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The Pirate Bay Is Being Sued Again
BuR4N writes with news that 10 US movie companies have filed a suit in Swedish civil court seeking to shut down The Pirate Bay and impose a fine on its three former operators, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde, as well as the site's bandwidth supplier. Speaking to TorrentFreak, Sunde said, "It's another day in the whole soap opera of TPB. They're suing us in Stockholm where none of us live. They're suing us over something which we don't own. I think the most funny part of the whole suit is that they just write: 'Reservella is a company run by Fredrik Neij' — out of 40 pages of paper that's all they have to say, and it's so wrong. They have no paperwork to back it up." Meanwhile, plans for The Pirate Bay to be sold to Global Gaming X seem to have stalled.
I still believe the next World War will between the European Union and the United States, and the spark will be over economic control of markets..... just as happened with Carthage and Rome (both democracies, but both desiring to be number one economically).
The U.S. won't want to lose control over its european hegemony (see current lawsuit against piratebay and other euro-businesses), and the E.U. won't want to permanently cede control of its economy or businesses to a foreign nation (see lawsuit against the american microsoft), so relations will gradually degrade until war breaks-out circa 2050 or 2060 A.D.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
Slashdot, what has happened to you? I joined you about 9 years ago wanting a science & tech news aggregator. You appear to no longer be a science & tech news aggregator. Stories about copyright and censorship have come to dominate Slashdot. There is at least one story per day, and probably more like 3 or 4. If I wanted a site that aggregated news about copyright and censorship, I would go to the ACLU or EFF. Instead, I want one about science & tech, and Slashdot no longer provides that service.
In addition to becoming a mecca of censorship and copyright stories, Slashdot also seems to be a mecca of pro-piracy, pro-anarchy, pro-communist thought. I do not support piracy of IP goods, and I haven't seen a good argument on why I should. Again, see my post history for lots of people that have tried to convince me. I can't imagine why someone would think that it's good for capitalist society if anyone can obtain a thing of value, where someone else spent time to create that value, without compensating the creator monetarily. Maybe that's where society is headed, but I seriously doubt it. Until then, I'd rather read news about censorship and copyright without the pro-piracy, pro-communist slant, and I can get that elsewhere too.
I don't support the RIAA suing its customers. I don't support ridiculously-long copyright. I think the media companies need to stop bullying and lobbying, and get back to thinking about business models that work.
However, I think they're trying AND making progress on that front. Hulu for TV, iTunes/Amazon for music. Netflix for films. I can usually get whatever media content I want online, as a paying customer. Those who continue to talk about how their business models are still outdated or obsolete are just throwing up smoke.
What I really DO NOT support is views like the above, which equate copyright enforcement with human rights violations. My post here does not address the issues raised in the parent post - again, see my prior posts in my history for a complete litany of posts which do. However, back to my original point, such posts like the above have become increasingly common on Slashdot, and have gotten increasingly positive moderation. This is completely absurd, and only serves to reinforce the thought that Slashdot has jumped the shark on being a science & tech news aggregator.
Keep it up, Slashdot. Just know that I'm seriously looking for a replacement. If anyone has good suggestions, please respond and let me know.