UMA GRANDE DESORDEM SOB OS CÉUS

Após um julgamento que durou nove dias, a 17 de Abril, Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm e Carl Lundström, responsáveis pelo Pirate Bay – o maior site de download ilegal de ficheiros torrent – eram condenados por um tribunal de Estocolmo a pôr termo à sua actividade, a um ano de prisão e a pagar uma multa de cerca de 2 700 000 euros. Todos recorreram da pena aplicada e, um mês depois, o Pirate Party sueco (braço político do movimento a favor da liberalização completa do filesharing), conquistava 7.13% de votos e dois deputados nas eleições para o Parlamento Europeu. A 6 de Outubro, e na sequência de diversos contratempos e peripécias (só um exemplo: a 15 de Agosto, um uploader anónimo iniciou a partilha de um torrent contendo o índice integral do Pirate Bay), em local indeterminado, o site corsário estava, de novo, online. Entretanto, a 24 de Novembro passado, o Parlamento Europeu aprovou um pacote de medidas destinado a combater a pirataria na Web que prevê a possibilidade do corte, por parte dos fornecedores, do acesso à Internet de quem descarregue ilegalmente ficheiros, não especificando, porém, a quem caberá a decisão: se aos tribunais, se a uma entidade administrativa.

É bem possível que a indústria discográfica não concorde com a célebre afirmação de Mao Tsé Tung “Há uma grande desordem sob os céus, a situação é excelente”. Até porque – a menos que alguma solução milagrosa e inesperada surja –, até agora, cada tentativa de controlar as forças que se libertaram da caixa de Pandora da Internet foi sempre torneada por um agilíssimo jogo de cintura tecnológico que a todas anulou. Naturalmente, tudo isto terá consequências quanto aos recursos de que os músicos (e não apenas músicos: a partilha de ficheiros abrange livros, filmes, séries de televisão...) poderão dispor, numa conjuntura em que as editoras vêem os lucros a reduzir-se drasticamente. Sintomaticamente (ou não), porém, o que na pop parece acontecer é um período de laboração no interior de códigos mais ou menos clássicos, sem que nenhuma sublevação estética se anteveja: dos (admiráveis) neo-academismos de Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear, St Vincent e Noah & The Whale, à folk redescoberta de Alela Diane e The Unthanks, aos segundos e terceiros fôlegos dos clássicos Dylan ou Springsteen ou às grandes operações industriais de reciclagem do passado e repackaging – de que a remasterização da discografia integral dos Beatles foi, este ano, o mais emblemático exemplo – tudo parece ter entrado num compasso de espera de duração imprevisível. A história da música, de certeza, não parou e o negócio discográfico precisa de tempo para inventar e amadurecer modelos viáveis de reconversão. Mas, por enquanto, tudo indica que, tão cedo, não vale a pena sonhar com estrondosas e fulgurantes rupturas e inovações que, de resto, a atmosfera global de pós(?)-crise também não parece favorecer.

(2010)

DE PIRATAS A CORSÁRIOS



The Pirate Bay has been sold—and the new owners plan to make it a legal service that allows "content providers and copyright owners [to] get paid for content that is downloaded via the site". Global Gaming Factory X AB, a Swedish firm that runs Internet cafes and game centers, plans to buy The Pirate Bay for 60 million kronor, twice the fine that was slapped on The Pirate Bay defendants by a Stockholm court earlier this year. (...)

What do The Pirate Bay admins have to say about the sale? Here's their statement, worth quoting at length: "(...) If the new owners will screw around with the site, nobody will keep using it. That's the biggest insurance one can have that the site will be run in the way that we all want to. And - you can now not only share files but shares with people. Everybody can indeed be the owner of The Pirate Bay now. That's awesome and will take the heat of us. (...) The profits from the sale will go into a foundation that is going to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openess of the nets. I hope everybody will help out in that and realize that this is the best option for all. Don't worry - be happy!" (aqui)

... os próximos capítulos são a não perder.

(2009)

LET'S...



