Two years ago, reports began to surface about a new six-part TV-series on The Pirate Bay’s turbulent history.

The project was initially scheduled to start last year but after an apparent delay, filming is now expected to begin this fall.

Pirate Bay TV Series

The inception and early years of The Pirate Bay are definitely a worthy subject for a series. While most pirate sites hid in the shadows, Pirate Bay’s founders were public figures, who openly taunted the entertainment industries.

Speaking with Variety , head-writer Piotr Marciniak explains that his screenplay is based on a wealth of archive material as well as interviews with the site’s founders.

“It’s a classic rise and fall story, a tragedy about flying too close to the sun, but also a timeless story of a generational conflict,” Marcimiak said.

The people involved in the “The Pirate Bay” series are clearly looking forward to getting the project running. The production is in the hands of B-Reel Films , working for the Swedish broadcaster SVT, while the American distribution company Dynamic Television scooped up worldwide rights.

Selling The Pirate Bay ‘Rights’

Indeed, the rights to The Pirate Bay series are actively traded. The same will likely happen to pirated copies of the episodes when they’re illicitly posted to The Pirate Bay, but it’s unclear whether the rightsholders have plans to crack down on unauthorized sharing.

It’s nonetheless interesting to read that the story about a site that rebelled against the exploitation of copyrights, is being copyrighted and sold off. Would The Pirate Bay founders approve of that? Are they even involved?

The Pirate Bay series aims to tell the history of the notorious pirate site and co-founders Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Gottfrid Svartholm, but none appear to be actively involved.

Founders Deny Involvement

TorrentFreak spoke with both Sunde and Neij, who both confirm they were not interviewed for the upcoming series, even though it aims to document an important and hectic part of their lives.

“Nope, they didn’t interview me for the TV series,” Fredrik says. “Also. I’m not sure who they bought the rights from… They didn’t pay me at least.”

“And I know Anakata would have had nothing to do with it,” Fredrik adds, referring to co-founder Gottfrid, who prefers to live his life away from the public spotlight in recent years.

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde previously said that he was flattered by the idea of a Pirate Bay series, adding that it’s also a bit nerve-wracking. This week, however, Sunde confirmed that he is in no way involved either.

Pirate Bay’s co-founder actually discussed the TV project idea with the show’s writer Piotr Marciniak a few years ago but declined to sell his story. Instead, he was, and still is, working on a potentially competing film project.

Later on, Sunde also met with the series’ director and someone from the production company B-Reel Films, who told him that they had no one from the Pirate Bay team who wanted to cooperate. That didn’t convince him to change his mind, however.

F*ck Off

As mentioned earlier, the Variety piece mentions that the upcoming Pirate Bay series draws from key interviews with Sunde and Svartholm. However, the Pirate Bay co-founder says that he wasn’t interviewed for the series.

“I have not given any deep interview, and when I met with them they said that Gottfrid had told them to fuck off. Which sounds more true to his character..,” Peter Sunde tells us.

We also reached out to B-Reel Films to hear their side of the story, but the company didn’t immediately reply. However, based on the comments from Sunde and Neij it is safe to conclude that they are not in any way involved.

Of course, the rightsholders of The Pirate Bay TV series are free to send some of the revenues to the founders of the site, who ultimately paid for their ideals with their freedom . Sunde doesn’t expect to get paid anytime soon, however.

“Movie studios moved to Hollywood since they didn’t want to pay for stories. They were the original pirates,” Sunde says.

“It’s been ironic to see them going after pirates in court for years and even more ironic to see them pirate the pirate story. Hoping it will turn out nice so I can pirate a copy of it. Maybe I’ll get sued for downloading the story about us.”

Update April 8:

Fredrik Heinig, founder and managing partner of B-Reel Films was kind enough to clear up that, indeed, none of the TPB founders were interviewed in detail for the series. The production team did speak to several people who were close to TPB, as well as its adversaries.

“We interviewed more than 20 people around and in TPB, Piratbyrån, and Antipiratbyrån for our project,” Heinig says.

“Piotr talked to Peter and I and the director Jens met and spoke to Peter in Malmö, I have also talked to him two more times on the phone, but Peter never wanted to do a deep interview, as you know has ambitions to tell his story in a film by himself. Piotr met Gottfrid and had a very short talk.”

“We tried to reach both Gottfrid and Fredrik for longer interviews without any luck. So it’s a misunderstanding from Variety to say that our series is based on interviews with the founders, it’s based on heavy research and interviews with people around them and others.”

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Two years ago, reports began to surface about a new six-part TV-series on The Pirate Bay’s turbulent history.

The project was initially scheduled to start last year but after an apparent delay, filming is now expected to begin this fall.

