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The Pirate Bay Claims It Is Now Hosting From North Korea

An anonymous reader writes in with news that The Pirate Bay claims North Korea has offered the site virtual asylum. A press release reads: "The Pirate Bay has been hunted in many countries around the world. Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information. Today, a new chapter is written in the history of the movement, as well as the history of the internets. A week ago we could reveal that The Pirate Bay was accessed via Norway and Catalonya. The move was to ensure that these countries and regions will get attention to the issues at hand. Today we can reveal that we have been invited by the leader of the republic of Korea, to fight our battles from their network."

309 comments

  1. Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    No it isn't.

    1. Re:Nope. by SomePgmr · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I'm guessing this release is roughly a month early.

    2. Re:Nope. by buchner.johannes · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Without doubt, North Korea will take some remuneration from the Pirate Bay, which makes the Pirate Bay give money and credibility to a country with a population living in fear and hunger, and strengthening a regime that operates concentration camps.

      This shows that they either have not thought this through, or they have no stance on human rights (i.e. they show they just want to download illegal stuff, not increase freedom of individuals). I hope this is a joke or will be retracted.

      --
      NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
    3. Re:Nope. by cps42 · · Score: 1

      Yes. This. They have exactly zero chance of affecting change in DPRK, but Korean Government will get some hard currency to work with.

    4. Re:Nope. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's 1st of April according to the North Korean calendar. They haven't switched to Julian calendar yet.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    5. Re:Nope. by cheater512 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      The US doesn't have a favourable stance on human rights either. Obama is cleared to bomb civilians in his own country without a trial. What is your point?

    6. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      One of those rare cases where "affecting change" and "effecting change" are both technically correct...

    7. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I am anti-US in a lot of ways (corporatism, a culture of violence, religious extremism...), but even when I choose to be a bit dishonest in order to win an argument, there are some comparison that are so absurd that I would never dare to make them, even when talking to someone really, really stupid.

      Comparing North Korea with the US about human rights? Seriously?

    8. Re:Nope. by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      When did they ever claim to stand for freedom of individuals? They claim they stand for freedom of information.

    9. Re:Nope. by bug1 · · Score: 1

      You forgot to mention that Norht Korea can be currently seen invanding the USA. (in the movie Red dawn)

      But seriously, you automatically assume the worst of country your leader has previously told you is bad, dont cite and evidence or even speculation. And you think North Korea isnt free, look at yourself.

    10. Re:Nope. by thoughtlover · · Score: 2

      The US doesn't have a favourable stance on human rights either. Obama is cleared to bomb civilians in his own country without a trial. What is your point?

      False, false, false. Seriously, I agree that Obama hasn't lived up to expectations, but really, you're statement is completely false. The US State Dept has continually advocated for human rights' issues in other countries and condemned the actions of dictators --even when we have starving children and a homeless explosion, here. Sure, the administration has a policy for killing Americans (and has) in other countries and even that's despicable. Extraordinary Rendition is despicable. Guantanamo Bay is despicable, too. But to say Obama is killing Americans on our own soil is just trolling. -1 to you, good sir.

      --
      No sig for you! Come back one year!
    11. Re:Nope. by cheater512 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Do as we say, not as we do.

    12. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

      Maybe there's more rape in North Korean prisons?

    13. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I love this mentality that it is bad to give money to a country with starving people.

    14. Re:Nope. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 2

      No one actually knows how many people are imprisoned in NK, since they don't release any official stats. We can only guess.

      Also, we don't know how many are executed outright.

    15. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He isn't running extermination camps, no matter what Glenn Back would have people believe.

    16. Re:Nope. by Zemran · · Score: 1

      If you can move away from the American propaganda this is really a non-story. This will do nothing for the people of NK, just as the US government and everyone else does nothing for the people of NK. TPB are not an NGO or any other body that should be trying to do anything more than any government so there is nothing to comment on. Out of the hundreds of countries in the world run by whack jobs, it is only the propaganda that makes this one special. If they went to Zimbabwe, there would be a lot less press but no real difference.

      --
      I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
    17. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Without doubt, North Korea will take some remuneration from the Pirate Bay, which makes the Pirate Bay give money and credibility to a country with a population living in fear and hunger, and strengthening a regime that operates concentration camps.

      This shows that they either have not thought this through, or they have no stance on human rights (i.e. they show they just want to download illegal stuff, not increase freedom of individuals). I hope this is a joke or will be retracted

      I'm quite curious how you plan to explain NK inviting TBP could possibly represent the views of TPB. Especially seeing TPB has not even responded at all yet, let alone that they were even entertaining the idea, let alone planing to do so.

      By that logic, you must be a child rapist, because I implied you must be and thus by your own statements that means your view is you rape children, no?

    18. Re:Nope. by QuesarVII · · Score: 2

      Let me know when Zimbabwe starts doing nuclear weapons testing...

    19. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

      When they shoot you in the back of the head you are not incarcerated and do not appear in the cited statistic.

    20. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you mean Gregorian?

    21. Re:Nope. by Shoten · · Score: 1

      The US doesn't have a favourable stance on human rights either. Obama is cleared to bomb civilians in his own country without a trial. What is your point?

      Being allowed to do something...but not doing it...is hardly a failing on human rights. Actions violate human rights, not possibilities. Based on this logic, anyone with a gun is a serial killer. Oh, and it's the President, not Obama...there are no laws that specifically give only Obama power. Oh, and also...you're completely wrong about the bombing thing in the USA; Posse Comitatus still holds sway, as does the charter of the CIA that prohibits domestic operations...so there goes the entire capacity of the executive branch to bomb people here.

      --

      For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
    22. Re:Nope. by guises · · Score: 1

      Sanctions can topple governments, but only when the people get so fed up that they revolt. This creates a lot of suffering in the interim. It also depends on a population which can revolt - North Koreans can't really starve more than they already are.

    23. Re:Nope. by Shoten · · Score: 1

      So, don't have a free press? Don't have a right to trial by jury or the concept of innocent until proven guilty? Dude, are you seriously trying to state that the US is one of the worse countries in the world for human rights? Because you'll be contradicting every human rights NGO in the free world if that's the case.

      --

      For your security, this post has been encrypted with ROT-13, twice.
    24. Re:Nope. by fsterman · · Score: 2

      Um, yes it is:

      $ traceroute thepiratebay.se
        1 192.168.1.1 (192.168.1.1) 2.199 ms 1.119 ms 1.066 ms ...
      21 rvs-rt0003_fe-0-0 .intelsatone.net (209.159.170.215) 409.544 ms 557.059 ms 409.418 ms
      22 202.72.96.6 (202.72.96.6) 1024.210 ms 907.023 ms 1024.071 ms

      $ whois n 202.72.96.6 ...
      % [whois.apnic.net node-2]
      % Whois data copyright terms http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html

      inetnum: 202.72.96.0 - 202.72.96.255
      netname: INTELSAT-CUS-Camintel2-KH
      country: KH
      descr: Reassignment to CAMINTEL S. A. customer, KH
      status: ASSIGNED NON-PORTABLE
      remarks: * For issues of abuse related to this IP address block,
      remarks: * including spam, please send email to at:
      remarks: * mchsokhom@camintel.com

      --
      Is there anything better than clicking through Microsoft ads on Slashdot?
    25. Re:Nope. by fsterman · · Score: 5, Interesting

      TPB as operating expenses of ~$100,000. If half of that went to a single bandwidth provider, NK would have enough money to cover 1 middle-class contractor at an embassy.

      The money coming in from TPB will have exactly zero impact on Kim Jong-un's capacity to violate human rights.

      --
      Is there anything better than clicking through Microsoft ads on Slashdot?
    26. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, are you seriously trying to state that the US is one of the worse countries in the world for human rights?

      Read his comment against and tell me where he said that.

    27. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's 1st of April according to the North Korean calendar. They haven't switched to Julian calendar yet.

      Perhaps they should switch to the Assange calendar...

    28. Re:Nope. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      even when we have starving children and a homeless explosion, here.

      I think you mean "even when we're bombing children and exploding people's homes"

      But to say Obama is killing Americans on our own soil is just trolling. -1 to you, good sir.

      But to post on slashdot with your poor reading comprehension skills is just failing. -1 to you. No honorific. Nobody said Obama was bombing citizens on US soil. But when asked if he thought he could do that, he wouldn't answer. It would have taken him much less time, effort, and energy to say no than to not say no, hilariously. Why couldn't he just say no?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    29. Re:Nope. by Evtim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Guess if your (very insightful) comment will make it to the news, so to speak? Whereas the comment you reply to will be on every first page in ...hm..the first world. In fact they can, and will do better - "TPB supporting N Korea's nuclear weapons program".

      I, for one, want to see this happen just so that the front page of the TPB will read - "DMCA this".

    30. Re:Nope. by hpa · · Score: 1

      KH is Cambodia, not North Korea (KP).

    31. Re:Nope. by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Are there any cases of sanctions toppling established dictatorships?

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    32. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Only innocent til proven guilty in criminal cases.
      Also, who is Bradley Manning, who is Kevin Mitnick...
      The US is one of very few western countries that has a large part of the country speaking against health-care.
      The US tortures people.
      The US pretty much ignores all international treaties, that would have them do something.

      The US is not a great country when it comes to human rights.

    33. Re:Nope. by guises · · Score: 1

      Some. Sanctions ousted the Haitian military government in 1994, at the cost of destroying the Haitian economy. Here, NPR did a podcast on sanctions:

      http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/01/17/145361054/the-tuesday-podcast-do-sanctions-work

      The short is that sanctions work about as often as they fail but often have very negative side effects. Many fewer domestic repercussions with imposing sanctions than with sending in the military though.

    34. Re:Nope. by xenobyte · · Score: 1

      Despite the negative sides mentioned, there's also some good. It is unlikely in the extreme that the MAFIAA will ever get their way with the authorities in North Korea, meaning that it quickly could become the heaven for torrent trackers and similar. Besides, anything that offends or annoys the western world, especially in the US, will get a lot of support from the North Korean government, maybe even a nuclear defense! :)

      Sure, countries like the UK, The Netherlands and Denmark will continue their stupid DNS-blocking of TPB while countless proxy- and VPN-services continue to provide avenues of circumvention, and with the site itself being 'untouchable' I'd say it's GAME OVER for the MAFIAA. Their only option will be to stop their war on their customers and rethink their business models - or die.

      --
      "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
    35. Re:Nope. by dryeo · · Score: 1

      I thought that America was all ready to invade again in '94. Wikipedia agrees, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Uphold_Democracy.

      The operation began with the alert of United States and its allies for a forced entry into the island nation of Haiti. U.S. Navy and Air Force elements staged to Puerto Rico and southern Florida to prepare to support the airborne invasion, spearheaded by elements of United States Special Operations Command and the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division. The operation was directed by Commander, Joint Task Force 120 (JTF-120), provided by Commander, Carrier Group Two.[1]

      As these forces prepared to invade, including elements of the 82nd Airborne already in the air, a diplomatic element led by former President Jimmy Carter, U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell persuaded the leaders of Haiti to step down and allow the elected officials to return to power.

      It's bed time here so listening to the podcast will have to wait

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    36. Re:Nope. by txibi · · Score: 1

      So then by the same reason TPB or anyone else shouldn't have its servers in the USA, Iran, Israel, France... So far USA is the only country that used nuclear weapons against civil population, ant not only once.