O Presidente da Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa (AFP), Eduardo Simões, afirmou que é "satisfatório" o facto da justiça norte-americana se ter interessado por uma questão de violação de direitos de propriedade intelectual. Pela primeira vez nos Estados Unidos, um tribunal do Estado de Minnesota decretou uma sentença por causa da partilha ilegal de ficheiros de música na Internet. Jammie Thomas-Rasset foi acusada de violação de direitos de autor por ter partilhado ficheiros digitais de 24 canções de artistas como Sheryl Crow e Green Day, tendo sido condenada a pagar 1,3 milhões de euros à indústria discográfica. O responsável da AFP disse à Lusa que é uma decisão "satisfatória" mas "havendo uma disponibilidade para fazer um acordo com a Recording Industry Association of America, é um bocado incrível que isto chegue a uma decisão judicial". "Mas havendo uma decisão judicial - prosseguiu - é óptimo e só podemos elogiar o sistema norte-americano por dar importância a uma violação de direitos da propriedade intelectual". Eduardo Simões recordou que em Portugal "há uma única condenação por partilha não autorizada de ficheiros", no ano passado, pelo Tribunal Criminal de Portimão, não tendo havido qualquer "pedido de indemnização". (daqui)



1 - Pois, e os êxitos de toneladas+toneladas de apreensões de droga pela PJ também parece que, todos os anos, batem recordes. Os cartéis - da Colômbia ao Afeganistão - tremem de pavor.

2 - Agora, procedendo "cientificamente", vão fazer o favor de apresentar os números - mesmo que só nas casas decimais, não faz mal - da redução de downloads ilegais que, pós-processo-Pirate Bay e pós-Jammie Thomas-Rasset (mas... Sheryl Crow e Green Day?... francamente...), estes métodos de show-off musculado produziram, não é verdade?... Obrigado. Entretanto, não vos há-de matar passar os olhos por aqui (para não falar do muito resto que anda por aqui).

(2009)

POLITICIANS FAIL TO GRASP PEER-TO-PEER
(Eric Pfanner)



"It was the French equivalent of former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens’ description of the Internet as 'a series of tubes', which made him the subject of endless mockery on the Web. In a video shot for an online news site, French legislators were asked whether they were familiar with peer-to-peer file-sharing technology. 'No', one lawmaker responded, rolling his eyes. 'I speak French. Excuse me'. While France has often prided itself on its contrarian approach to information technology — remember the Minitel? — the response summed up the ham-handedness of the latest digital initiative by the French government. The video appeared this spring, at the height of debate about a plan by President Nicolas Sarkozy to set up a government agency to disconnect persistent copyright pirates from the Internet. The proposal, approved by Parliament last month after an earlier setback, was shot down last week by the country’s highest judicial review body, the Constitutional Council, which ruled that it violated constitutional guarantees of free speech and the presumption of innocence. Only a court of law is entitled to sever Internet connections, the council ruled.



The decision was a big setback for the music and movie industries, which wanted other countries to follow the French lead and impose similar systems, called 'three strikes' because cutoffs would have been preceded by two warnings to copyright cheats. It is particularly bad timing for Britain, where the government is to set out its digital strategy this week. It has indicated that it favors a softer approach. According to reports, the government wants to slow pirates’ Web connections, making it hard to share big media files, rather than cutting off access. Had the French law been cleared to go into effect, it might have provided some cover for the British government. Now Britain will serve as a test of how far the authorities can go in their efforts to protect copyrighted material. Every new effort to crack down on file-sharing seems to embolden groups devoted to an unfettered Internet.



The European Parliament has consistently maintained that Internet access is a fundamental right, at a time when communications, commerce and culture are shifting into the digital realm. After Sweden tightened its anti-piracy laws and sentenced to jail the founders of a site called The Pirate Bay, the popularity of a political group dedicated to free file-sharing soared. The Pirate Party has won a seat in the European Parliament, and similar groups are springing up elsewhere in Europe. What all this shows, if more evidence was needed, is that an anti-piracy strategy based largely on enforcement is bound to fail. In the United States, the recording industry has backed away from a legal campaign against file-sharers, realizing that suing its biggest fans is not a great marketing strategy. Now the U.S. music and movie industries are moving to make more content available legally.



In Europe, such efforts have generally lagged. Yes, online media sites like the BBC’s iPlayer, which allows users to watch television programs from the previous week, are hugely popular. But you can’t watch the iPlayer outside Britain because of complicated rights restrictions. In France, meanwhile, the government recently moved to reduce to four months the legally mandated 'window' between the release of a movie in cinemas and on home video. That is down from six months for DVDs, and seven and a half months for video on demand. But it is still a long time, during which piracy flourishes. Other European countries have similar windows in an effort to protect cinemas and moviemakers who rely on subsidies derived from box-office sales. People are still going to the movies. But when they stay home, they are increasingly turning to pirate sources, rather than waiting several months to watch the latest movie. If consumers can figure out peer-to-peer, perhaps it is time for lawmakers to do the same". (aqui)

nota: ler aqui também.

