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Pirate Bay Logo Hijacked by Thumbdrive Maker

Ryan Whitwam — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:25:45 -0600

We all know how important brand recognition is. A Swedish maker of USB drives, Sandryds Handel AB, is showing how acutely aware of that they are by commandeering a very well known logo: that of The Pirate Bay. The company plans to offer a series of USB drives bearing the logo. That by itself isn’t actually illegal or cause for concern. The Pirate Bay logo is intentionally not registered so that it may be used freely.

It all goes off the tracks when Sandryds Handel AB decided to register the logo themselves. This would limit the ways others could use it. “It will be turned over quite easily; it’s a preliminary registration that is being ‘tested’,” said former Pirate Bay spokesman Peter Sunde.

The Pirate Bay is seeking to have the decision by the patent office annulled. If the Pirate Bay still has the sway online that is once did, Sandryds Handel might want to rethink this course of action.

The Pirate Bay Sold to Public Company with Plans for "Legit" Service

Paul Lilly — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 09:30:01 -0500

We all know what really goes down over at The Pirate Bay, and apparently so does the Swedish District court, which found TPB's defiantly outspoken founders guilty of assisting copyright infringement and ordered them to serve a year in prison and pay a combined $3.6 million in fines. And if the latest rumor turns out to be true, they'll be the ones laughing all the way to bank, even if ultimately paying the fine, which would leave them with $4.2 million.

That's the amount that would be left over after Global Gaming Factory X, a gaming company, acquires the torrent sharing site for $7.8 million. GGF says it plans to complete the acquisition by August and then launch new business models that would pay copyright owners.

"We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site," said Hans Pandeya, CEO of GGF. "The Pirate Bay is a site that is among the top 100 most visited Internet sites in the world."

Of course, illegal access to copyrighted content might play a ~~small~~ huge role in why TPB is so popular, but GGF believes it can build on the torrent site's success while going completely legit.

Image Credit: Volvo

ISP in Norway Refuses to Block The Pirate Bay

Andy Salisbury — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:02:48 -0500

While The Pirate Bay has proved to be a powder keg of controversy, it looks like Norway’s biggest ISP, Telenor, is the latest to be caught in its blast.

After a few victories against Danish ISPs, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is looking to take aim at Norway. Telenor has reportedly been asked to completely block all access to The Pirate Bay within 14 days, or face a lawsuit.

In response, Telenor’s Ragnar Kårhus has stated, "This would be the same as demanding that the postal service should open all letters, and decide which ones should be delivered." They have since refused to give into the demands of the IFPI, and stated that they should file the lawsuit if they deem it necessary.

Image Credit: The Pirate Bay

Swedes Seize Pirate Mainframe Containing 16,000 Movies

Pulkit Chandna — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:46:35 -0500

Swedish cops seized a server containing 16,000 pirated movies in a raid they conducted last month. It is claimed that the server belonged to a file-sharing ring called Sunnydale and was being operated furtively at a location outside Stockholm from where it was seized.

Antpiratbyrån, a private copyright advocacy group, claims that the entire Sunnydale file-sharing ring, which consists of 10 servers, has been rendered ineffective due to the raid.

Anti-piracy lawyer Henrik Pontén even made a very lofty claim to underscore the importance of the raid. He said that the Sunnydale ring was the source of all illegal content on The Pirate Bay.

But The Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde refuted Pontén’s tall claim. "More than 800,000 people have uploaded to The Pirate Bay, so I don't believe it's the source of everything. But it is possible that it's a major source," he told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.

Image Credit: Instructables

European Parliament May Ban The Pirate Bay

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:22:37 -0600

The fate of the Medina report, which propounds several anti-piracy measures, will be soon decided by the European Parliament. MEPs (Member of European Parliament) are supposed to vote on the report authored by Spanish socialist Manuel Medina Ortega in the next few weeks. The regulations proposed by Ortega are a shade hackneyed.

The report has torrent websites and their users in its crosshairs. It seeks to ban all torrent websites like The Pirate Bay – specifically mentioned in the report, as they “allow downloading of protected works or services without the necessary authorization are illegal.” However, the presumption that the illegality of such torrent portals follows from their illegal use is not entirely incontrovertible.

Ortega not only proposes to saddle ISPs with more responsibility, he wants them to be able to be more powerful than before. He suggests that ISPs be allowed to disconnect transgressors.

Image Credit: Moldova.Org

The Pirate Bay Claims 22 Million Peers, Seeks Recognition in Guinness Book of World Records

Paul Lilly — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:25:21 -0600

Much to the dismay of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association of Amercia (RIAA), BitTorrent tracking site The Pirate Bay continues to grow at what might be a record pace. According to the file sharing site, its global user base now sits at 22 million peers strong, up from 8 million just one year ago.

"We would like to thank all the great and persistent uploaders that dedicate time to share," Pirate Bay writes in its blog. "But most of all, we would like to thank you, you and you! For it is all of you out there that makes this site what it is. Together; uploaders, seeders, leechers, mods and admins, we are The Pirate Bay."

Not stopping at a blog post, the file sharing site has applied to be recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for its supposed accomplishment. If the number of peers turn out to be real, it would mean that the other legal alternatives -- Hulu, Last.fm, Pandora, and others -- have had little effect on The Pirate Bay.