The Pirate Bay goes offline after Swedish police raid data-centre

[HEXUS]

But the website appeared back online late Tuesday, hosted in Costa Rica.

Read more.

[lumireleon]

That is nice....ENDING PIRACY MUST CONTINUE!! if you want software buy it

[Agent]

It's almost as if censorship doesn't work...

[LSG501]

You know I'm kind of divided on this one....

The pirate bay is literally nothing more than a search engine, just like google so taking it down isn't really going to do much... it's not like there isn't other options out there or anything Hell a google search could probably find 90% of the things on pirate bay...

As a designer I understand the ideals behind copyright/patents/trademarks etc but in some cases they can be abused (apple rounded rectangle shape for example).

But the biggest problem I have is that the companies that are complaining the most aren't actually coming up with a better solution to get things, they've clearly got money to burn on a losing batter going after search engines so spend it on making a better option instead. I read that if I wanted to get 'everything' via online streaming (assuming you can get a decent download speed) in the UK I would need 27, yes 27 different services and that's assuming I'm not restricted by geographical location (anime is a perfect example for this). Assuming average price of £6 per service per month that's £162 A MONTH....

Then there's another issue, tv/movies companies are still stuck under this stupid staggered release junk that they've done for decades where country a gets it one month, then a few weeks/months later country b might get it, this doesn't work anymore. People now use things like forums or twitter to discuss the latest episode of program x and as shown on this forum not all of us are in the same country so those with the later release don't want spoilers end up trying to get the program quicker... just look how 'popular' game of thrones was, primarily because people didn't want to wait and get spoilers.

And don't even go there with things like drm, needing a separate device to play each service etc

EDIT: Note, I don't condone downloading files illegally but I understand that in some cases there is no other option, anime being a prime example of this because it often has geographic restrictions, even on places like crunchyroll

[Mikkeli222]

You can't stop us.

[hoggie]

Yip, films,TV shows, music, games all these things get released @ different times in various places around the globe, people dont want to wait or in some cases they want to listen/play/try something before they part with ££$$, all 'pirate' downloads are not lost sales!

[mud_z]

You can't stop us.

Ahaha.. This line Made my day..

[AlexKitch]

I think part of the problem is that many publishers and platforms make content unnecessarily difficult to consume legally. It becomes easier to actually pirate it.

Windows is one example. Every time I activate Windows 8 on my machine, I have to spend 10 minutes on a phone typing in a ridiculously long number into an automated system. Why not just tie my license to my phone number and text me a verification code? Although I legally own Windows 8, it's often more convenient to just crack it.

I have some digitally-purchased software on my PC where my download link has actually been cancelled after 6 months. To re-activate my download link in the event that I lose the installer, I apparently need to cough up more money. I've noticed a trend of this kind of thing, actually. It's ridiculous.

[LSG501]

I think part of the problem is that many publishers and platforms make content unnecessarily difficult to consume legally. It becomes easier to actually pirate it.

Windows is one example. Every time I activate Windows 8 on my machine, I have to spend 10 minutes on a phone typing in a ridiculously long number into an automated system. Why not just tie my license to my phone number and text me a verification code? Although I legally own Windows 8, it's often more convenient to just crack it.

I have some digitally-purchased software on my PC where my download link has actually been cancelled after 6 months. To re-activate my download link in the event that I lose the installer, I apparently need to cough up more money. I've noticed a trend of this kind of thing, actually. It's ridiculous.

you forgot my personal favourite annoyance when I purchase stuff.... the 'pirates are criminals' advert they stick on the disc at the start that you can't skip.... um why do I need to watch this, I've just bought the damn thing, it's not there for those who haven't bought it lol

[OilSheikh]

Places like TPB gives us consumers the opportunity to try something out before we buy.
Studios used to release demos and trials, now they don't even bother! Take Assassins Creed Unity for example. If we had seen how shambolic it was in a demo, no one would have bought it.
It's time that the big boys realize that you can no longer mess about with us.

[aniilv]

Piratebay is like a grandpa anyway, there are much better alternatives that are open to everyone. It's a bit funny to think someone who ordered this raid might be thinking it will in any way stop piracy.

[aidanjt]

And governments still haven't copped on to the futility of playing whack-a-mole with the internet.

[Darth Sidious]

freeeeeeeeedom

[kopite]

A lot of people use the argument that dowloading content illegally is more convenient especially on things like tv shows because espcially in the uk shows might be delayed compared to the us or not even available.

streaming services are starting to bridge this problem but the issue now is that with so many video ones (netflix/amazon/etc) They are now starting to get their exclusive shows only available on their services so if you want to be able to watch them all youd have to pay for each service which is nuts. Similar on music services with certain artists being only available on one platform.

[shaithis]

Delays between US and UK (which is getting better for SOME shows) means people never want to wait due to spoilers. Also, netflix/lovefilm IQ is sub-par compared to what I can download. I ain't paying for a premium service when I can download higher quality rips for free, nor am I going to pay for Sky (2 years ago my bill hit £88 for the month, I told them where to go). Add in software like Sickbeard and SABnzbd and downloading becomes ultra-convenient.

Give me full bitrate video on the same day as the US for a reasonable price and I'll stop downloading. Until then, treat me like a cash-cow (Sky) or a second-rate customer (Lovefilm/Netflix) and I'll treat you like a waste of my money.

[davidcrofter]

Delays between US and UK (which is getting better for SOME shows) means people never want to wait due to spoilers. Also, netflix/lovefilm IQ is sub-par compared to what I can download. I ain't paying for a premium service when I can download higher quality rips for free, nor am I going to pay for Sky (2 years ago my bill hit £88 for the month, I told them where to go). Add in software like Sickbeard and SABnzbd and downloading becomes ultra-convenient.

Give me full bitrate video on the same day as the US for a reasonable price and I'll stop downloading. Until then, treat me like a cash-cow (Sky) or a second-rate customer (Lovefilm/Netflix) and I'll treat you like a waste of my money.

Haven't netflix and amazon started rolling out 4K content?? Pretty sure their HD content is not that far off Blu-Ray quality as well ... of course if you don't have fibre then that is incidental.

I think Sky's business model will have to change at some point as it seems crazy in this day that you can't just pay for what you actually watch instead of everything being bundled together. What with the streaming services becoming all conquering and the ever growing amount of illegal live sports streams they have an awful lot to lose in the coming years unless they change ... thing is they have paid so much over the odds for content they can't.