    37. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you afraid people will start downloading nuke blueprints from The Pirate Bay, or how do you factor that into an argument about how much is matters whether TPB is hosted in Zimbabwe or North Korea?

    38. Re:Nope. by QuesarVII · · Score: 1

      With NK, you are directly giving money to a dictator who is creating a nuclear weapons program. How is that so difficult to understand?

    39. Re:Nope. by Motard · · Score: 1

      They could probably get more in negotiations for shutting them down later. TPB is being invited to become a bargaining chip.

    40. Re:Nope. by RaceProUK · · Score: 1

      Nobody said Obama was bombing citizens on US soil. But when asked if he thought he could do that, he wouldn't answer. It would have taken him much less time, effort, and energy to say no than to not say no, hilariously. Why couldn't he just say no?

      Maybe he genuinely doesn't know if he could or not. And unless the need comes up, he may never know if he could or not.

      --
      No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
    41. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, let's trot out the most sensational occurrences ever and act like that's the norm. Were it not blocked at work, I'll bet you Google could find stuff on NK that would make you have to vomit before you could attempt to muster a reply.

      Doors aren't getting kicked down in the night and people aren't being "disappeared" in large numbers. You and the people modding this crap up should be embarrassed for trying to push this "truth". Things aren't that bad yet and you're not doing anyone any credit by engaging in this kind of hyperbole.

    42. Re:Nope. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      No. (Fortunately, it seems that others actually got the joke.)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    43. Re:Nope. by voidphoenix · · Score: 1

      No one actually knows how many people are imprisoned in NK

      Give or take, it's basically the entire population...

    44. Re:Nope. by arkenian · · Score: 1

      Only innocent til proven guilty in criminal cases. Also, who is Bradley Manning, who is Kevin Mitnick... The US is one of very few western countries that has a large part of the country speaking against health-care. The US tortures people. The US pretty much ignores all international treaties, that would have them do something.

      The US is not a great country when it comes to human rights.

      Ummm. Just for the record, the US has one of the best records in the world for obeying the treaties THAT IT SIGNS AND RATIFIES. Better, in fact (though I can't remember the citation) than most other western nations. Granted, we also sign far fewer of them than, say, the average european nation. But I am not aware of a single treaty we are a signatory to that we can be said to ignore (even the torture thing, we carefully crafted the 'enemy combatant' legal justification within the treaty for our actions. It could, I grant, be argued as thin -- although probably not, the geneva convention is a lot narrower than people make out, especially if you view it in its proper historical context -- but we expended a lot of effort on it.) Most of the treaties we HAVE ignored (Kyoto protocol, world court, etc. etc.) we are not parties to, even though, admittedly, in many cases we had a great deal to do with their construction.

    45. Re:Nope. by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      Maybe there's more rape in North Korean prisons?

      More of everything.

      Revealed: the gas chamber horror of North Korea's gulag

      North Korea is Dark

      Japanese families fear that North Korea is still abducting

      Care to take a holiday?

      The world's worst cruise holiday?

      Two resources that they will apparently never run short of:
      Nitwits that take up their cause.
      Soldiers and weapons

      Food, on the other hand....
      The Cannibals of North Korea

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    46. Re:Nope. by cold+fjord · · Score: 1
      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    47. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For $1000 USD you can buy into a group 5 day all inclusive tour of North Korea. That's the price of 4 good tires mounted, balanced, and aligned for 5 days of seeing the sites, food, accommodations and travel. For $100,000 USD you can do that 100 times. That's a continuous series of 5 day tours for almost 7 YEARS. So I think that $100,000 has a significant impact on that country and it would go directly to the oppressive militaristic warmongering government that commits constant human rights violations and tests rocketry it intends to use for nuclear ballistic missiles by firing them toward Japan. Make all the accommodations you'd like to to ease your mind about your favorite place to grab illegal movie downloads, but I'll not thank you.

    48. Re:Nope. by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      This shows that they either have not thought this through, or they have no stance on human rights (i.e. they show they just want to download illegal stuff, not increase freedom of individuals).

      Even more worryingly, they may actually believe that the freedom to download copyrighted material is more important than anything else, including freedom of political speech and the chance to live in a democracy and not starve or be beaten to death in a concentration camp.

      Don't forget, a lot of comfortably off and relatively privileged Western citizens take these things for granted, and get disproportionately annoyed at the appalling burden of having to pay a few quid to watch a film. (First World Problems).

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    49. Re:Nope. by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      You are missing the point: this is a moral issue, not an economic one.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    50. Re:Nope. by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      On the one hand, I'm like... DAMN! North Korea?

      On the other hand, I'm like... Damn! North Korea!

      --
      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...
    51. Re:Nope. by helix2301 · · Score: 1

      It appears that the announcement is a hoax and a commentary on how the Western world is cracking down on file sharing and piracy. However, it's a highly technical prank.

    52. Re:Nope. by elucido · · Score: 1

      Yes. This. They have exactly zero chance of affecting change in DPRK, but Korean Government will get some hard currency to work with.

      North Korea isn't exactly the best choice politically but the Pirate Bay is being persecuted for political reasons. What do you expect?

    53. Re:Nope. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Maybe he genuinely doesn't know if he could or not.

      If the president doesn't know that it's not okay to assassinate US citizens on US soil without the benefit of due process, then he should not be the president. QE fucking D.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    54. Re:Nope. by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      And hammers can drive pointy things into wood, hand me those screws!

      Sanctions do not topple governments. Sanctions make operation harder, they increase many types of pressure but, if a bit more pressure isn't going to crack them, then sanctions wont work. Not only that, but look at the effect of sanctions.

      I was talking to an Iranian friend recently, I couldn't believe he would cheer the people he himself calles "towel heads" (a lot of not very religious people from Iran you know), so I called him on it. He looked at me and said "the sanctions hurt my people so much, it just makes me mad". Mad....not at the "towel heads" who run Iran... mad at the US and other countries that are imposing these ineffectual sanctions.

      Frankly, a better question is.... not CAN sanctions topple governments, what do they do more often, topple them, or internally strenghten them? Sanctions are no good if they rally the people of a country behind the leaders that you intend to punish, and more often than not, I think thats exactly what they do.

      However, its only counter-productive if your not a politican who needs permenant enemies.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    55. Re:Nope. by elucido · · Score: 2

      Maybe there's more rape in North Korean prisons?

      More of everything.

      Revealed: the gas chamber horror of North Korea's gulag

      North Korea is Dark

      Japanese families fear that North Korea is still abducting

      Care to take a holiday?

      The world's worst cruise holiday?

      Two resources that they will apparently never run short of:
      Nitwits that take up their cause.
      Soldiers and weapons

      Food, on the other hand....
      The Cannibals of North Korea

      NK is brutal. The problem is the US is brutal as well. Maybe if a country which actually didn't have the most prisoners in the world were to comment people wouldn't view it as a joke. It's clear the US government is not serious about human rights. Do we care about the rights of our prisoners?

      I do think that American citizens care abut human rights but the lawmakers aren't voting that way. They won't even end the brutal war on drugs and outlaw for profit prisons. How can I take them seriously when they are building the worst prison state in the history of mankind. A prison state which will allow rich people to own shares in the prison camps. Laws which will arrest people on any charge they need to, in order to meet some quota so the prisons can profit.

      I don't see how it's any worse or any better than what NK does. NK uses less humane methods, but the result and plan seems to be the same. Both nations have a prison industry. If the US has a prison industry it cannot speak on prisons. Outlaw for profit prisons and then you can speak on it.

    56. Re:Nope. by RaceProUK · · Score: 1

      If the president doesn't know that it's not okay to assassinate US citizens on US soil without the benefit of due process

      Never said anything about due process, so I'm not sure what you're arguing with here.

      --
      No colour or religion ever stopped the bullet from a gun
    57. Re:Nope. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Never said anything about due process, so I'm not sure what you're arguing with here.

      Well, actually, that is the underlying question which has been posed to him again and again. If he (or you) ignore[s] the context, there's nothing I can do about that, but it's disingenuous in the extreme.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    58. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ha! Again, says who? Where do you fucks get off telling other people how to live? You don't get to blame others for not following your moral code. because you are the only one with your moral code. You are the only one required to live by it. NK can make their own decisions.

    59. Re:Nope. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, and yes. You do not have a free press, nor the right to trial by jury. You have not for some time, but you prefer to live under a rock.

    60. Re:Nope. by guises · · Score: 1

      If you listen to the NPR story that I linked in the other post it answers most of your questions. Sanctions work roughly 30% of the time, they only work in certain situations, they're never the only factor that leads to diplomatic success. Sanctions, like all forms of diplomatic action, are used because wars suck.

      If you think the Iranians are unhappy with sanctions, they'd be far more unhappy with an invasion. Given the prevailing attitude towards nuclear weapons, these are the only two options that are really on the table. The Iranian sanctions are mentioned in the NPR story specifically.

    61. Re:Nope. by TheCarp · · Score: 1

      > Given the prevailing attitude towards nuclear weapons, these are the only two options that are really
      > on the table. The Iranian sanctions are mentioned in the NPR story specifically.

      Sure and in my estimation that is the problem. Normalizing relations will do more to prevent war than any sanctions or intervention will. Questions of whether or not they really are working towards nuclear weapons aside (there are several believable scenarios including that they are not really but feel its useful to look like they are)... what bolsters the argument in favor of such developments internally more than having external adversaries that pose an existential threat?

      As long as those are the only options, then yes, sanctions are better.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  2. Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    NOW comes the freedom and "liberation" thing for those poor north koreans....

    1. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Pirate Bay has been hunted in many countries around the world. Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information.

      Ohh, BARF!

    2. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by SuricouRaven · · Score: 1

      Or both. Both sounds fair. Pirates turned political long ago, and there are plenty of famous examples of acts that were both illegal and political statements. They may not be in the Rosa Parks school of fame, but it's a matter of degree.

    3. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by game+kid · · Score: 1

      I definitely expect some "expedited kinetic action" due to this, and not because they actually host there (after all, logic doesn't stop the **AAs from attacking "pirate" internet users that, well, aren't).

      It would be fun if TPB later announce they're hosting from computers in the US Capitol...

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
    4. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by History's+Coming+To · · Score: 2

      Precisely. If it was about belief and freedom of information then Torvalds, Doctorow and many like them would be the subject of persecution and legal threats in exactly the same way. The pirate bay breaks the law in many countries, and they are prosecuted as such. It's like whining about freedom of speech when you're committing a clear libel.

      --
      Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
    5. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      OTOH, when TPB started everything they currently do was perfectly legal. The laws have changed a lot since then.

    6. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Fluffeh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The laws have changed a lot since then.

      Indeed, mainly because the laws are both being written and applied to enforce what the fat-cats don't like.

      TPB: We don't host the files, we host torrent information. That's not illegal!
      Fat-Cats: We don't like that. That's now illegal.
      TPB: Okay, we don't host torrent files anymore, merely link a hash, that's not illegal.
      Fat-Cats: We don't like that, we will block you anyway and think of a new way to make what you do illegal.
      TPB: We don't do anything that Google doesn't do, that's not illegal.
      Fat-Cats: We are blocking you from [insert country] now, your illegal tirade is over!
      TPB: We will just appear under a new IP or domain... We aren't doing anything against the letter of the law....

      and so on, and so on... etc... repeat... meh.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    7. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep and I'd be "persecuted" for ignoring the copyrights and license on GPLed code. I'd even be accused of "stealing" it. Despite the constant "copyright infringement is not stealing!!" meme that only seems to conveniently apply when its proprietary software and copyright movies, music, books, etc.

