The Pirate Bay Captains Found Guilty

The founders of oft-discussed torrent website, The Pirate Bay were found guilty of "contributory copyright infringement" in Swedish court on Friday and sentenced to one year in prison and ordered to pay over $3 million in damages. And just like that, justice is served and filesharing is no more! Free of evildoers once again, the world can go on as it was before -- pristine and payed for.

All kidding aside, it's hard not to see the guilty verdict as fair, although jail time seems quite excessive. Maybe the RIAA should have just thrown us all in the slammer to teach us the lesson that their lawsuits obviously couldn't.

As for specifics, the above Wired blog writes, "Pirate Bay administrators Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde were found guilty in the case, along with Carl Lundström, who was accused of funding the five-year-old operation."

TPB's spokesman remained level-headed: "Stay calm — Nothing will happen to TPB, us personally or file sharing whatsoever. This is just a theater for the media."

I'm inclined to agree. This victory is purely symbolic, as I've said about this trial numerous times on this blog. If anyone could even begin to explain to me how this could translate into any tangible obstacles for filesharing, I would be more than happy to hear it, but the fact is that nothing will change. If anything, all of this press could even add to the burgeoning torrent userbase.

There's a very informative podcast on the subject at CNET, which documents the joy felt by "copyright holders" but acknowledges the uphill battle still left to fight. The battle? The culture industry. The war? TBA.

What Exactly Is A Pirate, Anyhow?

As we await a verdict in Sweden's Pirate Bay trial, another group of "pirates" has been dominating the news. I'm talking, of course, about the Somali pirates, who last week attacked an American ship and upon fleeing, took the captain hostage. He was eventually freed and the three remaining Somali pirates were shot dead. But with the term "pirate" now strong in the public consciousness -- and we're not talking Johnny Depp -- you have to wonder who the publicist for these scruffy Swedes are.

Sure, they're fighting for free use and against "the man" but the word has recently taken on a far more sinister connotation -- something that doesn't bode well in a trial being played mostly in the media.

Frank Luntz, author of Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear, is known for his reliance on language in political campaigns and is credited with coining phrases like "deep sea energy exploration" (aka drilling). Maybe they should consider hiring him.

And I only bring up politics because these men on trial actually have a political party and call it none other than... the Pirate Party! But the implications of a negative connotation can go a long way and if TPB are in this for the long, gamechanging haul, they should consider a language-based makeover. There's already a call for papers in a journal equating pirates and piracy. Not a good sign for things to come...