Wikipedia is Down

[molson]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Hasn't Gabe backed it up though? When bittorrent releases it's annual list of most pirated games you never see Valve games on the list. They have non-intrusive DRM. They're about as consumer friendly as you can get considering Gabe will respond to pretty much anyone that emails him. He's also been consistent on the piracy issue for years.

Look at how Ubisoft treats the PC community. They put intrusive DRM in their games. They constantly whine about piracy. They initially cancel Ghost Recon Online and say it's because of piracy before deciding to release it as a free to play game. Their games are among the most pirated games.

It's all anecdotal of course, but even when your going around gaming forums you don't see much backlash when people openly admit they pirate Ubisoft games while saying you pirate Valve games is going to draw all sorts of criticisms.

I believe Steam just had it's 7th straight year of 100% revenue growth. They're obviously doing something right at Valve and their approach to piracy probably plays a role. They've built an incredibly loyal following.

Didn't they get that loyal following precisely by acting differently from everyone else? Are you saying that if everyone had that business model, Pirate Bay would just disappear or substantially decline, and the concept of piracy would just leave our culture?

Edit: I think they caught a nice niche and have developed that cult following because of the environment they're in. It's interesting what you say about the gaming forums. People are willing to spare the company they like the most and pirate the shit out of everyone else. That is a genius business model, but I think only a small minority of companies can successfully be in that "loyal spot" at a time. The pirates aren't going to be loyal to everyone and pay for everything.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by molson

Didn't they get that loyal following precisely by acting differently from everyone else? Are you saying that if everyone had that business model, Pirate Bay would just disappear or substantially decline, and the concept of piracy would just leave our culture?

Speaking for gaming, because it's an area I know a lot more about than movies, music, or tv shows.

I believe you'd see a noticeable drop in Piracy if people took Valve's approach. I don't think it's ever going completely away, but I don't know if that's such a bad thing for developers. As I mentioned earlier, studies have shown people that pirate games/music tend to also spend more than your average person that games or listens to music. Do the industries really want to fine/jail these people and completely remove the money they're spending from the equation?

Gaming revenues are WAY up over the past 10 years. Is piracy taking revenue out of that or is it a reason revenues are up? Some developers are getting hurt. I'd guess makers of niche games that don't have a broad audience for the people that pirate to spread word of a game to are going to be the hardest hit.

I honestly believe, as crazy as it may sound to some, that gaming revenue would drop over time if piracy was complete eradicated.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by molson

If you guys are right though, isn't that exactly what he SHOULD say to limit piracy?

(i.e, this is just the strategy that this company is using...it's probably better than other strategies, but it doesn't follow that piracy doesn't impact business, and it doesn't justify the minimization of this issue.)

I'd say a system similar to what Steam has is sufficient, an account or CD key that games with the ability to install as many times as you like and play offline. As far as strength of copy protection Steamworks goes it's pretty weak, it isn't going to give cracking groups any problems. As far as what to do to limit piracy, I think it's pretty clear what he said he wants to do. Instead of asking, "How can we get people not to pirate this," focus on, "How can we get people to pay for this?"

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by molson

Didn't they get that loyal following precisely by acting differently from everyone else? Are you saying that if everyone had that business model, Pirate Bay would just disappear or substantially decline, and the concept of piracy would just leave our culture?

Edit: I think they caught a nice niche and have developed that cult following because of the environment they're in. It's interesting what you say about the gaming forums. People are willing to spare the company they like the most and pirate the shit out of everyone else. That is a genius business model, but I think only a small minority of companies can successfully be in that "loyal spot" at a time. The pirates aren't going to be loyal to everyone and pay for everything.

Did they get the following just by acting differently than everyone else, or were they the only ones acting the way customers wanted. And they're not seeing massive profit increases just because people aren't pirating their games, I'd be shocked if they aren't making far more selling other developers titles than they are their own.

[RainMaker]

Why is there so much music on Pirate Bay? No DRM, super convenient, they'll even store it and sync it to all your devices.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Atocep

Look at how Ubisoft treats the PC community. They put intrusive DRM in their games. They constantly whine about piracy. They initially cancel Ghost Recon Online and say it's because of piracy before deciding to release it as a free to play game. Their games are among the most pirated games.

A correction on Ghost Recon, the free to play Ghost Recon Online game is a separate project from Ghost Recon Future Soldier. Additionally, there's since been an announcement that there are plans to release Ghost Recon Future Soldier in addition to Ghost Recon Online.