Pirate Bay TV Series

The inception and early years of The Pirate Bay are definitely a worthy subject for a series. While most pirate sites hid in the shadows, Pirate Bay’s founders were public figures, who openly taunted the entertainment industries.

Speaking with Variety , head-writer Piotr Marciniak explains that his screenplay is based on a wealth of archive material as well as interviews with the site’s founders.

“It’s a classic rise and fall story, a tragedy about flying too close to the sun, but also a timeless story of a generational conflict,” Marcimiak said.

The people involved in the “The Pirate Bay” series are clearly looking forward to getting the project running. The production is in the hands of B-Reel Films , working for the Swedish broadcaster SVT, while the American distribution company Dynamic Television scooped up worldwide rights.

Selling The Pirate Bay ‘Rights’

Indeed, the rights to The Pirate Bay series are actively traded. The same will likely happen to pirated copies of the episodes when they’re illicitly posted to The Pirate Bay, but it’s unclear whether the rightsholders have plans to crack down on unauthorized sharing.

It’s nonetheless interesting to read that the story about a site that rebelled against the exploitation of copyrights, is being copyrighted and sold off. Would The Pirate Bay founders approve of that? Are they even involved?

The Pirate Bay series aims to tell the history of the notorious pirate site and co-founders Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Gottfrid Svartholm, but none appear to be actively involved.

Founders Deny Involvement

TorrentFreak spoke with both Sunde and Neij, who both confirm they were not interviewed for the upcoming series, even though it aims to document an important and hectic part of their lives.

“Nope, they didn’t interview me for the TV series,” Fredrik says. “Also. I’m not sure who they bought the rights from… They didn’t pay me at least.”

“And I know Anakata would have had nothing to do with it,” Fredrik adds, referring to co-founder Gottfrid, who prefers to live his life away from the public spotlight in recent years.

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde previously said that he was flattered by the idea of a Pirate Bay series, adding that it’s also a bit nerve-wracking. This week, however, Sunde confirmed that he is in no way involved either.

Pirate Bay’s co-founder actually discussed the TV project idea with the show’s writer Piotr Marciniak a few years ago but declined to sell his story. Instead, he was, and still is, working on a potentially competing film project.

Later on, Sunde also met with the series’ director and someone from the production company B-Reel Films, who told him that they had no one from the Pirate Bay team who wanted to cooperate. That didn’t convince him to change his mind, however.

F*ck Off

As mentioned earlier, the Variety piece mentions that the upcoming Pirate Bay series draws from key interviews with Sunde and Svartholm. However, the Pirate Bay co-founder says that he wasn’t interviewed for the series.

“I have not given any deep interview, and when I met with them they said that Gottfrid had told them to fuck off. Which sounds more true to his character..,” Peter Sunde tells us.

We also reached out to B-Reel Films to hear their side of the story, but the company didn’t immediately reply. However, based on the comments from Sunde and Neij it is safe to conclude that they are not in any way involved.

Of course, the rightsholders of The Pirate Bay TV series are free to send some of the revenues to the founders of the site, who ultimately paid for their ideals with their freedom . Sunde doesn’t expect to get paid anytime soon, however.

“Movie studios moved to Hollywood since they didn’t want to pay for stories. They were the original pirates,” Sunde says.

“It’s been ironic to see them going after pirates in court for years and even more ironic to see them pirate the pirate story. Hoping it will turn out nice so I can pirate a copy of it. Maybe I’ll get sued for downloading the story about us.”

Update April 8:

Fredrik Heinig, founder and managing partner of B-Reel Films was kind enough to clear up that, indeed, none of the TPB founders were interviewed in detail for the series. The production team did speak to several people who were close to TPB, as well as its adversaries.

“We interviewed more than 20 people around and in TPB, Piratbyrån, and Antipiratbyrån for our project,” Heinig says.

“Piotr talked to Peter and I and the director Jens met and spoke to Peter in Malmö, I have also talked to him two more times on the phone, but Peter never wanted to do a deep interview, as you know has ambitions to tell his story in a film by himself. Piotr met Gottfrid and had a very short talk.”

“We tried to reach both Gottfrid and Fredrik for longer interviews without any luck. So it’s a misunderstanding from Variety to say that our series is based on interviews with the founders, it’s based on heavy research and interviews with people around them and others.”

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Two years ago, reports began to surface about a new six-part TV-series on The Pirate Bay’s turbulent history.

The project was initially scheduled to start last year but after an apparent delay, filming is now expected to begin this fall.

Pirate Bay TV Series

The inception and early years of The Pirate Bay are definitely a worthy subject for a series. While most pirate sites hid in the shadows, Pirate Bay’s founders were public figures, who openly taunted the entertainment industries.

