/** Tools */

18 February 2009

Steal This Film - Pirate Bay #spectrial Edition (updating)

If anyone reading this uses a computing device of any sort, a viewing of Steal This Film Trial Edition is heartily recommended, even if you haven't heard of the current spectacle trial [Twitter: #spectrial] brought by the media industry against some Swedish kids who enjoy technical challenges and travel the Internet under the moniker of The Pirate Bay. More later on the spectrial in which half the charges were dropped within the first two days.

Keep an eye out for appearances by Sebastian Lütgert and his endorsement of peer-to-peer as the new economy of community. He positively buzzes on the vibe of what he describes as:
"a force like this, a power like this, zillions of people, connected. Sharing data, sharing their work, sharing the work of others. The situation is unprecedented in human history and it is a force that will not be stopped."
"The files have been shared. There's no way back. It's not about shutting down BitTorrent. It would be about confiscating everyone's hard drives. The files are out there. They have been downloaded. They're down. There's no up anymore. They're all down."
All the creativity of each and every connected individual shared in one big collective of information, ideas, sights and sounds.The only people upset about it are those moneyed enough not to have to worry about it. Therefore, the root of the issue isn't the one stated by the media mafia and their 'legal' representation -- which includes Monique Wadstedt who also acts on behalf of the Church of Scientology -- of money and profits but the control of information and sensory experience, sensory experiences that the dominator capitalist culture has always sought to imprison within various commoditised Pandora's boxes. But Pandora's Box was opened a long time ago. Steal This Film!


There are a good few writings on Reason.... in relation to the human inclination to participate in the sharing of resources via the Internet and peer to peer technologies. Many of the ideas expressed in these articles feature in Steal This Film because, no matter what the issue and despite what the post-modernists and liars might have everyone believe, truth is objective. A good place to start is the P2P label. Personal favourites include:
Oh, and if you happen to believe there is any justification for the years of legal actions instigated by various cabals of media conglomerates against various individuals and groups outside of their profiteering cabal, perhaps you should learn a little more of how and why the Internet was designed.
Computer Networks - The Heralds of Resource Sharing
A documentary film about the history of the ARPANET and birth of the Internet.

Thus is exposed the inherent injustice, wrongness and intrinsic flaws in the actions of global media conglomerates as they endeavour to persecute and profit from people who are only using the Internet for the purpose it was intended, sharing.

---===[ STEAL THIS ARTICLE! ]===---
Link it, copy it, email it,
PDF it, print it, Digg it,
Mixx it, Reddit, Stumble it,
Tweet it.



- This filesharer.org business is probably worth steering clear of:
This is what a criminal looks like | filesharer.org
Let the music and movie industry know who the file-sharers are. Upload a picture of yourself and show them what a criminal looks like!
Oh yes, good idea. Probably best to also send them your home and work addresses along with the bank details of any accounts held in your name. [Edit: For balance see Thomas' comment]

- Day 5 of #spectrial and questions are raised by the defence about whether the prosecution was a political action rather than a criminal one. Given the approximate association of the Pirate Bay with the Pirate Party and their copyright and patent objectives, and the fact that half the criminal charges against the Pirate Bay were dropped in the first two days of the trial, it's difficult to see the debacle as anything other than a political prosecution.

The Pirate Bay is loosely affiliated with the Pirate Party. The Pirate Party's sole aims appear to be the reform of copyright law, the abolition of patents, and guaranteeing the right to privacy, none of which are bad things for greater mass of the humanity:

The Pirate Party

Introduction to Politics and Principles



The Pirate Party only has three issues on its agenda:

Reform of copyright law



The monopoly for the copyright holder to exploit an aesthetic work commercially should be limited to five years after publication. Today's copyright terms are simply absurd. Nobody needs to make money seventy years after he is dead. No film studio or record company bases its investment decisions on the off-chance that the product would be of interest to anyone a hundred years in the future. The commercial life of cultural works is staggeringly short in today's world. If you haven't made your money back in the first one or two years, you never will. A five years copyright term for commercial use is more than enough. Non-commercial use should be free from day one.