At companies like Ubisoft it seems like piracy is the reason given by suits when the project they over saw wasn't a success on PC. What was the reason the game that was rushed with a poor PC port released 3 months after the console version unsuccessful? Uh, it was the pirates. Nothing we could do about it.

[chadritt]

Originally Posted by mckerney

I'm curious on that, if someone is a non-Nielsen household what the difference between watching a prime time NBC show or downloading it the next day?

My understanding, based on the few somewhat confusing conversations ive had with my bosses throughout the years, would be that watching live is the preference, followed by watching on a DVR preferably without skipping commercials, and least preferable is watching online. Essentially as long as you watch it legally they dont care much about the specifics.

The only thing that personally confuses me is that I personally wouldve thought DVR and online would trump live viewings for non nielsen households but thats not the impression ive gotten.

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by molson

I bet there's a strong correlation between those who pirate network shows and those who pirate music and movies and games. It's part of their habits, its what they do.

Maybe in the US, but not so much overseas. Many people will download TV shows because they will never air in their country, or they will be years behind. I have downloaded plenty of TV shows, but I don't download movies or games.

If there was an inconvenient way to pay for this (without charging crazy money), I think it would be very successful.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

If there was an inconvenient way to pay for this (without charging crazy money), I think it would be very successful.

I dunno. I was under the impression that saddling the consumer with inconvenience is a large part of the problem to begin with.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Ryan S

Maybe in the US, but not so much overseas. Many people will download TV shows because they will never air in their country, or they will be years behind. I have downloaded plenty of TV shows, but I don't download movies or games.

If there was an inconvenient way to pay for this (without charging crazy money), I think it would be very successful.

I did the same for Snuff Box and Darkplace. Tried to find a way to buy it but couldn't find a region 1 DVD for it.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

sanctimony. sanctimony everywhere.

there's sectags on everything at the mall. people steal shit. people have always stolen shit. and yet there are still malls.

it's not about loss it's about opportunity. some people get it. some don't.

the problem with the gaming industry is the same problem with every industry. a new market emerges. there's a fuckload of initial opportunity and in ten years a handful of companies own everything. independent developers are struggling because independent developers are supposed to struggle.

but it someone's fault. it's pirates or unions or immigrants or protestants or anybody except where the core problems lie.

put the entire internet under glass. i don't give a fuck. i've got plenty of books* to read

*books from the library. 30 year old books. that are still in perfect condition. writers and publishers won't see a dime from me. muahahahaha!

[Blackadar]

Originally Posted by molson

Don't we all know the guy, or many guys, that have hundreds of pirated movies burned to DVDs, thousands and thousands of pirated songs on their hard drive, and they share everything with their friends? I've known quite a few people like that. Obviously, they wouldn't have bought most that stuff if they didn't pirate it, but they haven't bought ANYTHING. The pirating habits and lifestyle has reduced the amount of money they spend on movies and music to ZERO. I just don't believe that these people are the exception, and that there's all these people pirating something, and then buying a legit copy if they like it. That's just crazy talk.

Actually, no. I don't know that guy. Can you introduce us?

[Logan]

Yeah I don't know them either. Although my college roommate seemed to spend every non-sleeping, working, studying minute burning DVDs. Hundreds. He'd pop a disc in, start burning, go to class, run back into the apartment, pop it out and put a new one in, run out to class, come back and repeat.

I think he watched about 3 movies that year.

[molson]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Why is there so much music on Pirate Bay? No DRM, super convenient, they'll even store it and sync it to all your devices.

I think people buy CDs and then pirate the audio file just as a backup.

[molson]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

sanctimony. sanctimony everywhere.

there's sectags on everything at the mall. people steal shit. people have always stolen shit. and yet there are still malls.

Ah yes, the "sanctimony" card. There will always be an entertainment industry, and those squares who have issues with piracy that you insult will continue to fund it for you. I don't think piracy makes anyone a bad person and I don't think its ultimately a big deal, but I do obviously get a little frustrated by people who can't just be happy with the free stuff - they will stand on their soapbox and proclaim its actually the FAULT of companies, and the fault of people with different perspective on copyrights that actually FORCE them to pirate. And then on top of all that they have to deal with the self-righteous assholes who think you should generally pay for stuff. The pirates are just innocent victims, really.

