ThePirateBay.org raided - a rant

ThePirageBay.org, a longtime fixture of the BitTorrent community, is currently under investigation.

Thepiratebay.org stole the crown as one of the largest bittorrent trackers after the demise of suprnova.org. They stayed steadfast in the face of bodies like the MPAA and RIAA. Yesterday Swedish police siezed their entire server farm to see if any criminal activity was taking place. This highly suspect reason probably comes from the fact that The Pirate Bay only hosted .torrent files and not actual copywrited material. This doesn't contravene copyright and trademark laws.

The question is, will it affect the huge BitTorrent community? Answer is probably no. Other sites have befallen the wrath of authorities (suprnova & elitetorrents were the most high profile) but others come along and supplant them very quickly. The internet has taught me on thing. Its a great democratic medium in which people vote with their feet as to what they want and are not easily dictated by the archaic commercial institutes just which attempt to control. When you buy, music you buy the packaging, as force fed by labels. You buy the directors new suits, you pay for advertising, you pay for the slogan makers and office space. Most of your hard earned money goes everywhere but the artist(s). When you download legally or otherwide you're after the music only. And its having a revolutionary effect. Although the its creaming 10% of an artist like Celine Dion's sales its supporting a huge number of small bands. We cannot be force fed hollywood and pop nonsence in the same way if the internet exists. It does. Accept it and work with us!

Am i saying taking something for free is justified. No - but that isn't the real argument as I see it. Let us look at what is really happening... Distribution over the internet can remove the middle men - the fusty industry. If done right it won't hurt directors, actors or musicians. In a matter of days I've seen video's appear on the internet, then the following few days, have most of my friends email me the video.

Put simply If the work is good enough it can go viral on the internet in days and hit more people that a good review or millions of dollars of marketing ever could. Add a little note on the website saying if you like it donate to us, or give it for free and offer a high-quality paid for DVD or HD-download and you're making money which, aside from server costs, is 100% yours. No RIAA no MPAA no middlemen, no marketing nonsense. No sweat!

Much like the idiotic Metallica suing their own fans, these high profile industry backed stunts only hurt the consumer in the long run. People who download aren't pirates but fans. It has been reported that those which download are the demographic most likely to buy music and importantly PROMOTE more new music. I bought the complete Broken Social Scene albums cause of a download, and recently bought the Primer DVD because I downloaded it and liked it so much that I wanted to donate - I wanted to say thank you. Wanna tel me off for downloading it first of all. Then give me my money back. To every CD i own. To every piece of vinyl. To every cinema ticket. Democratic culture. We've not had it for a century - I'm waiting to welcome it back!

tags ( bittorrent | The Pirate Bay | MPAA | RIAA | Downloading )
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