Sweden’s Supreme Court announced earlier today that they would not grant leave to appeal in the now long-running trial that charged three The Pirate Bay founders with criminal copyright infringement. The sentences and fines against the trio of Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, and Gottfrid Svartholm, are now final. Fortunately for torrenters, The Pirate Bay website was not part of the trial, and was left unharmed and operational. However, with the trial against the three founders out of the way, and with the recent MegaUpload takedown, The Pirate Bay is now more vulnerable than ever, so the people currently running the torrent site quickly moved the address to a .SE domain, in order for it to be out of reach of U.S. authorities. That’s right: Http://thepiratebay.se, and according to a new post on their blog, 2012 will be “the year of the storm.”
TorrentFreak reports that a Pirate Bay insider confirmed that the move was done just in case the ICE gets any shady ideas, now that the trial is over. Along with the move, The Pirate Bay team left a message on its blog. Fairly defiant, but par-for-the-course when it comes this particular torrent site:
2012 is the year of the storm.
The Pirate Bay will reach an age of 9 years. Experiencing raids, espionage and death threats, we’re still here. We’ve been through hell and back and it has made us tougher than ever.
The people running the site has changed during the years. No sane human being would put up with this kind of pressure for 8 years in a row. An insane hobby that takes time from our families, our work (sorry boss) and our studies.
What binds us all together is a strong belief that what we do is good. That it is something we one day can tell our grandchildren about with pride. People from all over the world confirm this. We read testimonials from people in Syria longing for freedom, thanking us for what we provide. We receive more than 100 visits daily from North Korea and we sure know that they need it. If there’s something that will bring peace to this world it is the understanding and appreciation of your fellow man. What better way to do that than with this vast library of culture?
With this said, we hear news from our old admins that they have received a verdict in Sweden. Our 3 friends and blood brothers have been sentenced to prison. This might sound worse than it is. Since no one of them no longer lives in Sweden, they won’t go to jail. They are as free today as they were yesterday.
But what enrages us to our inner core is that the system, the empire, the governments, are still allowed to try to boss you and us around with one law crazier than the other. Do you think they will stop with SOPA/ACTA/PIPA? They will not. Because you won’t stop sharing those files. Because we will not stay down. Because no one can turn back time. Together, we are the iron that hardens with each strike.
In this year of the storm, the winners will build windmills and the losers will raise shelters. So flex your muscles, fellow pirates, and give power to us all! Build more sites! More nets! More protocols! Scream louder than ever and take it to the next level!
(via TorrentFreak)
- Dutch ISPs refuse to block The Pirate Bay
- The Pirate Bay says the next form of piracy will be 3D-printed
- The Pirate Bay launched a free promotion platform for artists
Published: Feb 1, 2012 11:39 am