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The Pirate Bay Claims It Is Now Hosting From North Korea

Posted by samzenpus on from the best-practices dept.

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."

35 of 309 comments (clear)

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

    No it isn't.

    1. 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.
    2. 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
    3. Re:Nope. by cheater512 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Do as we say, not as we do.

    4. 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?
    5. 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".

    6. 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.

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

    This is probably hoax

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

  3. 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 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
  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

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

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

  8. 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...

  9. 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...
  10. Re:Is it April already? by egcagrac0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

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

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

    Splitters.

  12. 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 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.

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

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

    3. 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)

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

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

  13. 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.

  14. Re:WAT? by madprof · · Score: 3, Funny

    The famous hacker/sportsman.

  15. 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.

  16. 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...

  17. 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!
  18. 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.
  19. 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.

  20. 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 ...
  21. also "arab", "socialist", "islamic", "democratic" by Chirs · · Score: 3, Interesting

    See http://brenocon.com/blog/2007/08/its-all-in-a-name-kingdom-of-norway-vs-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea/