The Pirate Bay Speaks Out Against Proposed EU Firewall
The Pirate Bay Speaks Out Against Proposed EU Firewall
Posted 05/09/2011 at 3:02pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
17
Comments
Print
Despite losing a court case, and nearly selling to a shady gaming company, The Pirate Bay is still rattling cages in the entertainment industry. A February meeting of the European Union’s Law Enforcement Work Party (LEWP) resulted in a proposal that, among other things, recommended a European firewall that would block 'inappropriate' sites.
Among those sites, would no doubt be the Pirate Bay. The torrent site is using its clout to rally the Internet with an impassioned (and fittingly "borrowed") speech. The LEWP proposal did not go over well in all quarters. ISPs are quite down on it as they do not want the added responsibility of running the firewalls and maintaining the blocklists. Many users are, of course, concerned about government censorship of the Internet. Although, the media lobby is pleased with the proposed measures, which they have been suggesting for years. In response to this document, The Pirate Bay has posted a modified version of Winston Churchill’s “this was their finest hour” speech.
It might be a little thick on hyperbole, but it makes it clear how serious the Bay takes the prospect of an EU firewall. “I expect that the Battle of Internets is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of an Uncensored civilization! Upon it depends our own free life, and the long continuity of our sites and our trackers. The whole fury and might of the enemy will very soon be turned on us,” the statement reads.
The document reference is just the meeting minutes, so the more complex minutiae of the proposal are still unclear. Do you think it reality is as bad as these early impressions? More importantly, will the firewall go into effect?
More like this
17
Comments
Comments are closed on this article
bling581
May 10, 2011 at 9:42am
If individuals or a company is hosting a site that can be deemed illegal then they have every right to take down their servers or arrest them. However no government has the right to actively block or censor the internet by the use of firewalls and other such means. Even if their intentions are good it's a step in the wrong direction. Don't give them an inch because they'll realize they can keep it up if there's a way to justify the censorship or if they can convince the people that it's okay.
kixofmyg0t
May 09, 2011 at 9:41pm
I believe in internet censorship. Some things, some meme's just need to be wiped from existance.
Child porn being number 1 on my list of things that need to be censored and erased from the bowels of the internet.
If you agree with that then you support internet censorship, but thats not a bad thing. If you dont then you're a sick individual.
That's one quick example of censoship that most people will agree on. However some people can contort the pirate bay as being destructive to society and justify blocking it.
Im pretty drunk and I forgot where i was going with that....lol.
I Jedi
May 10, 2011 at 5:57am
This whole firewall EU idea is just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. First, it is impossible to stop the spread of child pornography, sharring of licensed software, music, movies, etc. While I do not think these things should happen, you and I have to be realistic about this: The Internet is vast. You can take down one illegal site, but another one will pop up in its place. The more you try to squeeze a group of people on the Internet, the more harder it is to track them, as they'll use more sophisticated methods to keep from being noticed. Finally, I personally do not want the government to tell me what I can and cannot visit on the Internet all in the name of "protection." Today, its child porn. Tomorrow, its a violent video game.
Danthrax66
May 10, 2011 at 5:08am
Giving governments the power to censor the internet won't remove these things. There were pedophiles and child porn before the internet and there will be after they censor it. This law would enable governments free reign over the internet and would circumvent any democratic way of dealing with problems. To make it worse they use broad terms such a "unsafe sites" wtf does that mean? Spell it out say we are blocking all child porn sites, etc. Don't leave any grey area that can be misinterperated. However I still prefer not having one.
kixofmyg0t
May 09, 2011 at 9:47pm
They're too busy trying to figure out new ways to "protect our rights", which translated into english means "festering in IRC about new ways to hack Sony and get those precious credit card numbers".
Ghok
May 09, 2011 at 6:29pm
I love how as a western society we can praise the use of the internet in the organization of the Egyptian revolution, or to show what's really going on in Iran, but we're so quick to forget that openess doesn't exist if we decide to put up a firewall.
As for intelectual property, I'm no fan of warezs, but I think the fact that we've been able to share such a vast amount of information is a big acomplishment, and when people start talking about IP theft, it kind of seems a little unimportant in comparison... Yeah, go ahead, I see that you want to stop pirating, but not at the expense of such a big acomplishment. That just seems mad.
KenLV
May 09, 2011 at 5:09pm
Interesting take on things – this China comparison that is.
On the one hand, you’ve got 1.3 billion people living under a TRULY oppressive government. These folks are just trying to get honest and complete information from the “outside” AND to get THEIR story out – this is a good thing and exactly why they SHOULD be able to get around the “Great Firewall of China”.
On the other hand you’ve got the world’s largest torrent tracker site. These folks just want to help people steal shit.
Sounds like a perfectly acceptable moral equivalency to me.
Make FB opt IN
Danthrax66
May 10, 2011 at 5:11am
It isn't theft. If torrenting is theft then so is letting a friend borrow a CD or letting them listen to your mp3 player. It is sharing, there is no theft.
KenLV
May 10, 2011 at 4:20pm
Yawn. Churn out all the pathetic justifications you can and make all the fallacious comparisons you want, it is still theft. If you insist on making a comparison (though, since it is so obviously theft, none is needed - except to try to justify your crime; theft is theft is theft - no matter how you try to spin it) at least use one that is more comparable. Though still not perfect, it would be similar to if your friend lends you their ID and membership card to the 24-hour fitness club down the block and you fraudulently use the facility. Of course, you probably don’t see that as theft either. I mean you weren’t going to actually JOIN the gym so you using it isn’t actually withholding anything from them that you were willing to pay them in the first place. Ergo, no theft. Right? I’m pretty sure that’s how that BS argument goes. Like I said, yawn.
zNelson24
May 09, 2011 at 4:52pm
Heres some stuff I've already posted on The Pirate Bay.
"I hail from America, and there has been attempts at severe IP enforcement earlier ago. From my perspective, the users have always been steps ahead of any government. Chinesse citizens have bypassed the Great Firewall, many people have hosted Wikileaks after the finite attempts to take it down, and we have (easily) bypassed ICE's censorship tatics through seizing domains.
If the EU does put this plan into action, the users will simply find a workaround for this too. No matter what the MAFIAA does, they will never win. All their lobbying is futile."
Kano
May 09, 2011 at 3:47pm
Scary... Yes, I do think it "reality" is as bad as these early impressions. It boils down to freedom and control. Of course stealing is wrong but, there are definitely other solutions. I think we've already seen proposals similar to this that didn't fly, so I can't say if it will actually go into effect. Even though I'm in the US, this story is still giving me a horrible feeling. I hope it is dismissed. Anyone that is for this proposal should just make it easier on themselves and move to China.
PS:
"Among those sites, would no doubt be the Pirate Bay. The torrent site is using its clout to rally the Internet with an impassioned (and fittingly "borrowed") speech.Among those sites would no doubt be the Pirate Bay. The torrent site is using its clout to rally the Internet with an impassioned (and fittingly "borrowed") speech."
COME ON, MAN... Take 15 seconds to proof-read. Better you read your sentences twice than me.
ABouman
May 10, 2011 at 10:15am
Hey, it was a really important point and had to be repeated to have its full impact.....No? No one buying that? Fine, fine. Our mistake, all fixed now. Sorry 'bout that!
Jasker
May 09, 2011 at 8:52pm
"Among those sites, would no doubt be the Pirate Bay. The torrent site is using its clout to rally the Internet with an impassioned (and fittingly "borrowed") speech.Among those sites would no doubt be the Pirate Bay. The torrent site is using its clout to rally the Internet with an impassioned (and fittingly "borrowed") speech."
HA!
You copied and pasted the same sentence twice!
P.S. Refering to the author. Not Kano.
Connect with MaximumPC
Featured Content
The gang discusses the GTX 690, Trinity, Ivy Bridge, Amazon, big-box stores, MMOs,...
This month's issue
Feature
Build a PC On Any Budget
Feature
Cloud Services Showdown
How-To
Encrypt Your External Drive
Build It
Upgrade an X58 Rig
Most Commented Articles
Latest Max PC Tweets
- maximumpc: Original RickRoll Video Returns to YouTube After 24-Hour Copyright Hiatus http://t.co/MaH9Sxyy2 days 3 hours ago
- maximumpc: Corsair has decided not to go forward with its $78 million IPO, citing weak equity market conditions http://t.co/A5a4DAzj2 days 3 hours ago
- maximumpc: Want to work at Maximum PC? Our Online Managing Editor, Alex, is moving away, so we need a new one. http://t.co/9Z7JCh0E4 days 1 hour ago