[Ksyrup]

I often pirate new music before it's officially released, just so I can hear it ASAP. When it comes out, if I like it, I buy it. I don't just keep what I pirated. I'm sure I'm in the minority in that respect, but for me, pirating is mainly a way for me to freely listen to new music I've never heard and to get music I want before I am allowed to buy it. It doesn't really affect my purchasing in a negative way at all.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Logan

Yeah I don't know them either. Although my college roommate seemed to spend every non-sleeping, working, studying minute burning DVDs. Hundreds. He'd pop a disc in, start burning, go to class, run back into the apartment, pop it out and put a new one in, run out to class, come back and repeat.

I think he watched about 3 movies that year.

Oh ya, the content hoarders, they were fun.

The guy I knew in college, he eventually worked at Microsoft, he was like the pirate dealer for the whole floor. In the mid to late 90's this was amazing stuff, you could tell him you wanted this movie, or this game, or this album, and he get it for you. For the whole floor. Nobody was buying DVDs or CDs and games at Walmart, nobody, you just went to this guy. Content just wasn't something you had to pay for anymore, it was a great time. Who knows, maybe that turned everybody into video game addicts and now they pay for stuff and it ultimately helped the gaming industry, I have no idea. But clearly, we were all motivated by the free stuff, being able to check out everything and anything. Reading this thread, maybe we were the only ones that felt that way.

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

Originally Posted by molson

Ah yes, the "sanctimony" card. There will always be an entertainment industry, and those squares who have issues with piracy that you insult will continue to fund it for you.

easy there joe arpaio. this may surprise you but not everyone on welfare looks like precious' mom and not everyone that defends piracy is an entitled brat (or even a pirate)

but i agree with you. people shouldn't steal. i mean, every marketplace in the history of marketplaces had had to deal with theft but this is different because... well, lawyers. lawyers and children. but mostly lawyers.

the thought of a world where my kids won't be able to pay $17.99 for a copy of bucky larsen born to be a star or 11.50 for a ticket to kung fu panda 6 is just... shudders

and trust me, you've never subsidized anything for me. unless you buy pallets. cuz i totally steal pallets from behind lowe's

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

easy there joe arpaio. this may surprise you but not everyone on welfare looks like precious' mom and not everyone that defends piracy is an entitled brat (or even a pirate)

but i agree with you. people shouldn't steal. i mean, every marketplace in the history of marketplaces had had to deal with theft but this is different because... well, lawyers. lawyers and children. but mostly lawyers.

the thought of a world where my kids won't be able to pay $17.99 for a copy of bucky larsen born to be a star or 11.50 for a ticket to kung fu panda 6 is just... shudders

and trust me, you've never subsidized anything for me. unless you buy pallets. cuz i totally steal pallets from behind lowe's

Well, I hear that two wrongs make a right. That seems to be what you can boil down almost all of the piracy moralizing here to. "They're jerks so it's ok to pirate from them".

If you don't like Kung Fu Panda 6 for $11.50, you don't have to go. If everyone feels that $11.50 is too much for Kung Fu Panda 6, they stop charging $11.50 for Kung Fu Panda 6 or they stop making them after the first movie. You have no God-given right to Kung Fu Panda 6 just because you don't like how they do business any more than I have a right to anything I don't want to purchase.

You don't see anyone on here short of JiMGA saying "Yeah, we love the RIAA and MPAA so let them go banning IP addresses and slapping million dollar fines on little Jimmy who pirated one song". But, right now, we have the polar opposite where a few arbitrary people get prosecuted while the rest of us could all point you to a site on the internet in 3 minutes where I could download the latest movies, music, and games without any real fear of repercussions. In fact, there's even becoming this moralizing where it's viewed as this victimless crime to evil corporations.

I think most people know I'm no friend of corporations. Citizens United is a mess. I can give you a long and compelling argument about why there is a serious need for substantial Wall Street regulation and reform. And I'm for much more government regulation not less as I believe they are horribly corrupting the political system. But even I recognize that there are issues here that need to be addressed. The current system doesn't work and there needs to be a change.

If Record Company X signs a contract to deliver Song Y, those contracts are pretty ironclad about them having exclusive rights for distribution. You don't like the delivery method or payment or whatever- you don't have a right to that song (with some fair use exceptions), it's really simple.

There's no law that says you have a right to any of this stuff. You don't want to pay for it, don't purchase it and they have to change their delivery method if enough people agree. It's really interesting how the two issues are being conflated together. There seems to be a moralization of "we deserve this item" and it's their fault that they can't protect it versus "they're an awful company so it's ok to steal from them". Just because the night security guy at WalMart makes minimum wage and leaves the door unlocked so someone can steal stuff out of the store doesn't mean we still don't prosecute the theft.