We also want a complete ban on DRM technologies, and on contract clauses that aim to restrict the consumers' legal rights in this area. There is no point in restoring balance and reason to the legislation, if at the same time we continue to allow the big media companies to both write and enforce their own arbitrary laws.

An abolished patent system





Respect for the right to privacy



The Pirate Party ideology appears to be spreading.
The cocky forthrightness of the Pirate Bay and their defence team, along with the links into the Pirate Party lend further credibility to the idea that this is indeed a political prosecution by the Media Corporations Inc. of those espousing and bringing to life an opposing ideology that threatens the concept of private ownership of everything, from physical objects to ideas.

Mark Getty, chairman of Getty Images, summed it up when he said:
"Intellectual Property is the oil of the 21st century."

Update 25/02/09
Free is as Free Does

One of the many invalid arguments of the transnational global media conglomerates to deflect, detract and distract from the main motivating factor for their actions, the profit motive, is that artists won't do anything for free. This argument, they believe, is sufficient justification for extending their historical racketeering ways without let or hindrance across international boundaries and borders.

According to the media industry: Artists won't create art, musicians won't make music, film makers won't make films, and writers won't write.

What those who seek global full spectrum dominance over humanity's shared culture have failed to notice as the Internet and the world has grown up around them, leaving the former culture controlling giants as cowering, anti-human midgets in the process, is that the whole of Internet-connected humanity is perfectly prepared to do pretty much everything for free. Such is the nature of the new economy of community where we consciously recognise our shared humanity in open defiance of those who would seek to keep us all in separate, convenient, individualist, nuclear-familied consumer units.

The truth of the matter is that artists WILL create art, musicians WILL make music, and writers WILL write. They have been doing it throughout history and the history of the Internet. In turn, the Internet has developed to facilitate ever more novel ways and means to make it so.

This article was conceived of, written, and published for free. Below is some art created for free by Eisner Award-winner Dylan Horrocks' that is specifically NOT copyrighted, originally drawn up in support of New Zealand's #blackout, which appeared on The Pirate Bay. Elsewhere, the Internet is awash with articles that people have written and published for free, music that people have made and published for free, and films like Steal This Film which have been created and published for free.

Today it is announced that the typist for the whole of the world's culture, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham, "is aiming to have the framework of an international strategy to combat illegal internet downloads agreed with the US and European partners by the autumn." Yesterday, Irish ISP Eircom wasn't going to comply with requests to block access to sites like the Pirate Bay. Today, apparently, that decision is reversed.

It is reputed that the godfather of Fascism, Benito Mussolini, claimed that fascism could be thought of as the seamless merging of state and corporate power. The actions of the international media conglomerates, in tandem with various governments, are quite simply the modern manifestation of Mussolini's political ambitions.

The fight back against those that seek to suppress the innate human creativity and the innate human need to share their creativity is now the imperative duty of everyone.

The legendary Terence McKenna on how corporate/State controlled Culture is not Your Friend:

Ho ho ho! IFPI and their legal team appear to be clutching at straws somewhat: Pirate Bay Day 8 - Prosecutors change charges | Technology | guardian.co.uk


Anonymous said...

That's another fine post sir.

I love the way the Internet has allowed ordinary people to share and connect. It is the most vital energy of new technology and the only one worth a damn.

Anybody trying to suppress it is just a thug and trapped in indefensible old-school modes of thinking.

The Antagonist said...

Spot on!


Seems fairly clear that that's precisely the reason they hate it so much.

Better yet, it's you, me and everyone else -- not them -- that run it.

Anonymous said...

Regarding the "This is what a criminal looks like"-website, I beg to differ :) The title is not based upon how we see ourselves, it is based upon how THE CORPORATE INDUSTRY see us, the people. They see us, and therefore treat ut, as criminals. Therefore the website's purpose is to give the "criminals" a face, to show everyone that those "criminals" are in fact ordinary citizens whom are becoming victims of the corporate need for profit maximizing and restricting freedom of information and culture.