    8. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by viperidaenz · · Score: 2

      Laws are made in many countries so they can be prosecuted. They're do nothing more than Google. The only difference is individuals post links to the pirate bay instead of an automated crawler and their search algorithms aren't very good. They funded by advertising (although in TPB's case it seems to just be advertising Asian woman and lonely house wives)

    9. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by dintech · · Score: 1

      If this story had been true it would have been rather ironic. Worlds most famous 'freedom of information' backing organisation finds safe harbour in the worlds most information repressed country.

    10. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. Heaven forbid someone take downs. Site designed for piracy.

      There's no legitimate excuse for piracy in most of the first world. It's white whine at its best.

      Boohoo. You can't torrent contest of chairs or whatever. Big stinking deal. Stop conflating freedom of information with piracy.

      This is a brilliant engrish troll. Contest of chairs! New Classic!

      You are right that there is no excuse for piracy though. The corporations need to stop stealing content from the public domain, that's the biggest piracy going on outside of Somalia, and neither makes the news anymore...

    11. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Fluffeh · · Score: 1

      Yes. Heaven forbid someone take downs. Site designed for piracy.

      While I agree with your argument to a degree, I am against pirating, though I do post quite a few torrents of music (legal to distribute live sets and club recordings) there isn't anything on TPB that I can't find on Google. If you have rules, they must apply equally to all.

      Case in point: Google search for "A State of Trance 600 hash" returns torrent hashes for a number of the torrents I put up there.

      Given your very direct, blunt and one-shoe-fits-all comment, please explain how it is okay for Google to return that, but not for TPB.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    12. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      At least as far as US law is concerned, Google processes and implements DMCA takedown requests; TPB does not. One could also argue that it makes for a moral difference, too.

    13. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Google is located in the United States, and is therefore subject to the laws thereof (i.e. the DMCA).

      AFAIK TPB has no corporate holdings in the United States, and therefore they are NOT subject to ANY American Law (REGARDLESS of how much the Americans really, REALLY, REALLY want that not to be true....)

      This is why the Americans are trying so hard to ram ACTA down the throat of every country in the civilised world: so that their laws in this area WILL affect everyone, everywhere...

      -AC

    14. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just because you rape children and steal movies and music because you're too cheap to cough up a buck for the people that create them, there's no need to toss out all those insults about yourself.

      We know you're cheap. We know you steal. We know you rape people too young to defend themselves from your massive 500 kg of weight.

      Please stop bragging about it, this is the internet after all, try to keep it clean.

    15. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Worlds most famous 'freedom of information' backing organisation finds safe harbour in the worlds most information repressed country.

      I have never really seen how sharing some silly pirated files helps "freedom of information" in any real ways. I'd instead be willing to give that crown to Wikileaks, Tor, Wikipedia, Khan Academy or FSF instead...

    16. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given your very direct, blunt and one-shoe-fits-all comment, please explain how it is okay for Google to return that, but not for TPB.

      Because Google is a general index but TPB's main agenda is piracy.

    17. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Fluffeh · · Score: 1

      Because Google is a general index but TPB's main agenda is piracy.

      That doesn't follow the logic of law. Either the rule is there to be obeyed by everyone, or by no-one. You cannot selectively enforce a law. That's like saying that all drivers have to stop at a red light, except taxis drivers because they are driving on the roads all the time.

      --
      Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!
    18. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by tsa · · Score: 1

      The Pirate Bay has been hunted in many countries around the world. Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information.

      Ohh, BARF!

      Indeed. Whoever came up with the idea that "information wants to be free" should be shot. Information doesn't want anything, and many people do not want their information to be free at all. It's also quite hypocrite that many slashdotters are very much pro Pirate Bay because it makes downloading copyrighted movies and music so much easier, but when the GPL is infringed they start to whine and moan and want the people who did that to be thrown in jail.

      --

      -- Cheers!

    19. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by cbhacking · · Score: 1

      Wrong. Laws are often selective. To take your car analogy and use it correctly, all drivers have to stop at a red light except for emergency vehicles on dispatch, because many laws do actually have common-sense exemptions to the parties they apply to.

      In the case of "why can Google provide those links but TPB can't", you're arguing a false statement. Google provides those links by accident, and takes them down regularly; it's merely due to the automated nature of their scanning that a handful of them wind up in the index anyhow. TPB expressly solicits those links and does everything they can to avoid taking them down. The first part of that (intent) is definitely relevant in law. The second part (compliance with DMCA takedown requests) is why Google is on the correct side of the law, and TPB is not.

      --
      There's no place I could be, since I've found Serenity...
    20. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Whoever came up with the idea that "information wants to be free" should be shot.

      Like many things of interest it has been quoted out of context. One would think that it would be worth to google for a minute before asking for people to be shot but I guess it's more fun to shoot people than to read.

      The iconic phrase is attributed to Stewart Brand. who, in the late 1960s, founded the Whole Earth Catalog and argued that technology could be liberating rather than oppressing. The earliest recorded occurrence of the expression was at the first Hackers' Conference in 1984. Brand told Steve Wozniak:

      On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other.

      And I don't give a rats ass about GPL, as far as I am concerned it's just a symptom of a harmful copyright law. Fix the laws and the GPL won't be necessary.

    21. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TPB is not an american company - DMCA does not apply.

    22. Re: Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TPB is not only advertising asian housewifes, probably what you are seeing is a result of their target advertising system. I see only ads for kittens.

    23. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by lexa1979 · · Score: 1

      Adam Smith, Wealth of nations, p107, about the ones making profits: " The proposal of any new law or regulation of commerce which comes from this order, ought always to be listened to with great precaution, and ought never to be adopted till after having been long and carefully examined, not only with the most scrupulous, but with the most suspicious attention. It comes from an order of men, whose interest is never exactly the same with that of the public, who have generally an interest to deceive and even to oppress the public, and who accordingly have, upon many occasions, both deceived and oppressed it." http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38194/38194-h/38194-h.htm Why don't we listen ???

    24. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by dintech · · Score: 1

      The Pirate Party provides the bandwidth for Wikileaks.

    25. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Znork · · Score: 1

      You cannot selectively enforce a law of nature or a mathematical law. Human laws are selectively enforced all the time. Intent and circumstances are often taken into account. Often history is considered. Sometimes even connections, wealth and race. All of those influence whether laws are enforced in any particular case.

      Many judicial systems have significant discretionary powers, to the extent where, for better or worse, the letter of the law is often less important than the circumstances of the case.

    26. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How much has Adam Smith donated to politicians last year?

    27. Re:Ahhhhhhh.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To further muddy the issue, some state open container laws specifically will exempt taxi-cabs and public transport. So yes, some laws are selectively enforced based on context.

  3. What could possibly go wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What could possibly go wrong with torrent hosting with the Supreme Protector?

    1. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not a thing ... now that Dennis Rodman is working as a technician ;-)

    2. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by Synerg1y · · Score: 1

      what indeed? I wonder if N. Korea knows exactly what they're offering here. It sounds like they don't, or that it's a hoax. Either way, TPB has at the very least another host willing to take it.

      I don't think they know what they're doing, they've censored most of the content that TPB serves, and now they want TPB to serve it out of their country? Sounds off...

    3. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by Goaway · · Score: 1

      Why would they not know? And why would they care? They are not offering this to their own citizens. They are just doing it to poke the US in the eye.

    4. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by Synerg1y · · Score: 1

      Well... they didn't know what "The Onion" was. And ya they are looking to poke the US in the eye, shame for them the ISPs already deployed their monitoring system.

    5. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by Ossifer · · Score: 1

      Apparently his boss is Terry Childs...

    6. Re:What could possibly go wrong... by Eskarel · · Score: 2

      They may very well have known exactly what the Onion is. They also definitely know that the average North Korean doesn't know what the Onion is, won't see any of the foreign news pointing out what the Onion is, and will only see a "western" article talking about how wonderful their leader is. Deprived of its context and in with a likely rough translation, the sarcasm won't even be evident.

  4. Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by He+Who+Has+No+Name · · Score: 0

    I'm sure it'll go fantastic until somebody in the Party finds some popular files unflattering to the North Korean regime on TPB.

    And then it gets interesting.

    1. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by Jacek+Poplawski · · Score: 5, Informative
    2. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm sure it'll go fantastic until somebody in the Party finds some popular files unflattering to the North Korean regime on TPB.

      And then it gets interesting.

      You mean something like this?

    3. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a sucker born every minute apparently.

    4. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by Billy+the+Mountain · · Score: 1
      --
      That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
    5. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't comment whether it is a hoax or not, but makes me wonder why would TPB construct a hoax like this? It would just later embarrass them as liars.

    6. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by xenobyte · · Score: 1

      Too bad... It would have been a perfect provocation against the MAFIAA and their sock puppets in Washington DC...

      --
      "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) --
    7. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by elucido · · Score: 1

      This is probably hoax

      https://rdns.im/the-pirate-bay-north-korean-hosting-no-its-fake

      It probably is a hoax. Honestly I don't think they would brag about doing that even if they did.
      That being said, it would be hard to criticize them if they did because the US government is harassing them.

      And let me say it's not the entire US government either. It's a faction of the US government that has lobbyists for certain corporations telling it to act that way.

    8. Re:Well, we'll see how THAT works out for you by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      Not just a hoax, but a chilling hoax. I hope it give the **AA a moment pause. What if they do push just a smidge too hard? If the US government can pull a German citizen out of New Zealand, where else is there for TPB to operate 'safely'?

      Nobody knows just what might happen if TPB got desperate enough, but this gives people a taste.

  5. The difference - it's enormous by villew · · Score: 2, Informative

    Republic of Korea != Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea

    1. Re:The difference - it's enormous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Exactly. You can tell how much better a place North Korea is because it's a democratic people's republic.

    2. Re:The difference - it's enormous by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 4, Funny

      Splitters.

    3. Re:The difference - it's enormous by Ol+Biscuitbarrel · · Score: 1

      He's over there.

    4. Re:The difference - it's enormous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Republic of Korea != Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea

      However the press release claims to be issued from Pyongyang, which implies we are talking about the "Best Korea".

    5. Re:The difference - it's enormous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      N Korea is my 2nd favorite Democratic Republic.

      The Congo is much more Democratic tho. They have elections!

      There is only ever one candidate tho... but it's an encouraging start :)

    6. Re:The difference - it's enormous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually the German Democratic Republic was even more democratic. Not only did they have elections, but they even had a whole list of candidates. Of course you could only accept or reject the complete list (and rejecting it required to cross out individually every single name on it; otherwise it counted as accepting the whole list). But then, there were people of several parties on it. Of course the vast majority were from the leading party and the other parties were only formally independent anyway. But hey, they had elections where candidates from several parties could be voted on! And you even had the choice to go into a cabin to do it in secret! OK, you were immediately suspicious if you actually used the cabin, especially if you were inside the cabin for long enough to be able to cross out every single name on the list, but hey, nobody could claim you hadn't the option.

