pro-piracy articles from Slashdot over the years. Nobody wants to talk about the artists getting ripped off because of that site. Everyone wants to joke about how "down to earth" its owners are. Everyone wants to scapegoat media companies to make them the bad guys in the narrative instead of the pirates ripping artists off. Everyone wants to forget that artists willingly sign their contracts.
Piracy is nothing more than freeloading. It's the total opposite of OSS in that you're not giving anything back to the community. Much worse, you're completely disregarding the human being who worked so hard to make a product to make a living off of. You genuinely don't give a shit, because it's free and it's easy to get. Software developers, musicians, filmmakers, authors, and so on--"Fuck their rights!"
"Sufferin' succotash."
Keming n. 1. The result of improper kerning.
...but I'm guessing you probably meant to link to the President's website rather than a mildly humorous farcical spinoff. I mean, sure, you're a mindless troll, but even trolls should "Use the Preview Button! Check those URLs!"
No no, if it were an ad for a tech job the requirements would be more like:
must be 20-something and have 30 years sexual experience.
Me lost me cookie at the disco.
but are ignoring that you're agreeing over two separate things.
He doesn't bother with the unjustness of copyright and you think it central.
But you both believe that this will cause a general disobedience of all laws, because some are so manifestly wrong.
Hey just talk a good game, and figure it out as you go like the rest of us! Doesn't RMS have a how-to out? Should be a ok starting point... I think
oogly boogly!
But ninjas would and they'd blame it on pirates.
Pirates>ninjas
If its just a matter of selling ad banners, then I can see them perhaps doing as they say; breaking even.
TPB is very large and well into the profit making range for an advertising based web site.
It also sounds like they're paying tax on their income.
Where do you get this from? I have seen stories that the money goes offshore and is not taxed. Why don't you ask the site operators just what their expenses and revenue are? Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer.
TPB is very large and well into the profit making range for an advertising based web site.
Fair enough. --After looking more closely, I must admit that I am amazed by the kind of figures bandied about by advertising companies!
I'd also read through this with some interest. But without official figures, believing the assertions of TPB guys themselves as opposed to the media, it's hard to figure out who is telling the truth.
I guess it will all come out in the wash. I'll be waiting, like everybody else, with bated breath to find out what the real story is.
For my part, I wouldn't be heart-broken in the slightest to see Hollywood, the Networks and Big Music come crashing down in a spectacular fireball of snowstorming TV sets as a result of TPB, and television and computer screens go blank from lack of funding. I despise 99% of the brain-rotting garbage produced as news and entertainment today, and consider it to be largely responsible for the mess the human race is currently in. And it is for this exact reason that I really don't think there is any danger of the flow of televised brain-rot ever diminishing. It is simply far too valuable an asset to the elite. Opiate of the masses, and all that. --Keeping the masses well-drugged is a vital ingredient in successful global control, so it hardly matters how the brain-rot is distributed. I take that to be a self-evident truth, and as such, all this nonsense about copyright and intellectual property theft is a giant, stupid laugh. A total, nonsense distraction at best, and at worst, yet another excuse to ratchet up the level of oppressive population control.
I can see two basic likely outcomes; 1. Successful oppressive control over the internet. Or 2., TPB model evolve into a sort of profit-sharing system emerge for the most-often downloaded items. It'd be nice to see the middlemen bypassed and money actually accrue to the artists. With TPB, that might just have a sliver of a chance of happening, but it's not terribly likely. Greed tends to dominate.
-FL
Yeah, I know, men in boardrooms sit around and say "today let's direct media to give conspiracy theory a negative connotation".
Sure. Why not? All manner of advertising and political agendas are effectively served through deliberate efforts to sculpt public perception. It would be silly to assume that other subject matter is not similarly managed, especially when it can so dramatically affect the course of human endeavor. COINTELPRO has a long and sordid history as is evidenced by the mountains of documentation retrieved by diligent researchers through the FOIA. Just the stuff we know about is quite startling.
It should also be remembered that television is a medium exceptionally designed for the purpose of managing public perception. EEG measurements demonstrate that the light strobe effects of the humble CRT knock the brain of the viewer into a trance state whereby audio and visual messages can be planted very deeply into the subconscious. It is for this reason that it is often so hard to remember what was viewed only a minute previously during a commercial break. This is no secret, but it is rarely discussed. With the advent of flat-screen technology, which has a different effect upon the brain that in tandem we have witnessed the rise of wireless microwave technologies which have a somewhat similar deleterious effect upon awareness. Most people in the West spend a great deal of time with their brains quite fuzzed. This is not accidental.
Not that there aren't, at any time, any number of conspiracy theories floating around, many of which give themselves bad names. There are also conspiracy theories popularized by the media and believed by the public.
The idea of media is basically a good one; a means for broad communication, and there are indeed attempts at positive messages designed to spread knowledge. But the medium itself is largely corrupted. As Mcluhan was insistent upon repeating, "The medium is the message." -- But few heed that message, or indeed understand its implications. The internet is so cool precisely because it is different, with much power being given to the viewer. As such, the systems for controlling perception are by necessity different. I have found that in many areas which count, there is a great deal of garbage, false signal injected which serves to muddy the waters. I would say that the efforts have been rather effective, judging by the general public response to alternative news and ways of thinking. Knee-jerk negative emotional reactions to whole areas of research are not uncommon. Several of the higher profile sources on the internet have, upon investigation, been found to have links to some rather shady beginnings. It's a fascinating world to plumb, but few have the capacity to do so. Automatic negative emotional reactions to otherwise benign ideas are, I think, a powerful indicator of deliberate perception sculpting.
If you believe in a Illuminati-type conspiracy, complete with the idea that big media prevents people from seeing it, then show the evidence that everybody is missing because they are watching too much TV. I mean it must be blindingly obvious if it's just a matter of too much TV.
This is one of the more brilliant con-jobs. The 'burden of proof' dilemma.
There is a reason there have been SO many court room dramas featured on television over the years, instilling in people a rigid set of rules for the acceptable manner through which knowledge may be collected and conveyed. The school system has similarly worked to hammer home these rules, through reductionist science, which while valid in certain ways, are woefully insufficient in certain other areas.
Example. . .
If I were to report that I had just witnessed something amazing in the backyard, a child would say, "Really? I want to see too!" and they would run to look. An adult, however, whose mind has been effectively programmed through years of non-stop conditioning, is far more likely to respond with questions and demands f