SI

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by korme

Pumpy Tudors: Derailing good topics, one bad joke at a time

I just want to thank you for the badge of honor and the new addition to my sig. Thanks, buddy.

[k0ruptr]

What I've been doing when bored. Acronyms are fun!

P revious I nternet P oliticians A bolished

and my favorite

P oliticians I gnorance P retty A mazing

[Ryan S]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

I dunno. I was under the impression that saddling the consumer with inconvenience is a large part of the problem to begin with.

I am really talking about people outside the US downloading TV shows (and maybe people in the US downloading UK shows). There are a large number of TV shows that it has never been possible to watch legally in the UK (off the top of my head, Parks and Rec, and it took years for Chuck and Community to debut over here).

[k0ruptr]

Not so much now days with Pandora, grooveshark, and the like but
I look back between like 1998 and 2005 , if I hadn't pirated so much music I wonder if I would of even found or even heard or some of the bands and music I love so much. I know I definitely wouldn't of been buying albums and such without hearing them a few play thrus at least (didn't matter much anyway I couldn't afford if I did want to purchase) I'm not too much of a believer in the people who say I pirate and if I like it I go buy it! yea I'm pretty sure thats BS for 95% of them, There has probably only been 3 or 4 albums that I purchased after pirating first. And those are the only 3 or 4 albums I've bought in that time period (last 12-14 years). I am pretty sure however if I had the money to spend I'd buy more, the 5% of them I love. I also know that there is many concerts I've gone to that I wouldn't have likely considered at all if I didn't have the mp3s on my pc. Obviously I broke the law, there is no justifying it. you are on 1 side of the fence or the other, there is no gray area here.

I do enjoy the music though.

I also think they can pass all the laws they want,but I'll bet they won't slow down piracy by even 1%

[k0ruptr]

another thing that I just realized that kind of blows my mind. If I hadn't ever started pirating stuff, and checking out the dark side of the internet, I wouldn't have been nearly as interested in computers. Piracy has allowed me to learn and use Photoshop, develop web sites, learn code and programming and basically is solely responsible for the majority of my computer knowledge, thus leading to the tech support job I just got here in Vegas a week ago.

crazy.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I used to pirate stuff all the time, probably from age 6 to maybe age 17, so we're going back practically 20-30 years. Maybe this is a simplistic view and possibly the minority, but you know what I got out of piracy? Free shit. That's all. It didn't teach me, it didn't help me, it didn't lead to anything. I played free games and listened to free music. Then I just stopped. For a while afterwards, I felt bad about the piracy, but then I got over it. Now it's just part of my past, just like wearing diapers and watching the USFL.

I actually wonder how many young people who are big into piracy will eventually turn out like I did. In a way, I feel sorry for them, because nobody should ever be like me.

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I used to pirate stuff all the time, probably from age 6 to maybe age 17, so we're going back practically 20-30 years. Maybe this is a simplistic view and possibly the minority, but you know what I got out of piracy? Free shit. That's all. It didn't teach me, it didn't help me, it didn't lead to anything. I played free games and listened to free music. Then I just stopped. For a while afterwards, I felt bad about the piracy, but then I got over it. Now it's just part of my past, just like wearing diapers and watching the USFL.

I actually wonder how many young people who are big into piracy will eventually turn out like I did. In a way, I feel sorry for them, because nobody should ever be like me.

I wonder as well, after I posted I started thinking about High School and a friend of mine just got interviewed for a graphics job with Adult Swim in Atlanta, I pirated and burned his first photoshop for him, he taught him self thru 4 years of HS and went on to major in Digital Graphics at one of the Cal universities. Amazing.

[Ksyrup]

What were you pirating at 6? Electric Company episodes?

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I used to pirate stuff all the time, probably from age 6 to maybe age 17, so we're going back practically 20-30 years. Maybe this is a simplistic view and possibly the minority, but you know what I got out of piracy? Free shit. That's all. It didn't teach me, it didn't help me, it didn't lead to anything. I played free games and listened to free music. Then I just stopped. For a while afterwards, I felt bad about the piracy, but then I got over it. Now it's just part of my past, just like wearing diapers and watching the USFL.

I actually wonder how many young people who are big into piracy will eventually turn out like I did. In a way, I feel sorry for them, because nobody should ever be like me.

I'm pretty sure it lead you to Kathy Griffin and thats worth it in itself.

[Ksyrup]

So piracy is the gateway to Kathy Griffin?