  6. Is it April already? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Everyone on the internet knows that North Korea is Best Korea!

    1. Re:Is it April already? by egcagrac0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Apparently, they forgot to hold this one for release the extra 29 days...

  7. WAT? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Kevin Rodman is a undercover agent for tPB ?!

    1. Re:WAT? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      Who the hell is Kevin Rodman?

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    2. Re:WAT? by madprof · · Score: 3, Funny

      The famous hacker/sportsman.

  8. A action of reason in a time of DRM insanity by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 0

    Oh, Ya!
    Congrats ThePirateBay.

    1. Re:A action of reason in a time of DRM insanity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You might be a candidate for medical study seeing as you have the ability to type, and manage it with shit for brains.

    2. Re:A action of reason in a time of DRM insanity by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

      You might be a candidate for medical study seeing as you have the ability to type, and manage it with shit for brains.

      Aaron Swartz died for just that type of thinking.

  9. It's a fake routing by Zarhan · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not based in North Korea, but a fake. Basically they have hijacked couple of IP addresses and set up fake BGP advertisement, and probably generated an artificial delay with some Linux box to emulate a satellite link. Most likely the 'bay is now hosted from Cambodia.

    In-depth analysis here:https://rdns.im/the-pirate-bay-north-korean-hosting-no-its-fake

    1. Re:It's a fake routing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's fake because it's South Korea. This is in the actual statement from TPB. The North Korea thing came from incompetent journalism and has now ballooned beyond control.

    2. Re:It's a fake routing by Mindcontrolled · · Score: 1

      But isn't it fun to see the biases collide now?

      --
      Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
    3. Re:It's a fake routing by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      It's fake because it's South Korea. This is in the actual statement from TPB.

      What do you mean, are you talking about the TPB statement which reads, in part, "And to our help comes a government famous in our part of the world for locking people up for their thoughts and forbidding access to information." To me, that sounds like a description of North Korea, not South Korea.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    4. Re:It's a fake routing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suppose they're referring to the TPB statement which says they "have been invited by the leader of the republic of Korea, to fight our battles from their network". The Republic of Korea is South Korea.

    5. Re:It's a fake routing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, Khmer Rouge territory - phew, that's so much better

    6. Re:It's a fake routing by anarcat · · Score: 3, Informative

      and there's a followup now that validates what you're saying pretty clearly..

      https://rdns.im/the-pirate-bay-north-korean-hosting-no-its-fake-p2

      quite interesting read!

      --
      Semantics is the gravity of abstraction
    7. Re:It's a fake routing by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      Ok, now. Can someone at /. who calls himself a "networking expert" step up and verify whether the analysis at rdns.im proves indisputably that this is a hoax?

      Another one: if this turns out to be fake, it will be interesting to hear why did TPB craft this setup and the announcement.

    8. Re:It's a fake routing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Khmer Rouge lost power in 1979.

    9. Re:It's a fake routing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To me that sounds like the U.S. of A. :)

    10. Re:It's a fake routing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish the "tech media" wouldn't publish hoaxes so happily.

  10. Now they've done it... by John3 · · Score: 1

    They may not be afraid of the nations of the world when it comes to diplomatic and economic sanctions, but they'll cry uncle once the RIAA starts serving them with lawsuits.

    --
    "We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
    1. Re:Now they've done it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The day the US starts a war with North Korea over copyright law is the day I do not wish to live on this planet anymore.

    2. Re:Now they've done it... by Nemesisghost · · Score: 2

      Oh, come on, wouldn't you want to see the utmost irony? The Defender of Democratic Values going to war against The Uber Evil Rightless Commie Nation over them allowing the latest Mickey Mouse movie or Metallica album being distributed for free? I mean, think of the children.

    3. Re:Now they've done it... by mark-t · · Score: 1

      *THIS* planet? Which other one would you go to?

    4. Re:Now they've done it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We are already at war with N. Korea, have been since the 50s. (we never ended it, just a very very long temporary cease-fire.)

    5. Re:Now they've done it... by cavreader · · Score: 1

      Good thing the "Defender of Democratic Values " is scaling back and hopefully eliminating all attempts at something so patently impossible. The US government needs to stop all pretense of assisting any other countries internal matters. It's not worth neither treasure or blood. An amoral foreign policy would be the best policy given the current state of the planet.

    6. Re:Now they've done it... by The+Iso · · Score: 1

      It's a Futurama reference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIWHMb3JxmE

      --
      "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows." - Bob Dylan
  11. The Glorious Leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    once downloaded the entire Star Wars trilogy in 4k with zero seeders. He achieved zero lost packets and a share ratio of infiniti +1.

    1. Re:The Glorious Leader by Antipater · · Score: 1

      The Glorious Leader once destroyed the childhoods of an entire generation of Americans singlehandedly. His tell-all memoir, "The Manchurian Film Director", remains unpublished.

      --
      Everything is better with chainsaws.
    2. Re:The Glorious Leader by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      once downloaded the entire Star Wars trilogy in 4k with zero seeders. He achieved zero lost packets and a share ratio of infiniti +1.

      Surprisingly, everything in that sentence is completely possible (except the infinite share ratio) thanks to the brilliance of Bittorrent.

      Anything can be downloaded with zero seeders, as long as there are peers with enough different pieces to assemble a whole copy of the torrent, and because seeding prioritizes sending the least common piece to whoever doesn't have it, this is pretty common.

  12. North? Are you sure? Please confirm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I saw this earlier today and the naming seems intentionally misleading and ambiguous. I'm still not entirely sure if it is North or South Korea which this applies to. Furthermore, even the reports which do say it's "North" could have easily propagated from an incorrect sensationalized source, so I'm still not convinced.

  13. ROK does not equal DPRK by TEG24601 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm sorry, but North Korea is the "Democratic People's Republic of Korea", whereas South Korea is the "Republic of Korea". There is a huge difference.

    1. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by SuricouRaven · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I've noticed a general rule: If a country feels the need to proclaim 'democratic' in their name, they usually aren't.

      Doubly true for 'people's.'

    2. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by MartinSchou · · Score: 4, Insightful

      While I agree with the sentiment, it does raise questions about "greatest country in the world", "land of the free", "bastion of freedom" etc.

      Or to put it another way - judge countries/people/companies/stuff by their actual merits rather than their PR.

    3. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by MartinSchou · · Score: 1

      Well, considering that the Pirate Bay's own blog talks about Pyongyang and that "We believe that being offered our virtual asylum in Korea is a first step of this country's changing view of access to information. It's a country opening up".

      Now, while I'm not an expert in Asian politics, I don't think that Pyongyang is in South Korea, nor do i believe that the quote is an apt description of it.

    4. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by rgbrenner · · Score: 1

      You misunderstand the terms because of your lack of reading of communist material. Both "People's democracy" and "People's Republic" are communist terms.

      I think your confusion will be cleared up if you simply understand that "people" only includes communists -- the rest are to tolerate communist rule (and they are not included in the term "people"). Look up "people's dictatorship" if you're curious.

    5. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by tompaulco · · Score: 0

      While I agree with the sentiment, it does raise questions about "greatest country in the world", "land of the free", "bastion of freedom" etc.

      I'm inclined to agree with you, and yes it concerns me very much, but whenever I get vocal about it on slashdot I get shot down by people who think the current regime can do no wrong.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    6. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      - judge countries/people/companies/stuff by their actual merits rather than their PR.

      Oh if we'd just apply that to politicians I think things would be much better in the industrialized world.

    7. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That doesn't make any fucking sense. If it's a democracy, then it's a democracy.

    8. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same goes for the "United States of"

    9. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to the tyranny of the majority, and why democracy doesn't really work either, it's just less-bad.

    10. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by dido · · Score: 1

      The difference between a republic and a democratic republic is like the difference between a jacket and a straitjacket.

      --
      Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
    11. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      The standard Marxist term is "dictatorship of the proletariat", which is explicitly exclusive. I have never heard the term "people's dictatorship".

    12. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Also, NK is not officially communist these days - they removed all references to Marxism and communism from their constitution a couple decades ago. It's now a "country of the glorious juche / songun idea", given to Dear Leader directly from heaven, from whence he came.

    13. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought it was a Necrocracy?

      -AC

    14. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by rgbrenner · · Score: 1
    15. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I usually get up-modded for my comments which state that the USA is one of the world's prime evils. Maybe you need to provide some supporting evidence, or be more on topic when you go about it. It can be done here. Of course, this comment is probably going to be offtopic'd.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    16. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      The more a country says "We are the greatest and the very best" the less it usually does to support those claims.

      A truly great country doesn't use those claims, but lets the rest of the world come to that conclusion by simply being great.

    17. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Looks like a Maoist specific thing. At least, I'm not aware of it being used anywhere by the Soviets.

    18. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      According to that definition, the USA are a necrocracy, too, because they also still operate under the rules (written down in the constitution) of people who are long dead. :-)

    19. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by RivenAleem · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the "World Series"

    20. Re:ROK does not equal DPRK by Sigg3.net · · Score: 1

      Ah, so _that's why_ we hear "God bless America" in every public context!

  14. This is why Dennis Rodman paid Kim a visit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can type more than this for my comment.

  15. In honor of the move by Grayhand · · Score: 3, Funny

    Kim Jong Un has made Talk Like A Pirate Day a national holiday!

    1. Re:In honor of the move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if you don't do it he'll make you walk the plank.

  16. ROK or DPKR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Republic of Korea is South Korea.

    The Democratic People's Korean Republic is North Korea.

    The summary says Republic of Korea, which should mean South Korea...

    1. Re:ROK or DPKR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Democratic People's Korean Republic is North Korea.

      Close. North Korea is, ironically, actually the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). So you're right that the Republic of Korea should always refer to South Korea, but simply adding Democratic to the beginning changes it so that you're talking about the North.

    2. Re:ROK or DPKR? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's DPRK, officially. Not "DPKR".

      Just a quick correction. :)

  17. Remember when slashdot had editors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah, me either.
    All I see are posters.

    1. Re:Remember when slashdot had editors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welcome to Web 3.0. All opinion, no real, actual data..

    2. Re:Remember when slashdot had editors? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      sorta like fox news

  18. Ironic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Today we can reveal that we have been invited by the leader of the republic of Korea, to fight our battles from their network."

    So North Korea is now our ally in our ongoing struggle for the freedom of information sharing?

  19. it's true! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dennis Rodman carried the server with him on the plane!

    1. Re:it's true! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dennis Rodman carried the server with him on the plane!

      So where did they find to plug the thing in to power and network?

  20. Wait for confirmation from Mr Dennis Rodman by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He's now the world's expert on the internal workings of North Korea.

  21. Twisted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bah. This stupidity has been taking place since some fools decided that linking to something was criminal. And its been wrong ever since.

    As for Torrenting and liberty, I have a bit of sympathy with the underground. The free market isn't free market when its got this level of enforcement and legalise. But there isn't anything that anyone could ever say that would have me deeming freedom of any kind being worth taking north korean scum bag yung sick in the head communist scum of the earth cum whats his face and his henchmen help in the area - as acceptable.

    Just no.

    And as for Rodman, I don't care if your a Politican. Don't be one thats fine. But for someone to go there who has access to our freedom's and act as this kind of PR is beyond contempt. The world needs to free North Korea.