Speaking with Variety , head-writer Piotr Marciniak explains that his screenplay is based on a wealth of archive material as well as interviews with the site’s founders.

“It’s a classic rise and fall story, a tragedy about flying too close to the sun, but also a timeless story of a generational conflict,” Marcimiak said.

The people involved in the “The Pirate Bay” series are clearly looking forward to getting the project running. The production is in the hands of B-Reel Films , working for the Swedish broadcaster SVT, while the American distribution company Dynamic Television scooped up worldwide rights.

Selling The Pirate Bay ‘Rights’

Indeed, the rights to The Pirate Bay series are actively traded. The same will likely happen to pirated copies of the episodes when they’re illicitly posted to The Pirate Bay, but it’s unclear whether the rightsholders have plans to crack down on unauthorized sharing.

It’s nonetheless interesting to read that the story about a site that rebelled against the exploitation of copyrights, is being copyrighted and sold off. Would The Pirate Bay founders approve of that? Are they even involved?

The Pirate Bay series aims to tell the history of the notorious pirate site and co-founders Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Gottfrid Svartholm, but none appear to be actively involved.

Founders Deny Involvement

TorrentFreak spoke with both Sunde and Neij, who both confirm they were not interviewed for the upcoming series, even though it aims to document an important and hectic part of their lives.

“Nope, they didn’t interview me for the TV series,” Fredrik says. “Also. I’m not sure who they bought the rights from… They didn’t pay me at least.”

“And I know Anakata would have had nothing to do with it,” Fredrik adds, referring to co-founder Gottfrid, who prefers to live his life away from the public spotlight in recent years.

Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde previously said that he was flattered by the idea of a Pirate Bay series, adding that it’s also a bit nerve-wracking. This week, however, Sunde confirmed that he is in no way involved either.

Pirate Bay’s co-founder actually discussed the TV project idea with the show’s writer Piotr Marciniak a few years ago but declined to sell his story. Instead, he was, and still is, working on a potentially competing film project.

Later on, Sunde also met with the series’ director and someone from the production company B-Reel Films, who told him that they had no one from the Pirate Bay team who wanted to cooperate. That didn’t convince him to change his mind, however.

F*ck Off

As mentioned earlier, the Variety piece mentions that the upcoming Pirate Bay series draws from key interviews with Sunde and Svartholm. However, the Pirate Bay co-founder says that he wasn’t interviewed for the series.

“I have not given any deep interview, and when I met with them they said that Gottfrid had told them to fuck off. Which sounds more true to his character..,” Peter Sunde tells us.

We also reached out to B-Reel Films to hear their side of the story, but the company didn’t immediately reply. However, based on the comments from Sunde and Neij it is safe to conclude that they are not in any way involved.

Of course, the rightsholders of The Pirate Bay TV series are free to send some of the revenues to the founders of the site, who ultimately paid for their ideals with their freedom . Sunde doesn’t expect to get paid anytime soon, however.

“Movie studios moved to Hollywood since they didn’t want to pay for stories. They were the original pirates,” Sunde says.

“It’s been ironic to see them going after pirates in court for years and even more ironic to see them pirate the pirate story. Hoping it will turn out nice so I can pirate a copy of it. Maybe I’ll get sued for downloading the story about us.”

Update April 8:

Fredrik Heinig, founder and managing partner of B-Reel Films was kind enough to clear up that, indeed, none of the TPB founders were interviewed in detail for the series. The production team did speak to several people who were close to TPB, as well as its adversaries.

“We interviewed more than 20 people around and in TPB, Piratbyrån, and Antipiratbyrån for our project,” Heinig says.

“Piotr talked to Peter and I and the director Jens met and spoke to Peter in Malmö, I have also talked to him two more times on the phone, but Peter never wanted to do a deep interview, as you know has ambitions to tell his story in a film by himself. Piotr met Gottfrid and had a very short talk.”

“We tried to reach both Gottfrid and Fredrik for longer interviews without any luck. So it’s a misunderstanding from Variety to say that our series is based on interviews with the founders, it’s based on heavy research and interviews with people around them and others.”

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

With more than 12 million books in its archive, Z-Library advertised itself as the largest repository of pirated books on the Internet.

The site has millions of regular readers who find a wealth of free knowledge and entertainment at their fingertips.

This success was briefly interrupted late last year when the U.S. Government seized the site’s main domain names . The enforcement action also led to the arrest of two alleged Russian operators of the site, who now find themselves at the center of a criminal investigation.

A crackdown of this magnitude usually marks the end of a pirate site, but Z-Library appears to be going in the opposite direction. The site has made a full comeback with a more ‘censorship-resistant’ setup and recently collected tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

Next Up: Sharing Paper Books

In a new message, posted this week, Z-Library thanks its userbase for their generous contributions, noting that it secured all the necessary funds to ensure continued development. Apparently, this includes support for offline sharing.