First it steals your morals, then it steals your soul.

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What were you pirating at 6? Electric Company episodes?

Leisure Suit Larry. He matured by 7, and the mustache came the following year.

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

So piracy is the gateway to Kathy Griffin?

First it steals your morals, then it steals your soul.

1. Pirate
2. Kathy Griffin
3. ????
4. Profit!

[k0ruptr]

I'm not proud of my self for pirating stuff, but I am proud of what I learned. I guess I have loose morals.

and I would totally download a car.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

What were you pirating at 6? Electric Company episodes?

It's funny you should ask. Two quick stories:

1. When I was 2 years old, I would get pissed off if my mom wasn't in the living room to read the "word of the day" at the end of the Electric Company to me. If I remember correctly, they'd put the word on the screen and say it out loud, but I wanted her to read it to me. If she was in the other room or not paying attention, I'd throw a tantrum. Thinking about it now, I don't know why I got upset. I've known how to read since I was 18 months old. I guess I just wanted to see if she could read, too.

2. I was pirating Commodore 64 games when I was 6. I'd make friends on BBS systems and download games from them. They had no idea how young I was, though I doubt they would've cared anyway. One day when I was probably 8 or 9 years old, I tied up our home phone line for about three hours downloading a file called "Superman" from a BBS with my 300 baud modem. I mean, what little boy wouldn't want to play a Superman game? After three hours, the download finished, and I started the game up. A minute into loading, the title of the game popped up in huge letters on the family's 19-inch TV screen: "SEX GAMES". I had been tricked into downloading an adult game hidden under the name of "Superman." Both my parents were within view of the TV screen, but I managed to turn everything off before they got a look at it. I ended up erasing the game after I restarted the computer, so I never did get to see the actual game.

Eventually, my experiences led me to several more years of pirating and Kathy Griffin. Please don't be me.

[Logan]

Suddenly I'm interested in finding a working C64.

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

It's funny you should ask. Two quick stories:

1. When I was 2 years old, I would get pissed off if my mom wasn't in the living room to read the "word of the day" at the end of the Electric Company to me. If I remember correctly, they'd put the word on the screen and say it out loud, but I wanted her to read it to me. If she was in the other room or not paying attention, I'd throw a tantrum. Thinking about it now, I don't know why I got upset. I've known how to read since I was 18 months old. I guess I just wanted to see if she could read, too.

2. I was pirating Commodore 64 games when I was 6. I'd make friends on BBS systems and download games from them. They had no idea how young I was, though I doubt they would've cared anyway. One day when I was probably 8 or 9 years old, I tied up our home phone line for about three hours downloading a file called "Superman" from a BBS with my 300 baud modem. I mean, what little boy wouldn't want to play a Superman game? After three hours, the download finished, and I started the game up. A minute into loading, the title of the game popped up in huge letters on the family's 19-inch TV screen: "SEX GAMES". I had been tricked into downloading an adult game hidden under the name of "Superman." Both my parents were within view of the TV screen, but I managed to turn everything off before they got a look at it. I ended up erasing the game after I restarted the computer, so I never did get to see the actual game.

Eventually, my experiences led me to several more years of pirating and Kathy Griffin. Please don't be me.

internet piracy trolling is a such a beautiful art

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

100% of the people in this thread have pirated pornography.

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

100% of the people in this thread have pirated pornography.

But not 100% of the pornography that's out there.

[Kathy Griffin]

Please don't steal my comedy!

[JediKooter]

Originally Posted by Kathy Griffin

Please don't steal my comedy!

I'd pirate you. Can you fit on a 1TB external drive?

[Ksyrup]

A post about porno followed by a post from Kathy Griffin. I think I'm gonna hurl.

[Pumpy Tudors]

SORRY FOR DERAILING THIS AGAIN

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

Originally Posted by Kathy Griffin

Please don't steal my comedy!

The Angry Pirate
When a chick is giving you head and you pull out and blow it in her face, then you hit her in the knee and she is jumping around covering one eye.

Originally Posted by JediKooter

But not 100% of the pornography that's out there.

I'M NOT SUBSIDIZING YOUR GLASS BOTTOM BOAT FETISH JEDI!1!!

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

A post about porno followed by a post from Kathy Griffin. I think I'm gonna hurl.

...myself off a 35 story building.

[DanGarion]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

100% of the people in this thread have pirated pornography.

If someone already pirated the copy I have is it really pirated?

[NorvTurnerOverdrive]

that's not funny. those whores have addic- err kids to feed.