  22. The Exception That Proves The Rule by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot: the only site on the Internet where you get solid information in the comments, but only a fool would venture into the news post.

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

    1. Re:The Exception That Proves The Rule by PRMan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The comments and the article are typically OK. It's the summaries that are screwed up!

      --
      Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
    2. Re:The Exception That Proves The Rule by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Peer review in action!

    3. Re:The Exception That Proves The Rule by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot: the only site on the Internet where you get solid information in the comments, but only a fool would venture into the news post.

      A great reason why nobody ever bothers R-ingTFA.

    4. Re:The Exception That Proves The Rule by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 0

      What's an "article"?

      --
      Not a sentence!
    5. Re:The Exception That Proves The Rule by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1


      Slashdot: the only site on the Internet where you get solid information in the comments, but only a fool would venture into the news post.

      That's pretty much true of all news sites - it's just that Slashdot is full of realists.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    6. Re:The Exception That Proves The Rule by wvmarle · · Score: 1

      Why read the article when you can get all hte info you need from the comments?

    7. Re:The Exception That Proves The Rule by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You must be new here. The articles are fine, but nobody actually reads them, so the comments are nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to a poorly written summary.

  23. "Fake" or not by CanEHdian · · Score: 1

    While there is very legitimate evidence being presented elsewhere pointing out that this is a hoax, the story is of course fabulous and the irony wonderful. Internet Freedom being defended from the Copyright Industry by none other than North Korea?

    It will be an interesting story to follow and I'm wondering who the RIAA/MPAA (indirectly, of course) are going after next...

    --
    When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
    1. Re:"Fake" or not by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is not freedom in any sense of the word. The piratebay is for illegal piracy, and nothing else. Having a few legal torrents doesnt change a thing.

    2. Re:"Fake" or not by PIBM · · Score: 1

      It's not because it's illegal where you live that it's illegal for everybody else. And the few legals torrents for you might well be illegal somewhere else.

  24. Pirate Bay in North-Korea.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    .... The gateway for any other country to gain access to their network in a easier way.

    Cannot honestly say this is a smart thing of the North Koreans... tactically speaking of course!

  25. Comparisons of Penalties by craznar · · Score: 1

    Interestingly for me - the penalties for what they are doing seem far worse than for what we are 'meant' to believe they are doing.

    One of the big downsides for huge penalties for trivial things - is people will end up doing non-trivial but lesser penalty crimes to protect themselves.

    --
    EMail: 0110001101100010010000000110001101110010 0110000101111010011011100110000101110010 0010111001100011011011110110
  26. Wrong Country by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm pretty sure the "Republic of Korea" is actually South Korea. North Korea is called "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea." Something is wrong with the pirate bay post. (It's pretty obvious that they were actually talking about the north, since they mentioned Pyongyang.)

  27. Definitely NORTH Korea by Paran · · Score: 1

    The press release hosted on TPB says Pyongyang, which is the capital of NORTH Korea. Interesting indeed, but the outrage of some people is a little over the top. Morals and politics aside, a persecuted movement must reside where it's not being persecuted.

  28. Not yet by segoy · · Score: 5, Informative

    The article doesn't say they are being hosted from DRNK, it says they've been invited to. The /. title is a poor summation, but the fact that they're not currently hosted there does not disagree with the content of the linked blog post.

    1. Re:Not yet by anagama · · Score: 2

      just to be pedantic, it's "DPRK" (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
    2. Re:Not yet by segoy · · Score: 1

      Thanks. I was looking at the initials thinking it didn't feel right, but took the time neither to confirm nor deny.

    3. Re:Not yet by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 2

      That's why we generally call it "Best Korea" online.

      --

      ---
      ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
    4. Re:Not yet by EnempE · · Score: 2

      Living in the actual Republic of Korea, let me assure you that you are not a pedant. The difference between the two Korea's is pretty significant.

    5. Re:Not yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      +1

      You'd think with all the tech stories (Samsung is based is South Korea) and general international interest in North Korea that you'd get more of a reaction here from a confusion between the two.

      Republic of Korea = South Korea
      Democratic People's Republic of Korea = North Korea

      Note: I also live in South Korea and recently had difficulty proving my address because a UK bank confused the two.

    6. Re:Not yet by jrumney · · Score: 2

      UK banks are terrible when it comes to "there be dragons" parts of the world. My wife has lost access to her account because she can no longer use internet banking without a non-expired debit card, and cannot register for telephone banking without either logging on to internet banking or going into a branch in person. We spent months trying to resolve this, being told over the phone she just needs to send certain documents, then finding out when nothing happened for several weeks and a follow up call was made that they either have no record of receiving the documents, or they decided they weren't sufficient due to the risk of fraud in the nether regions of the world. After about 6 months, they finally had the helpful suggestion that it would be much easier to "just pop in" to our nearest branch in Hong Kong to sort things out (after all, its only 1500 miles away).

    7. Re:Not yet by jrumney · · Score: 1

      Barclays, but they're all the same.

    8. Re:Not yet by tangent3 · · Score: 3, Funny

      I tend to call it "Democratic" "People's" "Republic" of Korea

    9. Re:Not yet by rjch · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Generally I've found a good rule of thumb is that any republic that includes "People's" in the title is almost always the repressive one.

      Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) vs Republic of Korea (South Korea)
      People's Republic of China (Mainland China) vs Republic of China (Taiwan)

    10. Re:Not yet by sxpert · · Score: 1

      HSBC is from Hong Kong... nothing to do with the UK

    11. Re:Not yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Countries are all named ironically. For example, neither the USA nor the UK are particularly united.

    12. Re:Not yet by joe545 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Despite the name, the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation is actually British

    13. Re:Not yet by shikaisi · · Score: 1

      Despite the name, the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation is actually British

      and bloody awful at providing banking services in both Shanghai and Hong Kong (I've lived in both and had to suffer their "service" there). Funnily enough, the service they provide in Britain is not too bad.

      --
      No left turn unstoned.
    14. Re:Not yet by shikaisi · · Score: 1

      Countries are all named ironically. For example, neither the USA nor the UK are particularly united.

      Carrying on the best traditions of the Holy Roman Empire.

      --
      No left turn unstoned.
    15. Re:Not yet by Coppit · · Score: 1

      Republic of Korea = South Korea
      Democratic People's Republic of Korea = North Korea

      Again supporting the rule of thumb that if a country has "Democratic" in the name it's not.

    16. Re:Not yet by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      UK banks are terrible when it comes to "there be dragons" parts of the world.

      It serves you right for living somewhere foreign.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    17. Re:Not yet by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      Countries are all named ironically. For example, neither the USA nor the UK are particularly united.

      Only non ironic country name is Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. Name is Kazakhstan, is Nation and of course has many Glorious Culture.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    18. Re:Not yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, a generalization on two data points, you must be a genius!

    19. Re:Not yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      just to be pedantic, you don't spend time not doing something. in any given planck unit of time you're not doing everything except what you are doing. should have said, you did not take the time to confirm or deny. your sentence structure is awkward and poorly conveys your meaning.

    20. Re:Not yet by Quila · · Score: 1

      General rule, if it says all three, it's none. Even if it just says "democratic" it likely isn't.

    21. Re:Not yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had always thought it stood for "Holy Shit, my Bank is Chinese!"

    22. Re:Not yet by ub3r+n3u7r4l1st · · Score: 1

      In Hong Kong, you have to actually line up to use a HSBC ATM, because most people uses HSBC for getting their payroll, and the goverment uses them for revenue collection (tax) and rebates. HSBC is pretty much the de facto central bank, and nobody wants to admit it. The Monetary Authority of Hong Kong does not perform central bank functions other than storing foreign reserves, and to defend the exchange rate of 1USD=7.8HKD.

    23. Re:Not yet by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      UK banks are terrible when it comes to "there be dragons" parts of the world.

      Agreed. When I was getting married, my Russian wife needed to set up a bank account in the UK. Unsurprisingly. Off to Royal Bank of Scotland, who took the detailes, examined the marriage certificate, passport, visa, NI card ... filled in forms. And then sent her chequebook and bank cards to her OLD address in Siberia.

      Pathetic. That's "Royal Bank of Scotland", for anyone who missed it the first time round.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  29. Yes Minister by countach · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sir Humphrey: East Yemen, isn't that a democracy?
    Sir Richard Wharton: Its full name is "The Peoples' Democratic Republic of East Yemen."
    Sir Humphrey: Ah, I see, so it's a communist dictatorship.

  30. Re:Boycott by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    then any and all advances that came from nazi research should be shunned post haste! the same for any companies( and their products) doing ANY business dealings, too. where does it end (or start for that matter)?

  31. Antipiracy hijacking of traffic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A traceroute shows traffic being routed through MarkMonitor, the AntiPiracy group. WTF!!!

      7 sjo-bb1-link.telia.net (195.12.255.233) 197.532 ms 199.783 ms 209.439 ms
      8 verio-119529-sjo-bb1.telia.net (213.248.86.50) 201.237 ms 202.597 ms 203.217 ms
      9 ae-6.r20.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.5.12) 207.126 ms 207.772 ms 208.429 ms
    10 ae-4.r21.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.102) 305.135 ms 282.983 ms 305.679 ms
    11 ae-2.r23.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.145) 360.951 ms 338.921 ms 350.351 ms
    12 ae-2.r02.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.159) 361.888 ms 354.806 ms 361.147 ms
    13 xe-4-1.r02.dsdfge01.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.65) 348.733 ms 351.305 ms 354.571 ms
    14 * * *
    15 213.198.77.122 (213.198.77.122) 358.035 ms 357.563 ms 352.571 ms
    16 * * *
    17 xe-0-1-0-3.r02.frnkge03.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.5.62) 363.814 ms 351.607 ms 356.227 ms
    18 xe-0.level3.frnkge03.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.8.202) 367.404 ms 351.365 ms 352.546 ms
    19 vlan90.csw4.Frankfurt1.Level3.net (4.69.154.254) 442.660 ms 435.922 ms ae-82-82.ebr2.Frankfurt1.Level3.net (4.69.140.25) 436.532 ms
    20 ae-61-61.csw1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.134.66) 442.497 ms 453.716 ms 451.085 ms

    whois Level3.net
    [Querying whois.verisign-grs.com]
    [Redirected to whois.markmonitor.com]
    [Querying whois.markmonitor.com]
    [whois.markmonitor.com]

    MarkMonitor is the Global Leader in Online Brand Protection.

    MarkMonitor Domain Management(TM)
    MarkMonitor Brand Protection(TM)
    MarkMonitor AntiPiracy(TM)
    MarkMonitor AntiFraud(TM)

    1. Re:Antipiracy hijacking of traffic by lothos · · Score: 1

      The Level3.net domain name is registered at MarkMonitor, a domain registrar that also protects trademarks. It does not mean that traffic is going through Mark Monitor.

    2. Re:Antipiracy hijacking of traffic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      lol, good job you posed anon egh? wouldnt want to confirm you are an idiot interpreting a traceroute and whois would we ?

      try increasing the hops on your trace, level3 (who you whois'd) is a massive backbone/tier 1 provider, their domain name is managed by MarkMonitor who managed large brand domain names, but you know that right ?

  32. Oh my god! by Saija · · Score: 1

    Pirates operating "servers" from an exis of evil country?
    Oh my god!! Is this a plot for a new Austin Powers movie?