In addition to offering millions of ebooks, Z-Library says that it’s working on a new service that will help users to share physical copies with each other.

“Books you have read should not gather dust on your shelf – instead, they can get a second life in the hands of new readers! This helps to preserve the literary heritage and spread the knowledge and ideas contained in books to more people,” they write.

Z-Points

The book lending concept, commonly known as a library, is a few hundred years old already, but Z-Library will upgrade both scale and reach. The idea is to create a global market with dedicated pick-up points for user-donated books.

“[W]e want to organize ‘Z-Points’ – collection and storage points for books that will be the link between those who share their books and those who need them.

“Book owners who are willing to share them with other users can send books to the nearest Z-Point in their region. And those who need books stored in these points will be able to receive them for their use.”

This sounds like a P2P competitor for traditional libraries. Interestingly, however, Z-Library believes that existing libraries are ideally suited to become Z-Points. People can also volunteer to run a Z-Point from their own homes.

Running a book lending point will require quite a bit of storage space and organizational effort so fulfillment centers and third-party logistics services are also welcome to join in.

By Users, For Users

The Z-Point idea is still in the planning phase. According to Z-Library, users will be able to send books by mail. These can then be loaned by others and/or sent by mail when requested.

This proposal is quite different from the traditional pirate ebook library Z-Library offers now. And loaning a book to someone is generally not seen as copyright infringement either unless it’s a copied ebook.

Whether there’s a market for this plan and if it will ever come to fruition has yet to be seen, but based on the comments we’ve read so far, plenty of people seem to like it. Soon after the announcement was made public, hundreds of enthusiastic responses started rolling in.

If anything, it shows the global scale of the site, with people suggesting Vietnam, Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Spain India, Argentina, Egypt, France, Ethiopia, China, and Ghana as ideal Z-Point locations.

Questions and Suggestions

The announcement was posted several days after April 1st, so it appears to be serious. That said, there are plenty of questions that remain unanswered. What are the legal implications, for example, and who covers the costs?

“The idea is good but like how would you deal with the logistics and also with cost? Especially when the team is facing legal pursuit how can you hide your identities and do it?[sic]” one commenter writes.

Other commenters pointed out that, in many countries, people already organize free libraries to collect and donate books to local communities. Some of these are organized and promoted through the “ Little Free Library ” project.

The Z-Library team says that it welcomes comments and suggestions. For now, there are no concrete plans, but a seed has been planted.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

With more than 12 million books in its archive, Z-Library advertised itself as the largest repository of pirated books on the Internet.

The site has millions of regular readers who find a wealth of free knowledge and entertainment at their fingertips.

This success was briefly interrupted late last year when the U.S. Government seized the site’s main domain names . The enforcement action also led to the arrest of two alleged Russian operators of the site, who now find themselves at the center of a criminal investigation.

A crackdown of this magnitude usually marks the end of a pirate site, but Z-Library appears to be going in the opposite direction. The site has made a full comeback with a more ‘censorship-resistant’ setup and recently collected tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

Next Up: Sharing Paper Books

In a new message, posted this week, Z-Library thanks its userbase for their generous contributions, noting that it secured all the necessary funds to ensure continued development. Apparently, this includes support for offline sharing.

In addition to offering millions of ebooks, Z-Library says that it’s working on a new service that will help users to share physical copies with each other.

“Books you have read should not gather dust on your shelf – instead, they can get a second life in the hands of new readers! This helps to preserve the literary heritage and spread the knowledge and ideas contained in books to more people,” they write.

Z-Points

The book lending concept, commonly known as a library, is a few hundred years old already, but Z-Library will upgrade both scale and reach. The idea is to create a global market with dedicated pick-up points for user-donated books.

“[W]e want to organize ‘Z-Points’ – collection and storage points for books that will be the link between those who share their books and those who need them.

“Book owners who are willing to share them with other users can send books to the nearest Z-Point in their region. And those who need books stored in these points will be able to receive them for their use.”

This sounds like a P2P competitor for traditional libraries. Interestingly, however, Z-Library believes that existing libraries are ideally suited to become Z-Points. People can also volunteer to run a Z-Point from their own homes.

Running a book lending point will require quite a bit of storage space and organizational effort so fulfillment centers and third-party logistics services are also welcome to join in.

By Users, For Users

The Z-Point idea is still in the planning phase. According to Z-Library, users will be able to send books by mail. These can then be loaned by others and/or sent by mail when requested.

This proposal is quite different from the traditional pirate ebook library Z-Library offers now. And loaning a book to someone is generally not seen as copyright infringement either unless it’s a copied ebook.