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by DanGarion

If someone already pirated the copy I have is it really pirated?

of course silly. it's on the same level as when your friend steals a car and then you steal it from him! oh wait he doesn't have the car anymore....I got it! its like your friend steals a picture. and then you go and xerox that bitch like a boss! yea thats it. picture piracy inception style

[k0ruptr]

Originally Posted by NorvTurnerOverdrive

that's not funny. those whores have addic- err kids to feed.

yea they need to deposit to the similac and crack account.

[cartman]

Here's TPB's take on yesterday:

INTERNETS, 18th of January 2012.
PRESS RELEASE, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

Over a century ago Thomas Edison got the patent for a device which would "do for the eye what the phonograph does for
the ear". He called it the Kinetoscope. He was not only amongst the first to record video, he was also the first person
to own the copyright to a motion picture.

Because of Edisons patents for the motion pictures it was close to financially impossible to create motion pictures
in the North american east coast. The movie studios therefor relocated to California, and founded what we today call
Hollywood. The reason was mostly because there was no patent.
There was also no copyright to speak of, so the studios could copy old stories and make movies out of them - like
Fantasia, one of Disneys biggest hits ever.

So, the whole basis of this industry, that today is screaming about losing control over immaterial rights, is that they
circumvented immaterial rights. They copied (or put in their terminology: "stole") other peoples creative works,
without paying for it. They did it in order to make a huge profit. Today, they're all successful and most of the
studios are on the Fortune 500 list of the richest companies in the world. Congratulations - it's all based on being
able to re-use other peoples creative works. And today they hold the rights to what other people create.
If you want to get something released, you have to abide to their rules. The ones they created after circumventing
other peoples rules.

The reason they are always complainting about "pirates" today is simple. We've done what they did. We circumvented the
rules they created and created our own. We crushed their monopoly by giving people something more efficient. We allow
people to have direct communication between eachother, circumventing the profitable middle man, that in some cases take
over 107% of the profits (yes, you pay to work for them).
It's all based on the fact that we're competition.
We've proven that their existance in their current form is no longer needed. We're just better than they are.

And the funny part is that our rules are very similar to the founding ideas of the USA. We fight for freedom of speech.
We see all people as equal. We believe that the public, not the elite, should rule the nation. We believe that laws
should be created to serve the public, not the rich corporations.

The Pirate Bay is truly an international community. The team is spread all over the globe - but we've stayed out of the
USA. We have Swedish roots and a swedish friend said this:
The word SOPA means "trash" in Swedish. The word PIPA means "a pipe" in Swedish. This is of course not a coincidence.
They want to make the internet inte a one way pipe, with them at the top, shoving trash through the pipe down to the
rest of us obedient consumers.
The public opinion on this matter is clear. Ask anyone on the street and you'll learn that noone wants to be fed with
trash. Why the US government want the american people to be fed with trash is beyond our imagination but we hope that
you will stop them, before we all drown.

SOPA can't do anything to stop TPB. Worst case we'll change top level domain from our current .org to one of the
hundreds of other names that we already also use. In countries where TPB is blocked, China and Saudi Arabia springs to
mind, they block hundreds of our domain names. And did it work? Not really.
To fix the "problem of piracy" one should go to the source of the problem. The entertainment industry say they're
creating "culture" but what they really do is stuff like selling overpriced plushy dolls and making 11 year old girls
become anorexic. Either from working in the factories that creates the dolls for basically no salary or by watching
movies and tv shows that make them think that they're fat.

In the great Sid Meiers computer game Civilization you can build Wonders of the world. One of the most powerful ones
is Hollywood. With that you control all culture and media in the world. Rupert Murdoch was happy with MySpace and had
no problems with their own piracy until it failed. Now he's complainting that Google is the biggest source of piracy
in the world - because he's jealous. He wants to retain his mind control over people and clearly you'd get a more
honest view of things on Wikipedia and Google than on Fox News.

Some facts (years, dates) are probably wrong in this press release. The reason is that we can't access this information
when Wikipedia is blacked out. Because of pressure from our failing competitors. We're sorry for that.

THE PIRATE BAY, (K)2012

[Ksyrup]

Breaking News @BreakingNews 13m
AP: One of world's largest file-sharing sites, http://Megaupload.com, shut down; company workers indicted

[k0ruptr]

They realized SOPA and PIPA are not going to pass and said fuck it we will show these pirates!

if only there were 90 million more sites like that. oh wait...