It is in fact class antagonism, creating solidarity in between ordinary "pirates", ordinary working citizens - against the corporate industry. Making a mockery of their propaganda which treats us as criminals.

The Antagonist said...

Hi Thomas, thanks for taking the time to explain the motivation behind the site.

I recognised the title as a parody but at the time of writing hadn't read the You Cannot Outlaw the Future press release, therefore I wasn't aware of the association with, and the support of, Norway's Red Party.

No excuse, but there it is.

In the UK there's little of the left left, much less any of them tackling issues like P2P from anything other than an establishment perspective.

It's refreshing to see that this isn't the case everywhere!

The Antagonist said...

Who is the Anonymous Israeli businessman / advertising exec referred to in the Pirate Bay trial?

Edo said...

@ Thomas - Isn't it obvious that people using P2P filesharing technology are a reflection of internet users worldwide? Why the need for people to upload a picture of themselves? This sounds to me like a massive 'guilty as charged your honour!" plea to me.
Even with the best intentions, IMHO nothing good can come from this, just more database compilation, and a furtherance of the police state.
Some people/websites/ideas can act as willing dupes for the sake of furthering a globalist agenda.

Edo said...

@ Ant - The Israeli is a Daniel Oded.

Some interesting material about Mr. Oded here.


The Antagonist said...

Thanks for that, Edo.

Some TorrentFreak updates from the five days of the trial so far. Day 5 contains further info on Daniel O'Ded:

The Pirate Bay Trial - First Day in Court

Day 3 - The Pirate Bay’s ‘King Kong’ Defense

Day 4 - Pirate Bay Defense Calls Foul Over Evidence

Pirate Bay Trial Day 5: Peter’s “Political Trial”

The Antagonist said...

Related Torrents hosted by, er, the Pirate Bay in connection with the #spectrial.

More links:

Hunting aXXo - pirate king of the Torrents, enemy of Hollywood - Technology - NZ Herald News

Pirate Bay Trial Turns into a Circus - PC World

No such thing as a free lunch - Pirate Bay Crew Chums Up to Foes Over Lunch | Threat Level from Wired.com

Pirate Bay a new distribution platform for newspapers? Probably not | Media | guardian.co.uk

P2P | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Anonymous said...

Where to begin, so you paint a picture for sale I should be able to come into your home and take it for free. Anything you write is mine for the taking. There should be no right to profit from your work. you guys are so far out there you can't even see the shore. People have a right to profit from thier work. This is the product of their efforts and is their property. You have no right to take it without permission. You are thiefs and nothing more. Wrap yourselves in some bs moral justification and your still thiefs.

The Antagonist said...

Silent Majority,

How sweet of you to incorrectly judge the vocal majority with your simpleton, establishment tirade.

This bit was correct though:

"Anything you write is mine for the taking."

But we don't give away badges here for stating the obvious.

Beyond that, all property is theft.

Perhaps your comprehension of the other issues might become better if you avail yourself of some free resources, namely the free dictionary at dictionary.com.

As I feel for your plight, I shall leave you with this thought.

For each and every day of your 12 years as a police officer, you have done a day's work and received a day's pay, not 90 years pay most of which is filtered out by agents, publicists, and other international organisations who rested on their laurels too long.

The Antagonist said...

@Thomas - thanks for the link.

steve said...

Good to see you back fella

The Antagonist said...

Thanks Steve, glad to see you're still coming back to check!

There's a few bits and pieces in the pipeline but until then, if you're interested, there are slightly more regular outpourings by yours truly (of 140 characters or less) via this new fangled Twitter thing.

The Antagonist said...

Tweet: IFPI gangsters force pirates to display more criminal behaviour, and even more sharing - of flowers! http://bit.ly/ytopI #spectrial

Anonymous said...

An interesting article on copyright, copyleft and Creative Commons in Linux Format. The non-Western world has a very different outlook on these things.


The Antagonist said...

Thanks for the pointer to the article, cmain.

As usual, it's the shared and sharing interests of common humanity versus private, corporate ownership of everything, the latter of which is collapsing under its own weight -- and not a moment too soon.