Whether there’s a market for this plan and if it will ever come to fruition has yet to be seen, but based on the comments we’ve read so far, plenty of people seem to like it. Soon after the announcement was made public, hundreds of enthusiastic responses started rolling in.

If anything, it shows the global scale of the site, with people suggesting Vietnam, Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Spain India, Argentina, Egypt, France, Ethiopia, China, and Ghana as ideal Z-Point locations.

Questions and Suggestions

The announcement was posted several days after April 1st, so it appears to be serious. That said, there are plenty of questions that remain unanswered. What are the legal implications, for example, and who covers the costs?

“The idea is good but like how would you deal with the logistics and also with cost? Especially when the team is facing legal pursuit how can you hide your identities and do it?[sic]” one commenter writes.

Other commenters pointed out that, in many countries, people already organize free libraries to collect and donate books to local communities. Some of these are organized and promoted through the “ Little Free Library ” project.

The Z-Library team says that it welcomes comments and suggestions. For now, there are no concrete plans, but a seed has been planted.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

With more than 12 million books in its archive, Z-Library advertised itself as the largest repository of pirated books on the Internet.

The site has millions of regular readers who find a wealth of free knowledge and entertainment at their fingertips.

This success was briefly interrupted late last year when the U.S. Government seized the site’s main domain names . The enforcement action also led to the arrest of two alleged Russian operators of the site, who now find themselves at the center of a criminal investigation.

A crackdown of this magnitude usually marks the end of a pirate site, but Z-Library appears to be going in the opposite direction. The site has made a full comeback with a more ‘censorship-resistant’ setup and recently collected tens of thousands of dollars in donations.

Next Up: Sharing Paper Books

In a new message, posted this week, Z-Library thanks its userbase for their generous contributions, noting that it secured all the necessary funds to ensure continued development. Apparently, this includes support for offline sharing.

In addition to offering millions of ebooks, Z-Library says that it’s working on a new service that will help users to share physical copies with each other.

“Books you have read should not gather dust on your shelf – instead, they can get a second life in the hands of new readers! This helps to preserve the literary heritage and spread the knowledge and ideas contained in books to more people,” they write.

Z-Points

The book lending concept, commonly known as a library, is a few hundred years old already, but Z-Library will upgrade both scale and reach. The idea is to create a global market with dedicated pick-up points for user-donated books.

“[W]e want to organize ‘Z-Points’ – collection and storage points for books that will be the link between those who share their books and those who need them.

“Book owners who are willing to share them with other users can send books to the nearest Z-Point in their region. And those who need books stored in these points will be able to receive them for their use.”

This sounds like a P2P competitor for traditional libraries. Interestingly, however, Z-Library believes that existing libraries are ideally suited to become Z-Points. People can also volunteer to run a Z-Point from their own homes.

Running a book lending point will require quite a bit of storage space and organizational effort so fulfillment centers and third-party logistics services are also welcome to join in.

By Users, For Users

The Z-Point idea is still in the planning phase. According to Z-Library, users will be able to send books by mail. These can then be loaned by others and/or sent by mail when requested.

This proposal is quite different from the traditional pirate ebook library Z-Library offers now. And loaning a book to someone is generally not seen as copyright infringement either unless it’s a copied ebook.

Whether there’s a market for this plan and if it will ever come to fruition has yet to be seen, but based on the comments we’ve read so far, plenty of people seem to like it. Soon after the announcement was made public, hundreds of enthusiastic responses started rolling in.

If anything, it shows the global scale of the site, with people suggesting Vietnam, Brazil, Portugal, Colombia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, Spain India, Argentina, Egypt, France, Ethiopia, China, and Ghana as ideal Z-Point locations.

Questions and Suggestions

The announcement was posted several days after April 1st, so it appears to be serious. That said, there are plenty of questions that remain unanswered. What are the legal implications, for example, and who covers the costs?

“The idea is good but like how would you deal with the logistics and also with cost? Especially when the team is facing legal pursuit how can you hide your identities and do it?[sic]” one commenter writes.

Other commenters pointed out that, in many countries, people already organize free libraries to collect and donate books to local communities. Some of these are organized and promoted through the “ Little Free Library ” project.

The Z-Library team says that it welcomes comments and suggestions. For now, there are no concrete plans, but a seed has been planted.

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Rick Falkvinge founded the first Pirate Party on January 1, 2006, and then rallied the masses in Sweden six months later in the wake of the first police raid against The Pirate Bay.

At the European Elections of 2009, Swedish Pirates won over 7% of the vote . Christian Engström went on to become the first Pirate Member of the European Parliament, with Amelia Andersdotter taking the second seat in 2011.

