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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."
No it isn't.
NOW comes the freedom and "liberation" thing for those poor north koreans....
This is probably hoax
https://rdns.im/the-pirate-bay-north-korean-hosting-no-its-fake
Republic of Korea != Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea
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
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
once downloaded the entire Star Wars trilogy in 4k with zero seeders. He achieved zero lost packets and a share ratio of infiniti +1.
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.
Kim Jong Un has made Talk Like A Pirate Day a national holiday!
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...
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...
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
Apparently, they forgot to hold this one for release the extra 29 days...
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Who the hell is Kevin Rodman?
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
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!
NorK Man in the Middle attack in 3... 2...
The traffic--or the country--may simply be cut off at the border.
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.
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.)
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.
Hosting and Domain name coupons
The Pirate Bay just got nuked
Nothing puts people at ease like those wacky North Koreans!
The famous hacker/sportsman.
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.
Well, the press release on TPB's blog is datelined Pyongyang, so there's that...
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 ?
but they don't check out.
Ask the Japanese and Americans who provided translation assistance in past decades.
Apparently his boss is Terry Childs...
It's spelled "Catalonia" in English. Or "Catalunya", in Catalan. Definitely not "Catalonya" in any language.
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.
Just saying...
This source also suggests that this is a hoax:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/03/04/the-pirate-bay-may-or-may-not-have-been-invited-to-north-korea-but-its-not-being-hosted-there/
That was the turning point of my life--I went from negative zero to positive zero.
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.
sorta like fox news
"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.
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 *-*
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 : )
What Dennis Rodman's secret mission was ...
word.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
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.
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.
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.
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
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) --
After reading this I find this theory much more plausible
https://rdns.im/the-pirate-bay-north-korean-hosting-no-its-fake
And all traffic is routed via New York. Gotto love the NSA.
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.
If we engage in activites at TPB, are we now subject to rules of surveillance applying to terrorists?
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
Ars Technica says it's not true. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/fake-headline-of-the-day-the-pirate-bay-moves-to-north-korea/
Not for illegal activities but being persecuted for beliefs of freedom of information
Nope, that's not true.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
See http://brenocon.com/blog/2007/08/its-all-in-a-name-kingdom-of-norway-vs-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea/
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.
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?"
I, for one, welcome our Best Korean Torrent-Loving Overlords.
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.
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.