Inskrivet av Nyhetsgruppen 6 July, 2007
This Friday, it became known that the Swedish Police Board will shut down The Pirate Bay, the popular file sharing site, by classifying it as a child pornography site in the blocklist that Swedish Internet Providers respect. Some time next week, an update to the blacklist will include The Pirate Bay.
As a CHILD PORN SITE ? Jesus Christ, kids Downloading MP3s from Pir8 bay everywhere are going -- WTF? I thought that shit happened all of the time on IRC guys. Get a clue
This means that anyone from Sweden visiting the well-known file sharing site The Pirate Bay will be greeted by a block page from the Police Board saying they're not allowed to visit child pornography sites.
"This is a devastatingly ignorant abuse of the trust relationship between the Internet world and the Police that was created in order to stop child pornography", says Rick Falkvinge, leader of the Pirate Party. "Once given the means to shut down unwanted sites, the Police uses the filter to shut down the Pirate Bay after the failed attempt last year. And just like last year, through abuse of procedure."
It's not like Pirate Bay won't go away. They've thought about this before, remember? They'll be back. It's the net, and these guys are SMARTER than that and they'll find a way around the filter. It'll be back up for sure. Wanna make a bet?
"This is not worthy a democracy governed by law. The people who have made this decision cannot remain in our judicial system, Falkvinge continues. It also undermines the legitimacy of the child porn filter. This filter is not intended for subjective use by goverment officials to close down undesirable sites which do not break any laws."
The Pirate Bay, which last year was raided in an attempt to find copyrighted material on the servers, is a controversial site and not highly regarded in the ranks of the establishment. When this happens, it is easy to come to the conclusion that The Pirate Bay is such an embarrassment to the Swedish Government, that any means available is used to stop it.
"Today, online censorship has shown its colors. This abuse of power places Sweden in the same league as China and Saudi Arabia. Now, we must kick out any and all parts of government that don't understand the concept of free communication, and how it is fundamental to a functioning democracy", Falkvinge finishes.