When Felix Reda of the German Pirate Party was elected vice-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament in 2014, and was given the job of copyright reform rapporteur , that was a moment for the archives. It wouldn’t be the last.

Czech Pirates and Czech Piracy

A string of notable events in the Czech Republic, including three Pirate Party politicians taking seats in the European Parliament, culminated in 2021 when Pirates won three ministerial positions in the country’s coalition government.

Set to a background of intense Pirate politics and the movement’s roots in file-sharing communities, news that a 60-year-old Czech Republic man is facing up to two years in prison for file-sharing feels a little out of place. Of all things that were never supposed to happen when Pirates got into power, this was one of them.

Czech police say the man had a collection of almost 1,000 commercial music albums stored on a server, which is quite a lot. The server wasn’t protected in any way, so passing internet users could download whatever they liked. Unfortunately, those passing by included unnamed rightsholders who filed a criminal copyright complaint with the police.

Authorities Take Matter Seriously

According to a statement released by police in the Moravian-Silesian region, criminal investigators in the city of Karvina responded to the complaint by launching “an extensive multi-month investigation.” After establishing that the albums had been available for download from October 2013 until November 2022, police charged the man with criminal copyright infringement offenses.

“The accused stated that he downloaded the music mainly for his own use, but also for other users to download,” the statement reads.

“He testified that he was aware that by uploading works without the permission of the copyright owners, he was violating some legal standards, but he did everything mainly because he liked music. It is his lifelong hobby.”

When the man was informed he’d been making copyrighted content available to the public, he began deleting the files. Police say that he has still been charged with copyright offenses under Section 270 of the Criminal Code :

Anyone who unlawfully interferes, not insignificantly, with the legally protected rights to an author’s work, artistic performance, sound or audio-visual recording, radio or television broadcast or database, will be punished by imprisonment for up to two years, a ban on activity or confiscation of property

A sentence of up to five years would’ve been available had the man generated any profit. Fortunately, he made nothing whatsoever, so that should run in his favor. Indeed, the record shows that making no profit helped other local pirates avoid convictions.

Pirates Cleared of Piracy Crimes

The operators of several piracy sites in the Czech Republic were prosecuted in 2016 after they deliberately linked to thousands of movies and TV shows. In 2017 they were cleared after a court determined they had made no money.

“Our goal is to change the copyright monopoly law so that people are not fined millions for sharing culture with their friends. However, until we achieve that, we will fight in courts over interpretation and enforcement of the law,” the operators said at the time.

The operators of movie download sites Tipnafilm.cz and Piratskefilmy.cz, and TV piracy site Sledujuserialy.cz, were the Czech Pirate Party. Unlike the man recently charged with music piracy offenses, these sites only linked to copyright-infringing material, rather than hosting it directly. For end users, these mechanics were mostly irrelevant.

That Was Then, This is Now

Given the history detailed above, it’s interesting that someone is facing prison in the Czech Republic for sharing files at a time when Pirate Party members are part of the government. In both cases, semantics over links or direct links still underpin the non-commercial use of copyrighted content. Or in Pirate Party parlance, “sharing of knowledge.”

Given the connections, the police statement prompted a few immediate thoughts. Do the Czech Pirates still approve of non-commerical piracy? As responsible politicians, do they now reject copyright infringement on any scale? Do they even have an opinion on the topic this far into government?

Since Pirate parties built their reputations standing up for non-commercial pirates, we asked the Czech Pirate Party if that’s still the case when a party finds itself in power.

We also asked whether the extremely capable, tech-focused Ivan Bartoš , Czech Pirate Party leader and current Deputy Prime Minister for Digitisation and Minister of Regional Development, has an opinion on the case.

Finally, we asked whether cracking down on non-commercial pirates is considered a priority for the Czech government. At the time of publishing, we were yet to receive a response.

Realities of Government Meet Ideology

Elevating questions such as these to members of a sitting government might seem trivial given the enormous challenges faced by every country in Europe today. But a general principle stands regardless of the topic.

Should a party that makes a particular stand be held to those promises years into the future, and if so, for how long? In this specific case, should someone who followed an example set by some of those now in power, be held to account in a way they were not?

These are just some of the quandries faced by every party operating in a democracy, and especially those in a minority coalition. It’s nobody’s fault, simply the cold reality of getting into power , struggling to stay there, and the realization that there are always much bigger issues competing for limited time.

As Rick Falvinge wrote here on TorrentFreak more than 12 years ago, there really is nothing new under the sun .

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Rick Falkvinge founded the first Pirate Party on January 1, 2006, and then rallied the masses in Sweden six months later in the wake of the first police raid against The Pirate Bay.

At the European Elections of 2009, Swedish Pirates won over 7% of the vote . Christian Engström went on to become the first Pirate Member of the European Parliament, with Amelia Andersdotter taking the second seat in 2011.

