Research Update: The Origins of the anti-copyright movement in Sweden

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One way to understand the rise of the contemporary anti-copyright movement in Sweden is to understand one website, which, in conjunction with the Piratpartiet (Swedish Pirate Party) have been vocal and conspicuous in the sorts of policies they would like to see implemented. Analyzing websites is a particularly useful method of inquiry, for two main reasons. First, the movement finds the internet as its natural environment. Second, the internet-driven nature of the movement lends itself particularly well to this, somewhat unconventional procedure.

The Pirate Bay: "The world's most resilient BitTorrent site"

The Pirate Bay was founded by the Swedish anti-copyright organization Piratebyran in late 2003, but by October 2004 it had splintered off from that group and was independently run. In 2006, the organization once again switched ownership, and is now run as a non-profit organization. As of October 2011, according to Alexa Traffic Ranks the Pirate Bay is the 84th most visited site in the world.

The Pirate Bay hosts magnet links and .torrent files, which allow users the opportunity to share all sorts of electronic media (video games, movies, music) with the broader Pirate Bay community through peer-to-peer file sharing software- think BitTorrent or uTorrent, for example.

Those running The Pirate Bay hold that they cannot be held legally responsible for copyrighted material that is being distributed among the community, as the website only holds torrent files and not copyrighted material. Further, The Pirate Bay has somewhat of a humorous approach to dealing with protestors: "Any complaints from copyright and/or lobby organizations will be ridiculed and published at the site."

Though political debates on "internet politics" largely fall within the realm of responsibility of the Piratepartiet, The Pirate bay plays an active role in the lively legal and political debate on copyright, filesharing, and other internet-related issues- although, in its own unique way.

The Pirate Bay allows its users to participate in the debate by hosting a forum, where users can participate in discussions related to legal and political implications of file sharing. There is also a News & Announcements section, where users can be updated with recent developments.

Additionally, the Pirate Bay lists various complaints and legal threats they have received- as well as their often ironic and mocking replies, underneath a section on their website titled "Legal Threats." Some companies which have complained are Microsoft, Dreamworks, EA Games, Sega, and Apple.

In sum, the Swedish file sharing website, The Pirate Bay, provides a unique and in-depth glance into the world of contemporary file sharing, as well as some of the legal and political concerns surrounding the debate. I plan on continuing to examine the website and mining it for useful information.