Once Again, Blocking The Pirate Bay Leads To More Traffic In Italy

from the thanks-for-the-promotion! dept

Earlier this week, when we wrote about attempts by Italian officials to have ISPs block The Pirate Bay, we noted that just about every similar attempt had resulted in giving a lot of free publicity to The Pirate Bay, leading to traffic growth. So, it should come as no surprise that the Pirate Bay has seen a nice boost in traffic coming from Italy this week.

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Companies: pirate bay

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Comments on “Once Again, Blocking The Pirate Bay Leads To More Traffic In Italy”

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36 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re:

Walk the plank is as we all know a pirate term. No, of course they should not die. A stint in an Afghan interrogation camp run by the CIA would be more appropriate.

Hiding behind the we do not host anything defense is pure BS. They facilitate illegal uploads and downloads, and last time I looked that was a no-no.

Before someone christens them as Messiahs realize the site was started by a bunch of anticopyright weasels who said they did it to make a political statement. Political statement my behind. Just a bunch of punks with nothing better to do than hose others who depend on getting paid for their work to eke out a living.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re:2 Re:

Let me see…

Searched “photoshop” using Google and displaying 100 links per page. All 100 on the first page were links to Adobe, reviews, tutorials, user groups, etc. What a bummer. Many of these links actually expected me to pay. Forget that.

Searched “photoshop” using Pirate Bay. Every “link” was for a download of the app, plugings, tutorials, etc. Of course, each link was associated with copies of stuff I could download for free. I particularly liked all the keygens, cracks, etc. Thanks, Pirate Bay. You are my kinda guys.

Wow…the similarities between the results of each search were astounding. Those guys over at Pirate Bay sure do run a good search engine for people who excell at stealing (oops,…infringing). Betcha Google has Pirate Bay under consideration at this very moment as its next acquisition target.

BTW, also tried a search for “techdirt”. Google gave me a bunch, but Pirate Bay struck out…no hits at all. Seems to me Pirate Bay needs to think about another business model.

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:3 Re:

Let me see…

You might want to get your eyesight checked, because you’re looking in the wrong place.

Searched “photoshop” using Google and displaying 100 links per page. All 100 on the first page were links to Adobe, reviews, tutorials, user groups, etc. What a bummer. Many of these links actually expected me to pay. Forget that.

Searched “photoshop” using Pirate Bay. Every “link” was for a download of the app, plugings, tutorials, etc. Of course, each link was associated with copies of stuff I could download for free. I particularly liked all the keygens, cracks, etc. Thanks, Pirate Bay. You are my kinda guys.

Pirate Bay is a *specialized* search engine. You COULD do the same search on Google if you knew what search terms to use. The Pirate Bay just automates that process. So next time, try comparing Apples to Apples.

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:5 Re:

Yea, it is specialized alright. So specialized in fact that those behind it it keep running from country to country trying to hide from the cops who are after their sorry butts.

Well, that’s simply untrue. The folks behind The Pirate Bay have been in Sweden from the beginning. Once again, you have been caught lying. Will you apologize? I doubt it.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re:4 Re:

“Btw…I’m curious why you choose not to use your regular username on these comments?”

I have submitted a brief in a matter pending before a federal appeals court, and the last thing I want is a diatribe about “You didn’t disclose…Conflict of Interest…Lack of Integrity…Etc.”

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:5 Re:

I have submitted a brief in a matter pending before a federal appeals court, and the last thing I want is a diatribe about “You didn’t disclose…Conflict of Interest…Lack of Integrity…Etc.”

Um. Do you not think that is WORSE? Now you have been talking about a case in which you are actively involved without even identifying yourself as being actively involved.

You consider this ethical?

Eldakka says:

Re: Re: Re:3 Re:

Anonymous Coward – Aug 15th, 2008 @ 6:28pm wrote:

Searched “photoshop” using Google and displaying 100 links per page. All 100 on the first page were links to Adobe, reviews, tutorials, user groups, etc. What a bummer. Many of these links actually expected me to pay. Forget that.

On google, try:

"photoshop filetype:torrent"

(wihthout the quotes)

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re:6 Re:

“And what Google is doing is….?”

Much less so, though it is running into some issues concerning its “books” model.

I give Google credit for at least being sensitive to such issues and trying to work them out with content providers. PB, however, does not seem so inclined…and only exacerbates things by its publication of email correspondence.

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:7 Re:

I give Google credit for at least being sensitive to such issues and trying to work them out with content providers. PB, however, does not seem so inclined…and only exacerbates things by its publication of email correspondence.

Hmm. Why should it be the responsibility of a search engine to protect the business model of another company? Should automobile companies have been responsible for protecting the business model of horse carraige makers? You seem to be suggesting yes, which seems like a tough position to support.

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re: Re:

Hiding behind the we do not host anything defense is pure BS.

Really? Hiding behind the TRUTH is BS? Fascinating.

They facilitate illegal uploads and downloads, and last time I looked that was a no-no.

They’re a search engine — a specialized search engine that is entirely legal in their home country.

So, please explain the problem.

Before someone christens them as Messiahs realize the site was started by a bunch of anticopyright weasels who said they did it to make a political statement.

Yes, and it appears you are unable to understand that political statement, so you condemn it.

Nice that you have an open mind.