When Felix Reda of the German Pirate Party was elected vice-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament in 2014, and was given the job of copyright reform rapporteur , that was a moment for the archives. It wouldn’t be the last.

Czech Pirates and Czech Piracy

A string of notable events in the Czech Republic, including three Pirate Party politicians taking seats in the European Parliament, culminated in 2021 when Pirates won three ministerial positions in the country’s coalition government.

Set to a background of intense Pirate politics and the movement’s roots in file-sharing communities, news that a 60-year-old Czech Republic man is facing up to two years in prison for file-sharing feels a little out of place. Of all things that were never supposed to happen when Pirates got into power, this was one of them.

Czech police say the man had a collection of almost 1,000 commercial music albums stored on a server, which is quite a lot. The server wasn’t protected in any way, so passing internet users could download whatever they liked. Unfortunately, those passing by included unnamed rightsholders who filed a criminal copyright complaint with the police.

Authorities Take Matter Seriously

According to a statement released by police in the Moravian-Silesian region, criminal investigators in the city of Karvina responded to the complaint by launching “an extensive multi-month investigation.” After establishing that the albums had been available for download from October 2013 until November 2022, police charged the man with criminal copyright infringement offenses.

“The accused stated that he downloaded the music mainly for his own use, but also for other users to download,” the statement reads.

“He testified that he was aware that by uploading works without the permission of the copyright owners, he was violating some legal standards, but he did everything mainly because he liked music. It is his lifelong hobby.”

When the man was informed he’d been making copyrighted content available to the public, he began deleting the files. Police say that he has still been charged with copyright offenses under Section 270 of the Criminal Code :

Anyone who unlawfully interferes, not insignificantly, with the legally protected rights to an author’s work, artistic performance, sound or audio-visual recording, radio or television broadcast or database, will be punished by imprisonment for up to two years, a ban on activity or confiscation of property

A sentence of up to five years would’ve been available had the man generated any profit. Fortunately, he made nothing whatsoever, so that should run in his favor. Indeed, the record shows that making no profit helped other local pirates avoid convictions.

Pirates Cleared of Piracy Crimes

The operators of several piracy sites in the Czech Republic were prosecuted in 2016 after they deliberately linked to thousands of movies and TV shows. In 2017 they were cleared after a court determined they had made no money.

“Our goal is to change the copyright monopoly law so that people are not fined millions for sharing culture with their friends. However, until we achieve that, we will fight in courts over interpretation and enforcement of the law,” the operators said at the time.

The operators of movie download sites Tipnafilm.cz and Piratskefilmy.cz, and TV piracy site Sledujuserialy.cz, were the Czech Pirate Party. Unlike the man recently charged with music piracy offenses, these sites only linked to copyright-infringing material, rather than hosting it directly. For end users, these mechanics were mostly irrelevant.

That Was Then, This is Now

Given the history detailed above, it’s interesting that someone is facing prison in the Czech Republic for sharing files at a time when Pirate Party members are part of the government. In both cases, semantics over links or direct links still underpin the non-commercial use of copyrighted content. Or in Pirate Party parlance, “sharing of knowledge.”

Given the connections, the police statement prompted a few immediate thoughts. Do the Czech Pirates still approve of non-commerical piracy? As responsible politicians, do they now reject copyright infringement on any scale? Do they even have an opinion on the topic this far into government?

Since Pirate parties built their reputations standing up for non-commercial pirates, we asked the Czech Pirate Party if that’s still the case when a party finds itself in power.

We also asked whether the extremely capable, tech-focused Ivan Bartoš , Czech Pirate Party leader and current Deputy Prime Minister for Digitisation and Minister of Regional Development, has an opinion on the case.

Finally, we asked whether cracking down on non-commercial pirates is considered a priority for the Czech government. At the time of publishing, we were yet to receive a response.

Realities of Government Meet Ideology

Elevating questions such as these to members of a sitting government might seem trivial given the enormous challenges faced by every country in Europe today. But a general principle stands regardless of the topic.

Should a party that makes a particular stand be held to those promises years into the future, and if so, for how long? In this specific case, should someone who followed an example set by some of those now in power, be held to account in a way they were not?

These are just some of the quandries faced by every party operating in a democracy, and especially those in a minority coalition. It’s nobody’s fault, simply the cold reality of getting into power , struggling to stay there, and the realization that there are always much bigger issues competing for limited time.

As Rick Falvinge wrote here on TorrentFreak more than 12 years ago, there really is nothing new under the sun .

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Rick Falkvinge founded the first Pirate Party on January 1, 2006, and then rallied the masses in Sweden six months later in the wake of the first police raid against The Pirate Bay.

