Freedom of Sharing

You've probably heard the news on the corporate newswire that copying, (the primary technical function of the internet) is now supposed to be killed by this court in Europe. But I say no, we will actually win. The internet is about free sharing and open communication. Imagine the devastation to the economy if wikipedia was suddenly gone. How many times do you use it every week, every day? Free culture is invaluable.

from the horse's mouth thepiratebay.org/blog/151

TPB FTW

So the first verdict finally came, almost 3 years after the raid. You might have heard about it in the news...

You, our beloved users, know that this little speedbump on the information super highway is nothing more than just, a little bump. Todays verdict has already been appealed by us and will be taken to the next level of court (and that will take another 2 or 3 years!)

The site will live on! We are more determined than ever that what we do is right. Millions of users are a good proof of that.

We have seen that some people that we dont know have started collecting donations for us, so we can pay those silly fines. We firmly ask you NOT to do this. Do not gather or send any money. We do not want them since we will not pay any fines!

If you really want to help out, here is a list:

• Seed those torrents a little bit more than you usually do!
• Buy a t-shirt and show the world where your sympathy is.
• If you live in Europe, vote in the election for the EU parliament in June.
• Continue to build the internets! Start more bittorrent sites, blog more, start your own lobby group, create, remix, mash up and continue to grow more heads on this amazing hydra that we know as the internets!
• Do not be afraid of using the network. Invite your friends to this and other file sharing systems. Calm people down if they're upset. We need to stay united.

And say it loud say it proud! We are all The Pirate Bay!

Personally I think Google and Facebook and those indespensible monopolies should all be nationalised. Except maybe not actually nationalised by any one country but instead an autonomous international federation giving public oversight but not big brotherish control... I haven't really been able to think of a realistic imaginary scenario for this kind of thing happening but the point is... we need to go in that direction. We can't expect these private companies beholden to the bottom line (short term thinking profit) to forever foot the bill for all this public common good forever just for the fame of it... We need to think about the future and how to make this public good publically owned (and cared for).
~rusl