Just a bunch of punks with nothing better to do than hose others who depend on getting paid for their work to eke out a living.

Same could be said for Google.

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re: Re:2 Re:

“Really? Hiding behind the TRUTH is BS? Fascinating.”

I guess Charlie Manson should have had you for his defense attorney. After all, it is true that he merely pointed people to where victims could be found.

“They’re a search engine — a specialized search engine that is entirely legal in their home country.”

If I remember Swedish authorities hold a different view and have indicted the Pirate Bay pricipals. Seems to me these guys and their pals are still looking for a country that does not have extradition treaties. Yea, this is exactly what law abiding people do every day.

“Yes, and it appears you are unable to understand that political statement, so you condemn it.”

No, I do understand their “political statement” all right. A small group of techie punks who don’t give a damn about the many people who work their butts off each day to try and create products for use by others. The only thing the people at Pirate Bay have ever done even remotely creative is write ludicrous and insulting emails where they pat themselves on the back for being so smart.

“Same could be said for Google.”

I presume you have some friends at Google, and I doubt they classify themselves in the same league with Pirate Bay.

Mike (profile) says:

Re: Re: Re:3 Re:


I guess Charlie Manson should have had you for his defense attorney. After all, it is true that he merely pointed people to where victims could be found.

Wow, you are an extremely troubled individual if you think that confessing to murders is the same as pointing out that you don’t actually violate copyright.

I’m curious as to how your brain could make such a connection. The TRUTH I was talking about was the simple fact that they DID NOT break the law.

You responded by pointing to a truth of someone admitting to breaking the law.

Do you REALLY think that people are so stupid as to not understand the difference? Or do you not understand the difference?

If I remember Swedish authorities hold a different view and have indicted the Pirate Bay pricipals. Seems to me these guys and their pals are still looking for a country that does not have extradition treaties. Yea, this is exactly what law abiding people do every day.

Hmm. No, they’ve remained in Sweden the whole time. Why do you assume otherwise? And, as for the indictment, as you well know (or do you not know?) an indictment is hardly a conviction, and the prosecutors case has been severely hampered by the news that he got a job at Warner Music before the investigation was complete. It’s also hampered by the fact that another country’s diplomats were heavily involved in the case. Based on current Swedish LAW, the Pirate Bay is doing nothing wrong in pointing people to infringed material.

I’m surprised that you, as someone who apparently is knowledgeable about copyright law would believe that not actually infringing on content should count as infringement.

No, I do understand their “political statement” all right. A small group of techie punks who don’t give a damn about the many people who work their butts off each day to try and create products for use by others.

And that’s why so many musicians today upload *their own* music to The Pirate Bay. Apparently, you seem unable to comprehend that they see The Pirate Bay as a useful distribution method. And, as I’m sure you well know (you do, don’t you?) if something has substantial legitimate uses, it’s not copyright infringement. Oh darn, those details.

And, the fact that you refer to them as “techie punks” shows once again, that you are letting misguided and ignorant emotion rule over logic.

Read: http://www.cato-unbound.org/2008/06/09/rasmus-fleischer/the-future-of-copyright/

I don’t see how you could read such a logical and well-reasoned argument, and claim that it’s just some “techie punk.”

But, it’s nice to see that you have so little argument that you’re forced into hurling insults rather than logically responding. Apparently, it’s because you have no logical response.

As we’ve discovered with you in the past, that’s typical. When you are caught in a logical conundrum, you resort to insults and acting like a child. It’s too bad. When you make logical arguments they’re quite interesting. It’s too bad you can’t recognize when your logical arguments switch into emotional gibberish.

I presume you have some friends at Google, and I doubt they classify themselves in the same league with Pirate Bay.

Huh? I’m not sure what that has to do with anything. Either you are technically illiterate (which, in the past, you have insisted is not true), or you are purposely not responding to the question.

Functionally speaking, The Pirate Bay does nothing different than what Google does. Yet, you are claiming that The Pirate Bay’s owners should be killed because you just don’t like how that function is used. And then, on top of that, you claim the moral high ground.

Anonymous Coward says:

TPB Respone to Italy

“Fascist state censors Pirate Bay

We’re quite used to fascist countries not allowing freedom of speech. A lot of smaller nations that have dictators decide to block our site since we can help spread information that could be harmful to the dictators.

This time it’s Italy. They suffer from a really bad background as one of the IFPIs was formed in Italy during the fascist years and now they have a fascist leader in the country, Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi is also the most powerful person in Italian media owning a lot of companies that compete with The Pirate Bay and he would like to stay that way – so one of his lackeys, Giancarlo Mancusi, ordered a shutdown of our domain name and IP in Italy to make it hard to not support Berlusconis empire.

We have had fights previously in Italy, recently with our successful art installation where we had to storm Fortezza in order to get our art done. And as usual, we won. We will also win this time.

We have already changed IP for the website – that makes it work for half the ISPs again. And we want you all to inform your italian friends to switch their DNS to OpenDNS so they can bypass their ISPs filters. This will also let them bypass the other filters installed by the Italian government, as a bonus. And for the meanwhile – http://labaia.org works (La Baia means The Bay in Italian).

And please, everybody should also contact their ISP and tell them that this is not OK and that the ISPs should appeal. We don’t want a censored internet! And the war starts here…

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