(2009)

PIRATE PARTY ELEGE DEPUTADO EUROPEU



"A Swedish party that wants to legalise Internet filesharing and beef up web privacy scored a big victory Sunday by winning a European parliament seat, results showed. The Pirate Party won 7.1 percent of votes, taking one of Sweden's 18 seats in the European parliament, with ballots in 5,659 constituencies out of 5,664 counted. 'Privacy issues and civil liberties are important to people and they demonstrated that clearly when they voted today', one of the party's candidates, Anna Troberg, told Swedish television on Sunday. The party was founded in January 2006 and quickly attracted members angered by controversial laws adopted in Sweden that criminalised filesharing and authorised monitoring of emails. Its membership shot up after a Stockholm court on April 17 sentenced four Swedes to a year in jail for running one of the world's biggest filesharing sites, The Pirate Bay". (aqui)

(2009)

SOBRE O PROCESSO PIRATE BAY
(Momus no Live Journal)



"As something of a pirate myself, I support Pirate Bay, the four Swedish file-sharing brigands (Frederik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundstrom) who were yesterday sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to pay 30 million kronor (about $3.6 million) in damages to leading entertainment companies. (...) I've met the Pirate Bay people - they drove their Pirate Bay bus down to the Manifesta art biennial last summer via Berlin, and gave me and Hisae a guided tour of it. We later saw the bus installed as an anti-copyright artwork at Manifesta. 'We see The Pirate Bay as some sort of ongoing art project/performance', said Peter Sunde. (...) Both sides are 'wrong' in this case. It clearly costs a lot of money to make art, and people shouldn't expect to consume it free. That's why the pirates are 'wrong'. Nevertheless, it is costing less and less money to produce and distribute culture, and yet the established entertainment companies fail to reduce their prices. That's why they are wrong. Their determination to prosecute music consumers and distributors has been sickening.



Beyond piracy (on the one hand) and bullying greed (on the other) there is a third way, a supple and inventive new way to distribute culture nearly-free. I personally applaud Apple for finding new ways to monetize culture via the iTunes store - the future of the album may well be as an iTunes app. (...) Free distribution does not diminish cultural value. It does, however, change the map of value and of monetization; shifting payday from the record store to the live concert hall, for instance. The last decade has seen the internet bring incredible - I mean really incredible - cultural riches to people who would never have had access to them. On the internet, as we all know, people expect everything free. Therefore you have to find new ways to make them pay (advertising, ancillary merchandising) for these new riches. This has to be done with creativity, generosity, flexibility, and with the recognition that things have changed, and that the new ways of doing things will filter up from the semi-legal grassroots, not trickle down from the established entertainment companies and their lawyers. Yesterday's decision did not reflect this reality. I believe it will be overturned, correctly, at the next stage, the Pirate Bay appeal". (post integral aqui)

(2009)

THE PIRATE BAY VERDICT
AND THE FUTURE OF FILE SHARING
JR Raphael



"The verdict against the founders of The Pirate Bay is being hailed by many as a triumphant win against illegal file-sharing. The four men involved in the BitTorrent tracking site were found guilty on Friday of being accessories to violating copyright law. A Swedish court sentenced each of them to a year in jail and a collective fine of $3.6 million. In the long run, though, the verdict may not be as significant as some suggest when it comes to the battle against online file-sharing. Does the name Napster ring a bell? (...) Let's say this whole thing plays out in the high court and The Pirate Bay loses. Let's say BitTorrent completely ceases to exist as a result. (Just play along for a minute.) Would that, then, be the end of online file-sharing? The answer: of course not.



