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Pirate Bay Co-Founder In Solitary Confinement

pigrabbitbear writes "Things aren't looking awesome for Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm, who's currently under lock and key in a newly built jail about 15 minutes north of Stockholm. Svartholm's mother Kristina says that her 28-year-old son is being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day without any human contact other than his interactions with the guards. It's been nearly two months since Svartholm was arrested in Cambodia, where he'd been living for years, and extradited back to Sweden, where he's due to spend a year behind bars and pay a $1.1 million fine for copyright offenses related to his role at the Pirate Bay. But that's not why Sweden's being so tough on him in prison. Authorities believe he may have played a role in the hacking of Logica, a Swedish technology company with ties to the country's tax authorities. They haven't charged him with any crimes yet in that case, however."

7 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Messed up by Hatta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Because information is more dangerous than violence.

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  2. Re:hacking of Logica? by shentino · · Score: 5, Insightful

    His booking papers only cite pirate bay activities.

    If it was because of hacking, then his paperwork damn well should say so. The fact that it doesn't means that this is nothing but an attempt to use allegations of hacking as an excuse.

    Until someone puts their ass on the line and signs a piece of paper under oath as to why he's locked up, I'm not going to believe a word they say.

  3. The Library of Alexandria by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Torrents are the modern day The Library of Alexandria.

    By law, every book and scroll was copied.

    It was critical for the development of civilization.

    A golden age lasted until the christians and muslims destroyed it.

    Don't let the plutocrats destroy our library!

  4. Re:Not charged by girlintraining · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Plenty of "civilized" governments exploit the fact that the population is largely unaware of the psychological effects of extended isolation.

    Yeah, it destroys a person, utterly and completely. A few months of it a person can endure; But a year? Years? When they finally open that door, there won't be anything left but meat. The person will have long ago left. It's disgusting and inhumane. A bullet would be more compassionate.

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  5. Re:Messed up by Doodlesmcpooh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They can hold him for a year for the Pirate Bay conviction possibly longer if they add on time for non payment of fines. However they think he was involved in hacking Logica but as yet they can't prove it. Most people break eventually in solitary and will say and do anything to get out of it. They probably plan on leaving him there for his whole sentence "for his own safety" unless he confesses.

  6. Re:Messed up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Solitary confinement doesn't technically fall under 'torture', so they can leave him there for 20 years if they want, going absolutely insane due to the complete lack of stimulus. But it's not torture, oh no. It will absolutely destroy his mind, and ruin the rest of his life, but it's not torture, so it's all fine and good and legitimate.

    Isn't the legal system wonderful.

  7. Re:Real nihilists(tm) say: by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "moral" of the story is Assange is right, Sweden is the USA's bitch and they jump through the hoops like a good doggie. Think actual Swedish content was even one half of one percent of TPB? Nope but he pissed off the media cartels which along with the other megacorps own the USA so they just told their pitbulls at the state dept "Make sure they fuck him hard" and wadda ya know? that's what they are doing.

    Sigh...I remember when extradition was actually a big deal, when only murderers and organized criminals had to worry about it, but now every. country. on. the. planet. has to follow the USA's rules and jump through the hoops, because God fucking forbid our media cartels have to get with the 21st century and use new models of business, why God that would be horrible!

    Just think, if the cartels would have been in place at the turn of the 20th century you'd be forced to this very day to buy a saddle and buggywhip for every person riding in a vehicle. I mean how dare they have to change when they could just buy the laws?

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