The Full Story

Pirate Bay... Pirate Bay, a notable Swedish file sharing site

17th August 2008	Update:	Fascists!...

	Italian government bans Pirate Bay
	Based on article from product-reviews.net
	The Italian government has banned the daddy of illegal torrent sites, Pirate Bay. However it seems as if the Italian government might have to face the file sharer's underworld, as they are not happy about this. In a letter on the Pirate Bay website, the owners are venting their anger at the court of Italian Supremo Silvio Berlusconi; they have labeled him a fascist. They also go on to say that he is part of a corrupt dictatorship that is intent on quashing the Internet’s right to remain free of censorship. At the end of the letter, the letter explains to wannabe Italian downloader’s how to get around this block. Pirate Bay is also asking fans of their site to complain to their ISP. They say that they should demand that the site be reinstated. Update: Pirate Appeal 25th August 2008, based on article from torrentfreak.com The Pirate Bay has decided to fight the decision of an Italian judge after it ordered ISPs to block access to the popular tracker. The blocks didn’t prove particularly effective as traffic from Italy only increased but nevertheless, The Pirate Bay is determined to reverse the decision. The Pirate Bay have filed an appeal against the decree that forced Italian ISPs to block the BitTorrent tracker. Pirate Bay’s lawyers Giovanni Battista Gallus and Francesco Micozzi are convinced that they have a strong case. The decree can be defined as ‘original’ or ‘creative’ at best they told TorrentFreak. A Tribunal of three judges will now look into the appeal, and a decision is expected in a few weeks. After that, the decision of the Tribunal can be further appealed by both parties before the Higher Court.

22nd August
2008

Update:

Olympic Shared Values...

Pirate Bay cheekily renamed to Beijing Bay

Thanks to Nick
Based on article from torrentfreak.com

In an official letter to the Swedish Minister of Justice Beatrice Ask, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked for “assistance” from the Swedish government with preventing video clips from the Olympics in Beijing to be shared on The Pirate Bay. The Pirate Bay, however, does not plan to take anything down, and cheekily renamed their tracker to The Beijing Bay.

The IOC is getting used to censoring the Internet, and has asked the Swedish government to help remove Olympic torrents from The Pirate Bay - which they claimed have been downloaded more than 1 million times. The IOC also wants the government to assist in preventing clips from the Olympic closing ceremonies to be shared.

28th September
2008

Update:

Sharing the Swag...

Italian court unblocks Pirate Bay

Based on article from torrentfreak.com

The Pirate Bay has successfully appealed the decision of an Italian judge who had ordered ISPs to block access to the popular BitTorrent tracker last month. The Court of Bergamo decided that this block was unlawful, and that Italian users should regain access to the site.

This August, out of nowhere, The Pirate Bay was “censored” in Italy following a decree from a public prosecutor. The block didn’t prove to be particularly effective, as traffic from Italy only increased. Nevertheless, The Pirate Bay was determined to reverse the decision, and in that mission they have succeeded.

The Court of Bergamo has now lifted the block, and ISPs are again allowed to grant their users access to the most frequently used BitTorrent tracker on the Internet. More details on the decision, and the reason why the block was reversed, will be made public later.

Update: Pirated Legal Explanation

11th October 2008

The Court of Bergamo decided that this block was unlawful, and earlier this week they explained why. According to the court statement (Italian), no criminal court is allowed to issue an order to ISPs to block traffic to a foreign website, based on alleged copyright infringement. Italian law implements an European Directive, 2000/31 CE, which this means that this ruling should be valid in other European countries as well.

Under Italian law, this is possible only for child porn and for unauthorized gambling, but there is no such provision for copyright infringement, Pirate Bay’s lawyers Giovanni Battista Gallus and Francesco Micozzi explained to TorrentFreak.