Even in that extreme (and extremely unlikely) scenario, little would be accomplished in the grand scheme of things. Technology is constantly evolving. Just as more advanced decentralized peer-to-peer networks sprung up in the wake of Napster's shutdown, new alternatives would surface once again were a site like The Pirate Bay to lower its sails. Already, countless other methods exist for exchanging data with ease, and more will only pop up as the months wear on. (...) 'As in all good movies, the heroes lose in the beginning but have an epic victory in the end', boasts a message posted to The Pirate Bay Web site Friday morning. 'That's the only thing Hollywood ever taught us'. If there's one Hollywood analogy to be made, it's that this storyline is far from finished. Rest assured, more sequels are on the way". (texto integral aqui)

(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (XV)















(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (XIV)



(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (XIII)



"The Pirate Bay has just released their manifesto in English. The book, titled ‘POwr, Broccoli and Kopimi’ is filled with 100 inspiring principles for everyone who aims to live the Kopimi lifestyle. 'The Internet is right' is the ultimate wisdom" (TorrentFreak)



"In the shadow of the culture industry's final crisis of the 20th-century, grows a larger portrait of the POwr, broccoli and Kopimi. Each step of the culture industry's failures is followed by the uncanny successes of the structurally diffused spread of an Internet elite, spread worldwide. The book you're about to read has no author, no designer, no translators, no distribution channel. Nevertheless, you have it in front of you. How did it happen? Read the frightening instructions of a loosely coherent core of IT specialists grafted into an unsuspecting generation of youths, and how the group stole the eggs, dollars and jpegs in front of the powerless establishment and strong financial interests. Learn how servers, seeders, trackers, e-mail, company formation, foreign investors, Ikko's weekly allowance, scandalous advertisements, links and search services, infiltrated and destroyed an entire world that had nowhere to run, no one to consult, and no one to trust... The machine, which operates under the radar frequency is unhindered from the Cambodian jungle to the gay neighborhoods of San Francisco, via the empty beaches of Tel-Aviv, and into the Internet of plain folks in Jönköping suburbs and Gothenburg harbor. It leaves no one unmoved and mangles everything it in its path. Technically superior and physically independent it's constantly transformed, mutated and reappears in new guises and under new codenames. With a stranglehold on its opponents it's completely untouched and even more - incomprehensible. It has rightly been said that this is the first time Kopimi has freed the world and we can be sure that it's not the last".

(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (XII)



(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (XI)



(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (X)



(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (IX)



(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (VIII)






(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (VII)






(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (VI)






(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (V)



"The Pirate Bay trial is moving forward rapidly and again the day in court has ended early. On the third day the prosecution presented the amended charges. The defendants all called for acquittal while Carl Lundström’s lawyer scored points with the already legendary ‘King Kong’ defense. The third day of the trial started with prosecutor Håkan Roswall, who presented his updated/amended charges to the Court, taking into consideration the developments of yesterday (50% charges removed). He characterized these amendments as a “small change”.

The defense lawyers responded saying, “We don’t agree that this is just a small adjustment of the claims, but we’ll return to the matter later”. According to IFPI’s Peter Danowsky, the damages claimed from The Pirate Bay are the same as if the site had ‘legally’ obtained licenses to distribute the music world-wide, regardless of whether all the downloaders had later decided to buy the music or not. Effectively, they are trying to say that one download=one lost sale. They are talking about imposing the costs of a “global distribution license” on TPB. (...)

Peter Danowsky disputes the claims of the defense that they have no funds and cannot pay damages. He called TPB “organized crime on a grand scale”, which netted “significant revenues”. “If I have all this money they claim, someone has apparently stolen it from me”, Peter Sunde twittered in a reponse. “Maybe [they are not able to pay] the whole of the claimed damages, but a lot anyway”, said Danowsky. (...)



As Carl Lundström’s lawyer, Per E Samuelsson took the floor and pointed out the weaknesses in the prosecutor’s case. The defense argued that prosecutors have failed to prove that Lundström has been involved in any transfer of any copyrighted material. He played the King Kong defense. “EU directive 2000/31/EG says that he who provides an information service is not responsible for the information that is being transferred. In order to be responsible, the service provider must initiate the transfer. But the admins of The Pirate Bay don’t initiate transfers. It’s the users that do and they are physically identifiable people. They call themselves names like KingKong”, Samuelsson told the court.

“According to legal procedure, the accusations must be against an individual and there must be a close tie between the perpetrators of a crime and those who are assisting. This tie has not been shown. The prosecutor must show that Carl Lundström personally has interacted with the user KingKong, who may very well be found in the jungles of Cambodia”, the lawyer added. After the KingKong defense the court decided to adjourn the court case, which will continue tomorrow on day 4. Thus far, the trial is ahead of schedule". (texto integral aqui)

(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (IV)









(2009)

PROCESSO PIRATE BAY (III)


Morning 2nd day Pirate Bay trial

(2009)