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The Pirate Bay's Founding Organization Shuts Down
kcurtis sent the news that Piratbryån, the lobbying organization out of which The Pirate Bay sprang, has disbanded. (The torrent tracker is alive and well.) "Piratbyrån had many purposes, but could be described as a pro-piracy lobbying organization. It was founded in response to Antipiratbyrån, the local anti-piracy outfit in Sweden. The goal was to start a debate on copyright issues and how they affect society. Until then, most press in Sweden would simply take everything Antipiratbyrån said for granted. Internationally, Piratbyrån is mostly known for launching The Pirate Bay in the fall of 2003, just a few months after the group itself was founded. ... The final decision to disband the group came after Ibi Kopimi Botani, a prominent member and co-founder of the group, passed away. Without one of its greatest minds, the group would never be the same again, Piratbyrån's members felt."
Abandon ship!!
Without one of its greatest minds, the group would never be the same again, Piratbyrån's member felt.
That seems pretty weak of them. If someone died and their protege decided to give up, I'm pretty sure they'd be pissed (if they were still alive). I know I'd be pissed.
Fools! Ibi Kopimi Botani probably wanted his friends to pirate the shit out of everything in case he died.
What with the ACTA reaching the final stages, the Tenenbaum case, and the destruction of TPB, the future seems bleak for proponents of free information
I'll be crying [not] for a while.
It's not like this is the end; the Pirate Party still has seats in the European Parliament. If they thought letting this particular organization die made the most sense in absence of some central figures, then I'm not sure I agree but it's not the end of their political movement and it damn sure won't be the end of their member's activity in similar organizations.
Nobody sold out, nobody quit; the majority of their membership will hopefully move on to different groups with the same goals.
And nothing of value was lost.
According to the fine article, the death of Ibi Kopimi Botani was the final catalyst for a decision which had been discussed for years. Apparently Piratbyrån existed not to find answers but to find questions, and since it has found all the relevant questions, its work is done.
It does sound a little lame, and I think people can be forgiven for wondering if association with a pro-piracy group wasn't hurting The Pirate Bay, and thus got axed as the pirates find themselves sailing stormy litigious seas.
Loose lips lose spit.
This is why organizations should not depend on one or a few people. In my life when I part of something that is run by a single person, even if that single person is me, i don't see much value in it. As soon as the person goes, so will the organization. The tea party in the US has it right. Funding from corporations that are destined to live as long as the US, but no formal leadership. Gingrich did it wrong with contract for America because eventually people could not stand his sins, and they lost it all. He went from being a person who was too poor to pay child support and whose children had to beg for food to one of the most powerful men in the world, but the conservative movement paid the price.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
It's a group not a dude? Then they'll splinter off and start new groups? Like maybe... Pirate BOB??
I'm confused.
Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
Not to put too much tin foil on, but it's very hard to find many references to this person being connected to Piratbyran. He must have been a very behind the scenes kind of guy. Though could it be this person never existed or that they have faked their death to avoid legal issues. Just putting that out there in the lunatic fringe!
The man's real name was Ibrahim Botani - the pseudonym "Kopimi" was adopted because many pirates refer to themselves as kopimists - "kopi mi" --> "copy me."
Here's a somewhat autobiographical post in his blog. Unfortunately for most of slashdot's readership, it's not written in english.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
... is to disband a group they co-founded?
I'm sorry, but I don't follow that. Isn't it better to move forward, and carry on the ideals that made you want to join with them in support of a cause in the first place?
Please, someone enlighten me.
Now, the pirate party is not only a reality in swedish politics, but is an entity in many countries, and has presence in european parliament. thanks to people like him, it has become a reality. its effects will far outreach the initial intent.
Read radical news here
man. they are expected to become coalition partner in next swedish elections. not only that, you can understand that they were a huge factor in effecting the eu parl resolution that banned various cartel imposed measures of acta europe wide, like the 3 strikes measures.
the genie is out of the bottle.