    --
    Slashdot ya no es que lo era! ;)
  33. For Great Justice! by EverlastingPhelps · · Score: 1

    NorK Man in the Middle attack in 3... 2...

  34. what difference does it make? by stenvar · · Score: 1

    The traffic--or the country--may simply be cut off at the border.

  35. Re:Boycott by LateArthurDent · · Score: 1

    then any and all advances that came from nazi research should be shunned post haste! the same for any companies( and their products) doing ANY business dealings, too. where does it end (or start for that matter)?

    The difference is that if the TPB was really being hosted in NK (it's not), then presumably NK would be getting some benefit out of it. In that case you would be literally supporting north korea by not boycotting the site, as opposed to making use of advances from atrocities you did not help perform.

  36. Long live the lunatics by Sir+or+Madman · · Score: 1

    Information is free. Duplication of artistic works, not so much....Ah, fuck it, I like these people. The world needs more wild shit-disturbers, no matter how crazy, to keep the powers that be in check. Just don't steal too much from real artists. Somewhat cool to make a statement, but not cool to rip them off financially. (By real artists I mean those did not begin their careers on a powerpoint in a boardroom.)

    1. Re:Long live the lunatics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's no boardroom. There's a tiny lobby with cheap uncomfortable chairs and a line out the door onto the street of people wanting to be the next big thing. Basically it's just like standing in line for temp labor, but for performance "artists." a microphone is a hammer is a job.

  37. News flash by chajath · · Score: 1

    The Pirate Bay just got nuked

  38. Oh, yeah, great by FuzzNugget · · Score: 1

    Nothing puts people at ease like those wacky North Koreans!

  39. This kind of sux by supertrooper · · Score: 1

    Semantics aside (which Korea is which) I must say this bothers me little bit. For a long time I have been a supporter of TPB, but if they are even considering this move then I will have to withdraw my support, or at least suspend it until this is cleared up. Anyone who is excited by support of a very oppressive regime cannot be a friend of freedom of any kind.

    1. Re:This kind of sux by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      South Korea has an oppressive regime?

  40. Re:North? Are you sure? Please confirm. by Dins · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, the press release on TPB's blog is datelined Pyongyang, so there's that...

  41. TPB now hosted in North Korea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...In other news, the U.S. administration has decided that the time for diplomacy with North Korea is over, and a full-scale military invasion is the only way to "liberate its people from hunger and oppression".

  42. Hackers check in.... by wherrera · · Score: 1

    but they don't check out.

    Ask the Japanese and Americans who provided translation assistance in past decades.

  43. Catalonya by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's spelled "Catalonia" in English. Or "Catalunya", in Catalan. Definitely not "Catalonya" in any language.

  44. The internet - one big irony machine. by hack++slash · · Score: 3, Informative

    TPB is blocked here in the UK on the major ISPs (mine included), which after their move to NK means a 'free' country is now blocking a site in a 'closed' country.

    How did that happen?

    --
    To do something right, you often have to roll up your sleeves and get busy.
    1. Re:The internet - one big irony machine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They didn't move to North Korea. If they did North Korea would censor most of the shit on the site.

    2. Re:The internet - one big irony machine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...Aliens...

    3. Re:The internet - one big irony machine. by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2

      a 'free' country is now blocking a site in a 'closed' country. How did that happen?

      âoeIt doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrongâ. - Richard Feynman

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  45. Doesn't hosting actually require electricity? by kimgkimg · · Score: 1

    Just saying...

    1. Re:Doesn't hosting actually require electricity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No worries, the Great Leader built a new giant hamster wheel especially for this. Volunteers will run on the wheel and generate power. Those who refuse to volunteer will be shot, as usual.

  46. Thought pirates were for freedom by xyourfacekillerx · · Score: 1

    And it shows, after all, N. Korea is exemplary in this world for civil rights, civil liberties, and its committment to freedom is simply outstanding. So you go, you pirates; you stalwarts of intellectual freedom; you go with N. Korea, and show the world what personal freedom really means.

  47. If this is true ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... then we might *finally* see some proper action against NK. Nukes are a bit meh, but mess with the revenue stream of the entertainment industry, and you will see the full wrath of the US directed upon you. The dog will be wagged.

  48. ! North Korea by GPS+Pilot · · Score: 1

    "we have been invited by the leader of the republic of Korea"

    If this is true, they have been invited by the leader of South Korea. Because the formal name for South Korea is "Republic of Koreaa" and the formal name for North Korea is "Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (DPRK).

    The irony of the situation is quite similar to how East Germany was known as the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR).

    --
    That that is is that that that that is not is not.
  49. democratic or people or republic by zaroastra · · Score: 2

    have you noticed that just for the fact that the country name has democratic or people or republic on its name, it will have a far greater chance of it being a dictatorship... having democratic people's republic is just asking for trouble :P

    --
    I'm trying to get modded "Interesting Flamebait Informative and Insightful Redundant Troll" *-* Please Help *-*
    1. Re:democratic or people or republic by ub3r+n3u7r4l1st · · Score: 1

      or having democrats in general :P

    2. Re:democratic or people or republic by reub2000 · · Score: 1

      You just noticed this?

  50. TPB meet DPRK... by dosware · · Score: 1

    Assuming they are partaking in TPB's ad revenue, DPRK should easily triple their GDI within 6 months, and perhaps be able to adequately feed their hungry masses within the year. It's a "Win Win" for everyone : )

    1. Re:TPB meet DPRK... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Assuming they are partaking in TPB's ad revenue, DPRK should easily triple their GDI within 6 months, and perhaps be able to adequately fund their nuclear weapons program within the year.

      FTFY

  51. Now we know... by PortHaven · · Score: 1

    What Dennis Rodman's secret mission was ...

  52. First useful thing the PROK ever did by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    word.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  53. Let me get this straight... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they are going to a country with draconian internet censorship....to escape censorship?

  54. Thoughts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Everyone, listen to the ones that have already noticed. ThePirateBay (TPB) post stated "the republic of Korea". This means South Korea (The Republic of Korea) ie. NOT North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK).

    This is not an argument about how much the US and North Korea don't agree with each other and more so about how South Korea's view on the freedom of information is changing. It is also about TPB, piracy, information, and money. It would be an even bigger topic should DPRK side with the "free world". If you don't find this ironic, Google North Korea Nuclear Program and read any news articles from the past 10 years.

    Back to the topic...TPB has ever so poignantly claimed that it is a pro-free information website. I believe it is striving to become a movement. Where the movement is going, I can't foresee, but it is very interesting to watch. Still, regardless of what side you are on, the cost of information, availability of information, and piracy are huge issues and they all correlate to money. TPB may have an iffy name, but it does raise many solid points and chooses to live and fight by questioning the world governments' views and laws. The services that TPB provides conflicts with so many cultures that the fact that the conflict exists is ridiculous.

    I am afraid and curious of the many things that may become of the bigger picture that is this movement. Most businesses make money off information that they provide. Some businesses provide free information. Some people make money off information they provide. Most people believe that if information is out there, they are entitled to it, regardless of consequence. It is the people who have become numb to consequence and denatured the online world. Some people exploit those that are denatured--the uneducated and those that don't care--by providing these tempting "free" information morsels. What defense do businesses and people who sell information have? Law. Sadly, it is law. It costs money to have law. If you throw enough money at the wrong ideals, you soil the original intent.

    Will education fix this? Will better economies? Will lower costs? What if someone invented fairy dust? That would probably cost money, too. The only way to fix something like this, would be to start from scratch and only have two ways of doing everything. Why two, you ask? Law. Stupid monopolies. Good luck politicians! :)

  55. How ironic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If they did, how ironic it would be that they would want to host their servers in a country that doesn't believe in freedom of information at all.

    Clearly it's a joke.

  56. And what is wrong with concentration camps? by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The US operates concentration camps, it is rather famous for it, or what do you think Indian Reservations are? They still exist and they were the inspiration (Go west for living space and damn the natives) for the German march to the east.

    If you are thinking of places like Dachau, those were EXTERMINATION camps. Mind you, I can see how you are confused since the Germans weren't shy of killing people anywhere they could. But then again, the Indians weren't meant to survive on the reservations what with them being located in the worst regions the Americans could find so nature could cleanse the land.

    NK is of course a very nasty regime BUT it is VERY dangerous to then allow everyone else to say "well we are not as bad as them, so we are clean". Clean by comparison perhaps but NOT clean. Just because your neighbor killed 100 babies doesn't mean you are innocent for only having killed one.

    You can see this by the Dutch sheltering its war criminals (colonial actions post WW2) while trying to get German war criminals extradited protected by Germany who is trying to get Israel to answer for war crimes against the war criminal worshiping Palestinians (mufti of Jerusalem was one of the originators of the holocaust). One big vicious "he is evil for killing, we are not for doing the same".

    IF this story is true, I think TPB may be taking a huge risk. It is one thing to say host a proxy in say China, "the reds have more freedom then us" but NK is a step to far. As said, all nations commit human rights abuses, or excuse them or ignore them so we are all tainted but NK isn't tainted, it is the taint. I can see the naive idealist make the case of how odd it is that oppresive regime X is more free then free regime Y but it is a completely FALSE statement. It is that French fat actor who ignores everything wrong with Russia and accepts asylum from a COMMUNIST KGB agent to seek refuge from having to pay taxes from a socialist government when his career has been funded by government subsidies to promote french movies. X 100!

    The NK citizens after all are NOT more free then people in the west to share information freely. Rather the opposite, this proxy (if it exists) is ONLY accessible to the west and maybe the NK elite.

    This isn't like showing how Canadians have better healthcare then the US by comparing health prices. It is like showing how NK is less racist then the US by showing they arrest fewer Afro-Americans. Which is true... and if I got to explain why it is an idiotic comparison, go and jump of a building, it is fun! All the cool kids are doing it.

    NK is NOT a more free society in anyway by offering to host a proxy site. There is no irony here. Just a sick marketing ploy aimed at the extremely gullible. If you believe the argument for a second posting form your non-monitored unlimited Internet (sorry Americans, you failed) while NK people are living in the largest prison camps and those outside have to eat grass... well then you are a very sad piece of meat.

    The enemy of my enemy is NOT your friend. Just because the US powers that be consider NK evil doesn't make them good. Not ALL the people killed by the Nazi's were innocent, they, like any regime still had a legal system and would have executed ordinary criminals. Same with NK, China, the US and every other nation. There are degrees of evil in which we have to exist or go mad but NK is way beyond any of that, they are NOT your ally or you make the mistake of the Irish, Palestinians and Africans who picked the Nazi side NOT because they liked the nazi's (well, the Irish did) but because they thought that the Enemy of my Enemy is my friend. They were wrong and have payed a heavy price for it. Because the friend of my enemy is most assuredly my enemy.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:And what is wrong with concentration camps? by Motard · · Score: 1

      Sovereign territory != Concentration camp.

    2. Re:And what is wrong with concentration camps? by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      It is that French fat actor who ignores everything wrong with Russia and accepts asylum from a COMMUNIST KGB agent to seek refuge from having to pay taxes

      Whatever's wrong with Russia at the moment, it's certainly not that it's too communist.