At the European Elections of 2009, Swedish Pirates won over 7% of the vote . Christian Engström went on to become the first Pirate Member of the European Parliament, with Amelia Andersdotter taking the second seat in 2011.

When Felix Reda of the German Pirate Party was elected vice-president of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament in 2014, and was given the job of copyright reform rapporteur , that was a moment for the archives. It wouldn’t be the last.

Czech Pirates and Czech Piracy

A string of notable events in the Czech Republic, including three Pirate Party politicians taking seats in the European Parliament, culminated in 2021 when Pirates won three ministerial positions in the country’s coalition government.

Set to a background of intense Pirate politics and the movement’s roots in file-sharing communities, news that a 60-year-old Czech Republic man is facing up to two years in prison for file-sharing feels a little out of place. Of all things that were never supposed to happen when Pirates got into power, this was one of them.

Czech police say the man had a collection of almost 1,000 commercial music albums stored on a server, which is quite a lot. The server wasn’t protected in any way, so passing internet users could download whatever they liked. Unfortunately, those passing by included unnamed rightsholders who filed a criminal copyright complaint with the police.

Authorities Take Matter Seriously

According to a statement released by police in the Moravian-Silesian region, criminal investigators in the city of Karvina responded to the complaint by launching “an extensive multi-month investigation.” After establishing that the albums had been available for download from October 2013 until November 2022, police charged the man with criminal copyright infringement offenses.

“The accused stated that he downloaded the music mainly for his own use, but also for other users to download,” the statement reads.

“He testified that he was aware that by uploading works without the permission of the copyright owners, he was violating some legal standards, but he did everything mainly because he liked music. It is his lifelong hobby.”

When the man was informed he’d been making copyrighted content available to the public, he began deleting the files. Police say that he has still been charged with copyright offenses under Section 270 of the Criminal Code :

Anyone who unlawfully interferes, not insignificantly, with the legally protected rights to an author’s work, artistic performance, sound or audio-visual recording, radio or television broadcast or database, will be punished by imprisonment for up to two years, a ban on activity or confiscation of property

A sentence of up to five years would’ve been available had the man generated any profit. Fortunately, he made nothing whatsoever, so that should run in his favor. Indeed, the record shows that making no profit helped other local pirates avoid convictions.

Pirates Cleared of Piracy Crimes

The operators of several piracy sites in the Czech Republic were prosecuted in 2016 after they deliberately linked to thousands of movies and TV shows. In 2017 they were cleared after a court determined they had made no money.

“Our goal is to change the copyright monopoly law so that people are not fined millions for sharing culture with their friends. However, until we achieve that, we will fight in courts over interpretation and enforcement of the law,” the operators said at the time.

The operators of movie download sites Tipnafilm.cz and Piratskefilmy.cz, and TV piracy site Sledujuserialy.cz, were the Czech Pirate Party. Unlike the man recently charged with music piracy offenses, these sites only linked to copyright-infringing material, rather than hosting it directly. For end users, these mechanics were mostly irrelevant.

That Was Then, This is Now

Given the history detailed above, it’s interesting that someone is facing prison in the Czech Republic for sharing files at a time when Pirate Party members are part of the government. In both cases, semantics over links or direct links still underpin the non-commercial use of copyrighted content. Or in Pirate Party parlance, “sharing of knowledge.”

Given the connections, the police statement prompted a few immediate thoughts. Do the Czech Pirates still approve of non-commerical piracy? As responsible politicians, do they now reject copyright infringement on any scale? Do they even have an opinion on the topic this far into government?

Since Pirate parties built their reputations standing up for non-commercial pirates, we asked the Czech Pirate Party if that’s still the case when a party finds itself in power.

We also asked whether the extremely capable, tech-focused Ivan Bartoš , Czech Pirate Party leader and current Deputy Prime Minister for Digitisation and Minister of Regional Development, has an opinion on the case.

Finally, we asked whether cracking down on non-commercial pirates is considered a priority for the Czech government. At the time of publishing, we were yet to receive a response.

Realities of Government Meet Ideology

Elevating questions such as these to members of a sitting government might seem trivial given the enormous challenges faced by every country in Europe today. But a general principle stands regardless of the topic.

Should a party that makes a particular stand be held to those promises years into the future, and if so, for how long? In this specific case, should someone who followed an example set by some of those now in power, be held to account in a way they were not?

These are just some of the quandries faced by every party operating in a democracy, and especially those in a minority coalition. It’s nobody’s fault, simply the cold reality of getting into power , struggling to stay there, and the realization that there are always much bigger issues competing for limited time.

As Rick Falvinge wrote here on TorrentFreak more than 12 years ago, there really is nothing new under the sun .

From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.