Read radical news here
I've heard of the captain going down with the ship, but in this case, the ship is going down with the captain!
Is it "PiratBYRAN" or "PiratBRYAN" ? Summary has both.
Piratbyrån were among the first to question the propaganda from record companies, politicians and lawyers. For that, they deserve respect and praise. They started the Pirate Bay, and they inspired the founders of the Swedish Pirate Party. Those organizations are today much more important than Piratbyrån, with the Pirate Bay being the largest bittorrent tracker in the world and the Piracy Party holding two seats in the European Parliament. Piratbyrån's disbandment will in practice have very little effect on the political struggle for online freedom.
That's alright however, because that's how it's supposed to work. It's in the spirit of copyleft - "here are our ideas, please copy them and do whatever you like with them. Build something better on top on what we've created, and share it with others." Piratbyrån simply have had their day, and that's not just my opinion but theirs as well. Co-founders Marcin de Kaminski and Rasmus Fleischer have both posted blog entries in Swedish to that same effect.
I'm sorry to hear about the loss of Ibrahim Botani, but I'm not sorry that Piratbyrån shuts down now, because they've already won. Their mission is accomplished, namely that they got the common people to discuss file sharing and Internet freedom. Other people can and will continue where they left off. I'd just like to say, thank you guys for all the things you've done. You've opened our eyes and been an inspiration for the whole world.
The Stars We Are
Note: His co-star in the this film Kalle Grogarn has also died. Looks like Henrik Hirseland is next on the list...!
Default assumption is suicide. Secondary assumption is that this is an elaborate prank. Time will tell.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
our chief weapons are BORK BORK BORK
The guy's name is really kopimi? epic. I now declare this Kopimi day!
Without one of its greatest minds, the group would never be the same again, Piratbyrån's member felt.
That seems pretty weak of them. If someone died and their protege decided to give up, I'm pretty sure they'd be pissed (if they were still alive). I know I'd be pissed.
Shrug. A lot of organizations and projects have a low bus factor.
Tthe title is the joke, that's all.
What you say makes no sense. There's only 1 explanation for the death of their Commodore: assassinated by Ninjas. Hell, I wouldn't doubt if their Commodore was secretly a Ninja himself only to suicide at the rigt moment to disrupt the Ebb and Flow of all political parties, waiting for the right time for The Pirate Party to expand and then kill itself like an overgrown fungus that releases too much Alcohol into it's environment. Damn Ninjas everywhere doing this. Brilliant tho'... They kill every seed of spirit this way: let it grow, overgrow beyond resources, then kill it all at once. This is how the 2-party system redirects inherint non-associated Libertarian political movements to allign into the Rite-less DNC and RNC parties, just to give them mis/contra-representation that poses all kinds of new political disputes and unwarranted liabilities under the facade of progress, and kill the movements in one fell swoop.
It has been shut down since last November.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
Er, no. One of the founders died and the remainders thought that it just wasn't the same.
Try reading.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
The minute everyone has what they want, they drop connection and go their own separate ways.
One of the founders died and the remainders thought that it just wasn't the same.
Try reading.
Reading carefully, it seems that the *only* surviving member thought it wouldn't be the same. Funny, I thought they were more than two . . .
Nope, they gave up and used his death as an excuse.
Nope, they had been discussing this for a long time. The death of one of the founders was just the last straw. Other organizations have picked up the things they were doing anyway.
Clever signature text goes here.
The Pirate Party in Sweden is not just about filesharing, they also oppose patents in general and software patents in particular.
Piratbyrån = Pirate Bureau
Well that's a shame, but haven't we all moved on from The Pirate Bay to more legit sources for downloading? Like Steam and Direct2Drive alongside Hulu, BBC iPlayer and things like this. There's also websites like DubLi which offer super deals on consoles and TVs. This isn't really news....
I prefer Lionshare over Piratebay
"torrent tracker"?
The pirate bay not longer operate a tracker, it is a torrent index only.
(No, I did not read the other comments first.)