      Putin was a COMMUNIST KGB agent for the same reason he's now a motherland-loving friend of the Orthodox church. It's about power. Thirty years ago, being a KGB agent in the USSR was a much better idea than being a poet.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    3. Re:And what is wrong with concentration camps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure it doesn't... I've got some sovereign territory for you at the top of Mt Everest. It's not a concentration camp, so I'm sure you'll survive.

  57. NK is operating on a shoe string budget by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They had to close the consulate in Australia once because they couldn't afford to run it anymore.

    50k might be peanuts to you but it would is cold hard cash.

    NK has been trying to sell IT services for a while now. You can outsource pretty much anything there, if you can stomach it.

    From NK's point of view, this might NOT be about 50k, it might be about the millions/billions the RIAA claims are made by copyright infringement that they want a slice off. The UN gave one small island group the rights to hurt the US by giving them permission to violate US copyright law... NK could hardly get in more trouble for doing the same AND thinking they are going to get payed for it.

    Plus their leaders are just batshit crazy, the previous guys had an unknown number of people abducted (from outside NK), including relatively famous ones because he wanted them to work for him. There is no career in NK telling the leader his idea is silly.

    One of the most shocking things I saw was years ago when people were actually shopping outsourcing and when you asked where it was outsourced they said Korea, which I found odd because Korea's standard of living is rather high and they also need every tech person they can get for themselves... and then I remembered there were two korea's. I was actually sitting in a presentation with someone trying to persuade us that outsourcing flash game production to a prison camp was a good idea.

    It would be like going back in time and witness a powerpoint slide by the nazi's (you can see the link) about the cheap labor to be had in their polish facilities. I have lived a sheltered life really like most western people. But that day I saw true evil. Someone bought a truckload of gold teeth and did not ask questions and someone sends emails with work instructions to NK and does not ask questions.

    TPB is making a gigantic mistake. Once again, the enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend. But the friend of my enemy is most assuredly my enemy.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

    1. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The enemy of your enemy is not your friend. Is your ally.

    2. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once again, the enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend. But the friend of my enemy is most assuredly my enemy.

      Isn't this self-contradictory?

    3. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by turp182 · · Score: 1

      Regarding outsourcing Flash development to a prison camp...

      In the US we use prison camp labor for license plates, road work, and other manual labor (sometimes skilled labor). And prison isn't supposed to be a nice place. And what's the difference between two prisoners, say a North Korean (NK) political prisoner and a US marijuana user. Conditions and treatment are the differences, both are in prison (and unfairly in my opinion).

      US prisons look at their prisoners as a profit source. An obvious conclusion to that is that other countries will follow suit. Shoot, in the US we get China-priced labor from at least a couple of million people in prison.

      I'm not saying that NK prisons are as nice as US prisons, but neither are those in South/Central America (or Africa, or Eastern Europe). I'm also not saying that justice is served 100% of the time by incarcerating people (anywhere in the world). The US doesn't lead the world in per-capita prison rates by accident:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

      Anyway, the US bitching about North Korea's political prisoners is the Pot calling the Kettle Black given our War on Drugs. We started the modern prison state, and we're still the best at it...

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
    4. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Enemy of your enemy is nothing but your enemies' enemy. Treat as such, use it to your advantage but don't forget they are not your friend.

    5. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The enemy of your enemy is not your friend. Is your ally.

      Not even that. The enemy of your enemy may be your enemy as well.

    6. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by tehcyder · · Score: 1

      And what's the difference between two prisoners, say a North Korean (NK) political prisoner and a US marijuana user.

      It's unlikely that the US marijuana user in prison will be tortured and his family killed, plus he'll probably be in for a few moonths rather than decades. But apart from that they're exactly the same.

      I find the whole war on drugs thing stupid, and am no great lover of US foreign policy, but the US really isn't in the same league as North Korea.

      --
      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
    7. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by turp182 · · Score: 1

      I know, I just wanted to point out that the US has a higher incarceration rate than any other country. It is an important point to make.

      The important point you make is the collateral damage potential with torture and possibly other innocent people being punsihed/killed.

      Prison conditions outside of the US and Western Europe are pretty deplorable on the whole. North Korea is particularly bad, I wonder how they stack up against sub-Saharan African nations.

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
    8. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Once again, the enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend. But the friend of my enemy is most assuredly my enemy.

      Isn't this self-contradictory?

      No. If A is your enemy and B is an enemy of A (thus, an enemy of your enemy), and C is a friend of A (thus, a friend of your enemy), how would B not being your friend contradict C being your enemy?

    9. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by elucido · · Score: 1

      They had to close the consulate in Australia once because they couldn't afford to run it anymore.

      50k might be peanuts to you but it would is cold hard cash.

      NK has been trying to sell IT services for a while now. You can outsource pretty much anything there, if you can stomach it.

      From NK's point of view, this might NOT be about 50k, it might be about the millions/billions the RIAA claims are made by copyright infringement that they want a slice off. The UN gave one small island group the rights to hurt the US by giving them permission to violate US copyright law... NK could hardly get in more trouble for doing the same AND thinking they are going to get payed for it.

      Plus their leaders are just batshit crazy, the previous guys had an unknown number of people abducted (from outside NK), including relatively famous ones because he wanted them to work for him. There is no career in NK telling the leader his idea is silly.

      One of the most shocking things I saw was years ago when people were actually shopping outsourcing and when you asked where it was outsourced they said Korea, which I found odd because Korea's standard of living is rather high and they also need every tech person they can get for themselves... and then I remembered there were two korea's. I was actually sitting in a presentation with someone trying to persuade us that outsourcing flash game production to a prison camp was a good idea.

      It would be like going back in time and witness a powerpoint slide by the nazi's (you can see the link) about the cheap labor to be had in their polish facilities. I have lived a sheltered life really like most western people. But that day I saw true evil. Someone bought a truckload of gold teeth and did not ask questions and someone sends emails with work instructions to NK and does not ask questions.

      TPB is making a gigantic mistake. Once again, the enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend. But the friend of my enemy is most assuredly my enemy.

      The enemy of your enemy is your friend. That is true regardless of politics. The USA hates the Pirate Bay and hates North Korea. At this point it's even irrational in nature and it's entirely political. The Pirate Bay has no reason not to work with North Korea if anyone they work with who isn't North Korea will be pressured by the USA and will turn on them. It's probably just a publicity stunt but even if it isn't, it's not a lot of money going to the NK government. I think the majority of responses here on the matter are also political and seem scripted directly from the US government.

      Human rights abuses? So where are you people when US prisoners are abused or when for profit prisons are set up in the US to abuse human rights? Those aren't called "camps" but they function as for profit "camps".

    10. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by elucido · · Score: 1

      Regarding outsourcing Flash development to a prison camp...

      In the US we use prison camp labor for license plates, road work, and other manual labor (sometimes skilled labor). And prison isn't supposed to be a nice place. And what's the difference between two prisoners, say a North Korean (NK) political prisoner and a US marijuana user. Conditions and treatment are the differences, both are in prison (and unfairly in my opinion).

      US prisons look at their prisoners as a profit source. An obvious conclusion to that is that other countries will follow suit. Shoot, in the US we get China-priced labor from at least a couple of million people in prison.

      I'm not saying that NK prisons are as nice as US prisons, but neither are those in South/Central America (or Africa, or Eastern Europe). I'm also not saying that justice is served 100% of the time by incarcerating people (anywhere in the world). The US doesn't lead the world in per-capita prison rates by accident:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

      Anyway, the US bitching about North Korea's political prisoners is the Pot calling the Kettle Black given our War on Drugs. We started the modern prison state, and we're still the best at it...

      Exactly my point. People need to learn to separate the truth from politics and propaganda even when it's coming from the US government. Our prison system is among the worst in the world. We have more prisoners with stripped rights than any other country, even more than China. Our laws are doing this, and our prisons make people rich. So basically it's slave labor in the USA as well but I guess if you're a criminal thats okay? Well maybe the prisoners in NK are labeled terrorist or criminal or something else and to them it's okay for the same reason it's okay to our people. It's wrong for both countries or right for both countries but you can't say it's wrong for NK but okay for the US.

    11. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by elucido · · Score: 1

      And what's the difference between two prisoners, say a North Korean (NK) political prisoner and a US marijuana user.

      It's unlikely that the US marijuana user in prison will be tortured and his family killed, plus he'll probably be in for a few moonths rather than decades. But apart from that they're exactly the same.

      I find the whole war on drugs thing stupid, and am no great lover of US foreign policy, but the US really isn't in the same league as North Korea.

      So if the US prisoner is in prison on a terrorism charge is it still unlikely? Terrorists have no rights.

    12. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by elucido · · Score: 1

      I know, I just wanted to point out that the US has a higher incarceration rate than any other country. It is an important point to make.

      The important point you make is the collateral damage potential with torture and possibly other innocent people being punsihed/killed.

      Prison conditions outside of the US and Western Europe are pretty deplorable on the whole. North Korea is particularly bad, I wonder how they stack up against sub-Saharan African nations.

      Doesn't the USA have secret prisons and black sites? Where are all those terrorists? Were any of them tortured? Why is the US government keeping all these secrets?

      I think we cannot really judge the human rights record of the USA until we know certain facts the the US government deliberately covers up. And just because the US government is better at covering abuses up it doesn't mean less people are abused.

    13. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, imagine I'm your enemy's friend. Now, the second sentence says I'm your enemy, so presumably you're also my enemy. Therefore, my friend is my enemy's (=you) enemy. The first sentence states the opposite.

    14. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone bought a truckload of gold teeth and did not ask questions and someone sends emails with work instructions to NK and does not ask questions

      I'd have only one question: "How long does each developer get to use the one computer in the country?"

    15. Re:NK is operating on a shoe string budget by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Says who? How do you know NK and US aren't in the same league? You only know what the US tells you. And they never lie, right?

  58. Re:Nope (but traceroute/whois says yes) by Forever+Wondering · · Score: 3, Informative
    traceroute to thepiratebay.se (194.71.107.15), 30 hops max, 60 byte packets
    6 ae-7.r20.snjsca04.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.5.52)
    7 ae-4.r21.asbnva02.us.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.4.102)
    8 ae-2.r23.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.145)
    9 ae-2.r02.amstnl02.nl.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.159)
    10 xe-4-1.r02.dsdfge01.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.2.65)
    11 * * *
    12 213.198.77.122 (213.198.77.122)
    13 * * *
    14 xe-0-1-0-3.r02.frnkge03.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.5.62)
    15 xe-0.level3.frnkge03.de.bb.gin.ntt.net (129.250.8.202)
    16 vlan90.csw4.Frankfurt1.Level3.net (4.69.154.254)
    17 ae-82-82.ebr2.Frankfurt1.Level3.net (4.69.140.25)
    18 ae-61-61.csw1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.134.66)
    19 ae-21-70.car1.NewYork1.Level3.net (4.69.155.67)
    20 INTELSAT-IN.car1.NewYork1.Level3.net (64.156.82.14)
    21 209.159.170.215 (209.159.170.215)
    22 202.72.96.6 (202.72.96.6) 837.620
    23 175.45.177.217 (175.45.177.217)

    ---

    whois 175.45.177.217
    [Querying whois.arin.net]
    [Redirected to whois.apnic.net]
    [Querying whois.apnic.net]
    [whois.apnic.net]
    % [whois.apnic.net node-3]
    % Whois data copyright terms http://www.apnic.net/db/dbcopyright.html

    inetnum: 175.45.176.0 - 175.45.179.255
    netname: STAR-KP
    descr: Ryugyong-dong
    descr: Potong-gang District
    country: KP
    admin-c: SJVC1-AP
    tech-c: SJVC1-AP
    status: ALLOCATED PORTABLE
    mnt-by: APNIC-HM
    mnt-lower: MAINT-STAR-KP
    mnt-routes: MAINT-STAR-KP
    remarks: This object can only be updated by APNIC hostmasters.
    remarks: To update this object, please contact APNIC
    remarks: hostmasters and include your organisation's account
    remarks: name in the subject line.
    changed: hm-changed@apnic.net 20091221
    source: APNIC

    role: STAR JOINT VENTURE CO LTD - network administrat
    address: Ryugyong-dong Potong-gang District
    country: KP
    phone: +66 81 208 7602
    fax-no: +66 2 240 3180
    e-mail: sahayod@loxley.co.th
    admin-c: SJVC1-AP
    tech-c: SJVC1-AP
    nic-hdl: SJVC1-AP
    mnt-by: MAINT-STAR-KP
    changed: hm-changed@apnic.net 20091214
    source: APNIC

    --
    Like a good neighbor, fsck is there ...
  59. Not convinced by marqs · · Score: 2

    After reading this I find this theory much more plausible
    https://rdns.im/the-pirate-bay-north-korean-hosting-no-its-fake

  60. Re:Nope (but traceroute/whois says yes) by spxZA · · Score: 1

    And all traffic is routed via New York. Gotto love the NSA.

