[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Pirate Bay Users Vent over Site Sale here

[Mark1615]

that's what I tell all my students. Hack a system or create a super virus. Go to prison for a year and make millions.

[Michael3]

I am so sick of all these tech geeks who think that they have a right to piracy and that anyone who tries to shut down piracy is some kind of Nazi autocrat.
People have a right to get paid for their work! And you have absolutely no right to steal it from them. Internet piracy is no different (ethically) from breaking into someone's home and stealing their belongings.

[chuckchuck]

Michael3 - while I don't advocate piracy - I will say that if it wasn't for Napster and groups like The Pirate Bay there wouldn't have been the push to create things like iTunes or Netflix or any media content delivered via the net. Many "pirates" watch hard to find tv shows or movies only released abroad or music that is no longer available. It is part of this thinking that has changed the way the media industry does business. So - you should thank TPB the next time you use On Demand or whatever streaming service you may use whether online or through your tv . . . those "pirates" were a part of the cause for the reason of a new business model that is still evolving and making "artists" tones of money.

[puterdood]

When money talks, people listen....

[thewazak]

For UK music radio fans, prior to the mid 60's, there was the BBC "Light Program", the BBC "Light Program" or the BBC "Light Program".
Then came the North Sea Pirates. Half a dozen of them: Caroline, London, etc. Choice!
Sadly some sank and some were closed down - but the BBC changed, introducing "Radio One" - and along came numerous legal commercial stations.
Would it have happened without the Pirates? You know!

[HarveyDanger]

Actually, piracy is very different, legally, from stealing.
There's a reason it's called copyright infringement and not larceny. Songs are intangible. When record companies "buy" the songs, all they buy is the right to distribute them and use them as they please. When people share these songs illegally, they have not legally paid for these rights, and so they can be sued, which is based on the argument of lost profits - one that does not stand up to reason, because it relies on the idea that the people who pirated the songs would have bought them in the first place. The only ones losing money are the record labels and movie distributors, and all they do is piggyback on the hard work of others. The people that made these songs and movies have already been paid and will likely make very little money, if any, off of subsequent sales, because that is how this joke form of capitalism works. The artists create all the material and then the middleman steals the profits. The only ones that ever become rich are the multi-million sellers, and even then their mansions aren't bought with cash. They make pennies on the dollar only because they are popular enough to get such a contract, and their often unjustified popularity is the only reason they can afford what they have.

This is why internet distribution direct-from-artists is becoming a bigger and bigger thing. It's successful and the money goes straight to the people that disturb it.

I won't go into why I advocate pircy here. For that, see the comments section of the last Pirate Bay article. It goes without saying, though, that to compare piracy to stealing shows a very childish view of the American legal system and morality.



Edit: It should also be said that this is a smart move by TPB. THey had a 3.8 million dollar fine hanging over their heads, and got offered 7.8 million to be bought. Who wouldn't take that offer? They know piracy will continue, and I'd say this is a pretty good payoff for all of their hard work.
Message was edited by: HarveyDanger