Swedish Pirate Party Declares War On Copyright Trolls
from the to-arms dept
We’ve discussed the various “Pirate Parties” that have sprung up around European political systems over the past few years. While the name taken by these political movements is probably unfortunate, having political interests centered around the many, many problems within copyright law and enforcement is undoubtedly good and necessary. Sadly, those parties have too often been ineffectual, often ties co-opted by standing political powers in a way that dilutes their purposes. In Sweden in particular, the past few years have seen all the worst kinds of copyright problems sprout up as though somebody had sprinkled fertilizer over the land. As this was happening, Sweden’s Pirate Party had remained comparatively silent, particularly on the matter of what can only be described as a copyright troll invasion.
Well, that is set to change, with the Swedish Pirate Party finally waking up to the threat of trollish extortion letters being sent to thousands of Swedish citizens and announcing plans to fight back.
The Pirate Party describes the copyright trolling efforts as extortion. It stresses that the evidence copyright holders rely on is far from solid, something they believe the courts should take into account.
“It is a scandal that the Swedish judicial system facilitates the mafia-like methods of copyright trolls,” says Pirate Party leader Magnus Andersson. “To condone the sending of extortion letters without reasonable ground for suspicion of criminal activity is not acceptable. We demand the Justice Minister to do something about the situation with these copyright trolls!”
Petitioning the Swedish government is not the only avenue available to fight back, however. In addition to calls for reinterpretations of Swedish law that would disallow the more controversial tactics used by copyright trolls, the Pirate Party could also simply petition the EU to have that same Swedish law repealed entirely. In addition to all of that, the Pirate Party is also lending support to Banhoff, the Swedish ISP that has made a name for itself in fighting the efforts of copyright trolls viciously, even going so far as to send trolling operations its own form of settlement letters.
Regardless, it’s good to see Sweden’s Pirate Party finally waking up and fulfilling its stated mission of advocating for the public on copyright matters.
Filed Under: copyright, copyright trolls, pirate party, sweden
Comments on “Swedish Pirate Party Declares War On Copyright Trolls”
No, "worst kinds of copyright problems" are to prevent piracy.
The problem YOU are describing here is the opposite: how to avoid being fined for infringement.
In any event, doing a little more whining is not exactly "declares war", it’s just whining.
I notice again that you’ve gone from "supports copyright" to advocating any and every measure that promotes piracy.
For those new here (IF any), once upon a time Masnick was said to "support copyright". I never saw any evidence of it, in fact Masnick seems to have spent 20 years trying to figure how to legalize piracy; that’s just an "informed attribute". — And that informing was done by ACs or "accounts".
Re: No, "worst kinds of copyright problems" are to prevent piracy.
Clarification, to forestall claim that I didn’t notice the re-writer’s name: next-to-last para refers to Timothy Geigner, aka "Dark Helmet", then last para refers to Masnick, aka "Pirate Mike". — That last nickname is not even an exaggeration. Go here:
https://pirates-forum.org/Forum-Economics-Law-Politics
And the "Mike" posting several times IS indeed The Masnick.
Re: Re: Re:
out_of_the_blue sucking off the likes of John Steele? I’m shocked, I tell you. Shocked!
Re: Re: Re: Re:
That really is shocking. You usually see Mr. Debbie Gibson Reference with a mouth full of excrement.
Re: Re: Failed musicians cry the hardest. Ain’t that right blue?
Re: Re: No, "worst kinds of copyright problems" are to prevent piracy.
Uh, I’ve never heard of that “pirates-forum” site before. It looks like someone is copying over some of our posts (which they’re perfectly allowed to do). But that’s not me on that site.
Re: Re: Re: No, "worst kinds of copyright problems" are to prevent piracy.
At a guess, that “someone” is our local obsessive, so desperate to prove something that he’s taken to fabricating his own “evidence” to link to.
The real question to pose to him might be – why is the anonymous moron frequenting those sites to discover these things in the first place?
Re: Re: Re:2 No, "worst kinds of copyright problems" are to prevent piracy.
At a guess, that "someone" is our local obsessive, so desperate to prove something that he’s taken to fabricating his own "evidence" to link to.
Like the Bennetts?
Trolls have to troll
I’m so glad that this site supports the ability to flag trolls. You can tell when someone is jealous of this site. They rush through reading the article as quickly as their feeble mind allows. They then take an opposite stance and begin their response. The responses are never relevant and always show a warped mind at work. Long live Techdirt. May their friends support them and their enemies provide us with further evidence of their mental problems with every word they type.
When I disagree with a site, I stop visiting that site.
Re: Trolls have to troll
Amen.
Re: Trolls have to troll
Put simply, out_of_the_blue is infuriated that copyright enforcers have been suffering defeats in court after their shady practices were brought to light. He gritted his teeth in righteous anger when Prenda Law’s misdemeanors were widely reported and all but screamed at us to stop.
Now that other countries are starting to notice and do the same, what you’re seeing now is the copyright fanatics losing their collective shit.
Re: Re: Trolls have to troll
Grifters always hate it when the operation goes bust.
And like any other criminal, they accuse the "snitch" of being the one in the wrong.
Re: Trolls have to troll
“They rush through reading the article as quickly as their feeble mind allows.”
I think you gave them too much credit, I doubt they read the article.
Sweden should declare war on U.S. copyright bullying.