  61. Re:North? Are you sure? Please confirm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Unfortunately I live in a totalitarian state run by a despot and I cannot read the TPB blog as the website is on the state controlled BLOCK list. Content is deemed so incendiary at TPB it has been completely censored.

    Thankfully I can still get to Silk Road to buy my smack; and the rape porn website I visit is fast and functional.

  62. Re:Julian calendar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Assange haz calendar ?

  63. Just a thought by kaizendojo · · Score: 1

    If we engage in activites at TPB, are we now subject to rules of surveillance applying to terrorists?

  64. now the supreme leader can 'look at ' pirate bay by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can't wait to see that

  65. UN did not give anyone permission to violate (c) by langelgjm · · Score: 1

    From NK's point of view, this might NOT be about 50k, it might be about the millions/billions the RIAA claims are made by copyright infringement that they want a slice off. The UN gave one small island group the rights to hurt the US by giving them permission to violate US copyright law... NK could hardly get in more trouble for doing the same AND thinking they are going to get payed for it.

    The UN did no such thing. You are thinking of the reports about Antigua winning a WTO dispute case against the US because of the US banning its citizens from online gambling hosted there. The WTO is a completely separate entity from the UN.

    The US, which is a WTO member and benefits massively from its dispute resolution procedures, in this case was a defendant. The US was found to be violating its treaty commitments by a court whose decision the US agreed to abide by. The penalty allows for the aggrieved party to extract compensation from the defendant by engaging in "cross sector retaliation." In this case, since the US was violating its treaty commitments with respect to gambling in Antigua, Antigua was given the right to violate its treaty commitments with respect to copyrights held by US companies, up to a certain monetary value.

    In order for North Korea to do the same thing, they'd have to bring and win a WTO dispute against the US. Or anyone. Which isn't going to happen, because they're not a WTO member. Also, I'm sure they already pirate plenty of software, and no one really cares... there is no way to enforce copyright law there. What are you going to do, sue in a North Korean court? Or sue in your jurisdiction, and seize North Korean assets?

    --
    "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
  66. Got back to you... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3472325&cid=43070393

    * :)

    APK

    P.S.=> If you have ANY other questions? I'll be watching your post history for them, to field them appropriately!

    (I have to do it that way since they closed off that post above, but that was my reply)

    You didn't post for 10 days after my last post before it you replied to, so I "gave up", but DID spot your late reply & responded to it there "JUST IN TIME" before they closed it to comments (usually a 2 week period)).

    I liked your points & showed you HOW to save the result of my program running there too (rightclick on result lists in the program - they have functions via popup menus that the main menus, don't... such as saving the results, or, finding/adding/deleting entries as well!).

    Thus - ask here should you have any other questions (or, if I replied incorrectly in that link above, & I didn't see your point you tried making there)...

    ... apk

    1. Re:Got back to you... apk by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

      http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3472325&cid=43070393

      * :)

      APK

      P.S.=> If you have ANY other questions? I'll be watching your post history for them, to field them appropriately!

      LOL, thanks for that.

      I might read a reply to a message (sent e-mail) but it can take awhile for
      me to respond. I didn't know of the 14 day posting limit till your mention of it.

      No I didn't know you were the author of HostsXpert.
      Thank you very much for the great program and the chance
      to not only retry it again but explaining why my HOSTS file
      wasn't working at that time.

      As I mentioned I contacted one funkytoad, and posted to www.majorgeeks.com
      about it. Other than this post I haven't bad mouthed HostXpert that badly :)
      and glad you straighted that out. HostsXpert is back in my Misc directory that
      follows me around from Win OS to Win OS.

  67. Unicorn Power FTW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yet another demonstration of the superior North Korean unicorn power, laying waste to the western world's feeble technological attempts.

    PDRNK FTW

  68. POS Article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Phewt. Pirate Bay. /rolls eyes

  69. Not North Korea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There isn't a single mention of North Korea specifically being the host.

    It's hilarious how media spins information to catch your eye.

    "Pirate Bay to be hosted in Korea" ..meh

    "Pirate Bay to be hosted in North Korea"

    *GASP* I must blog about this everyone! North Korea is striking against America ! This is an oblivious a pull for War! *REBEL*

    1. Re:Not North Korea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As mentioned before the article has the dateline "Pyongyang" so...

  70. what a load of crap by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information

    Nope, that's not true.

  71. Stop playing politics. The US has more prisoners. by elucido · · Score: 1

    Without doubt, North Korea will take some remuneration from the Pirate Bay, which makes the Pirate Bay give money and credibility to a country with a population living in fear and hunger, and strengthening a regime that operates concentration camps.

    This shows that they either have not thought this through, or they have no stance on human rights (i.e. they show they just want to download illegal stuff, not increase freedom of individuals). I hope this is a joke or will be retracted.

    The US has millions of prisoners, some in for profit prisons. The USA is in no position to speak on prisons any other country has when we have even more prisoners.

    Human rights abuses are no joke, but I know what you're doing is playing politics. Piratebay is also playing politics. You two belong together.

  72. Kim Jong Un just got into power by elucido · · Score: 1

    TPB as operating expenses of ~$100,000. If half of that went to a single bandwidth provider, NK would have enough money to cover 1 middle-class contractor at an embassy.

    The money coming in from TPB will have exactly zero impact on Kim Jong-un's capacity to violate human rights.

    So we don't even know him well enough to know if he will be as bad as his father.

    As far as violating human rights, all governments do that. The US government does that. So the Pirate Bay should not work with US companies because of politics?

    Here is the problem, what would it take to get the USA and North Koreans to have actual diplomacy? Apparently diplomacy is impossible because North Korea has a disgusting record of human rights abuses? If that is the case then it's only going to end in war.

  73. How many people has the US abused? They wont tell by elucido · · Score: 2

    I am anti-US in a lot of ways (corporatism, a culture of violence, religious extremism...), but even when I choose to be a bit dishonest in order to win an argument, there are some comparison that are so absurd that I would never dare to make them, even when talking to someone really, really stupid.

    Comparing North Korea with the US about human rights? Seriously?

    But we know how many people are in US prisons. The US has more prisoners than any other nation. We know the US has used black sites, has used water torture, has done experiments on people without their knowledge, has used secret prisons.

    Why should I trust either country? They both abuse human rights and the only difference is the US government is better at covering it up. Why don't we have information on the terrorists locked in these so called secret prisons? Even if secret prisons are needed why hasn't the UN been able to investigate? Why these kinds of secrets?

    Also the war on drugs destroyed peoples lives, destroyed families, and continues to do so. I could point out Americans who have been destroyed. Yet you're believing what the US government says about North Korea, a country you've never probably been to. I'm not saying NK isn't abusing human rights, I'm certain they are as abusive as any other government. I'm saying that governments in general abuse human rights and to try to pretend that the biggest most powerful government wouldn't be the best at it, why not? Who is going to police the US government?

  74. The US doesn't release official stats either. by elucido · · Score: 1

    How many people does the US government have in secret prisons or black sites? How many secret prisons or black sites exist? How many terrorists are in prison? How many illegal immigrants are in prisons? Find those statistics.

    1. Re:The US doesn't release official stats either. by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      We can guess about those as well, and the guesstimates are significantly lower.

    2. Re:The US doesn't release official stats either. by elucido · · Score: 1

      We can guess about those as well, and the guesstimates are significantly lower.

      What input are you using to form your estimate?

  75. lame stream media by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How did this reached the lame stream media? Are they as naive as as teenagers? didn't they read the whole blog post ?

    by Kim Jung Bay

  76. Irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone is going TO North Korea to obtain freedom.

  77. Re:also "arab", "socialist", "islamic", "democrati by dacaldar · · Score: 1
    Good link above. If I had mod points....

    But since I don't, I can reply: The one I wanted to chime in with was the former East Germany, or German Democratic Republic. It was hard for my parents to answer when a young me asked "but if the people there are trapped behind the iron curtain and also can't vote, why are they called Democratic?"

  78. Hoax by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This site explains very well how they did the Hoax about the North Korea hosting. Thought it was too good to be true. http://beaglenetworks.net/

  79. Anyone else? by ineedbettername · · Score: 1

    I, for one, welcome our Best Korean Torrent-Loving Overlords.

  80. I authored the program in this link inside by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not hostsexpert, but rather this program -> http://www.start64.com/index.php?option=com_content&id=5851:apk-hosts-file-engine-64bit-version&Itemid=74 - to me, it really doesn't matter if you use mine or the one you note, but that you know how to 'work around' difficulties with the end-result (hosts files themselves) & more importantly (perhaps most of all) WHY they fail @ times (internal formatting on diff. OS, or other reasons) - which is RARE, but it does happen (usually, it's the notepad.exe "save as" *.txt default that does folks in, not tabs though as was the case here apparently).

    I've tried HostsXpert (one MUST 'check out the competition' & all that, lol), & yes - It's alright & does the job well enough (as does hostsman)!

    However, there's things mine does (such as favorite sites to speed up via SITES.TXT you edit to suit yourself & YOUR favorite sites) that others do not afaik per my last testings of them.

    ---

    A.) Speeding up favorite sites of yours: That not only speeds up access to them, but also proofs you vs. downed or dns-poisoned DNS servers as well.

    B.) I also offer a NATIVE 64-bit model, & afaik, the others do not also.

    ---

    (A & B are just as a couple examples of what I meant...)

    * In any event, the "bottom-line" & MOST important part here, is that you have the GOOD SENSE to realize the OS & IP stack provide you with a powerful tool in a single file that works wonders on things "online".

    (And, that you take advantage of it - That's the important part here!)

    APK

    P.S.=> In any event - I am glad to have helped... it was GOOD review for me, and yes, there is a 2 week/14 day limit on the duration/life of being able to post into slashdot for doing replies to post threads (a good thing I think, especially during being "trolled", lol)!

    ... apk