And this is why...

And this is why I would never dream of using a new Pirate Bay with a business model that involves giving as much as a penny to the entertainment mafia industry, and why, for that matter, I haven't bought one single cd or dvd over the last couple of years:

– Skadeståndskravet är personligt och vi kommer att kräva pengarna av de här personerna under hela deras livstid, säger Ifpi:s vd Lars Gustafsson till SvD.se.

Stop feeding the monster.

Pirate Bay goes Napster

Unless this is some well choreographed stunt, it appears the Swedish company Global Gaming Factory X will be buying The Pirate Bay, and turning it into a 100% legit paysite (probably meaning DRM-infested MP3's, poor video streaming and everything else you expect from a website under the control of the entertainment industry). The purchasing price is apparently 60 million SEK, which is kind of strange considering GGF's financial situation...

I think it's fair to guess that the entertainment mafia industry has finally realized that all the corrupt judges, policemen and politicians in the world can't shut down the website, and decided that "if you can't beat them, buy them", and that they're the ones providing the money to finalize the deal.

So, what will happen to The Pirate Bay, which is today one of the hundred most visited websites in the world? Well, do you remember Napster? No? Exactly.

Democracy the EU way

Found this little clip on Youtube that shows how the EU democracy works: "The voters are stupid and don't know their own good. That's why we'll completly disregard them and do whatever we want anyway. There's too much political prestige in this to respect the democracy". Way to tell them, Wallström!

The red-green coalition kick off their election campaign

The three parties forming the red-green coalition, Socialdemokraterna, Vänsterpartiet and Miljöpartiet, kicked off their election campaign today by announcing that if they win the election next year, they promose to - in good socialist manner - re-introduce the ridiculously unfair housing tax, and thus seeing to it that only the filthy rich will be allowed to inhabit a house with a taxable value of over 4,5 million SEK (which means quite a lot of the properties in the Stockholm region...). Good on them. I mean, who cares about the old grandmother who's lived in that big old house in Lidingö her whole life? About bloody time she sold it and moved to a nursing home, isn't it?

Funnily enough the tax on apartments is suggested to be lowered. So the big picture here is that those who don't make a fortune shouldn't live in houses, they should sell it and settle for an apartment. Preferably a small, grey, boring one in a depressing suburb. Nice, socialist way of thinking.

Brilliant work, guys. You're sure to gain votes on this one!

Me - a pirate

That' it. I'm officially a pirate. Just signed up as a volunteer. I can't take the corrupted justice system anymore, and I can't take the politicians bending over and spreading their butt cheeks wide open for the entertainment industry to screw them, and more importantly us - the people - senseless. It's disgusting, and it has got to stop.

Goddammit.

Censorship here, censorship there

The Chinese government shut down the search engine Google.com yesterday, as it makes it possible for the Chinese population to do searches on topics the Chinese government dislike. Dutch copyright organization Brein wants to shut down the search engine The Pirate Bay, as it makes it possible for the Dutch population to do searches on topics the Dutch copyright organization, and presumably also the Dutch government dislike.

Since when is China a role model for Europe when it comes to censorship?

Another miscarriage of justice

The Swedish ISP Ephone has in an utterly bizarre verdict by Solna tingsrätt ("Framgång för bokförlagen i det första Ipred-ärendet", skriver tingsrätten i ett pressmeddelande) been forced to provide personal information about the owner of an internet subscription to five publishing firms. Why? Because someone using this internet subscription had set up an FTP-server, a private server requiring authentication to access its content. Supposedly this FTP-server contained copyrighted material, which Antipiratbyrån gained access to, presumably either through hacking or just by plain and simple threats. Remember that the next time you upload that MP3-file, image or XVID-movie to your personal online storage facility - the mafia entertainment industry might hack into your account and then accuse you of making the material accessible to the public.

Anyway, this personal information will of course help the publishing firms hunt down and take legal action against the owner of the internet subscription (not the actual perpetrator, mind you!), and most likely be responsible for yet another miscarriage of justice. We all know the court will find him or her guilty without a shred of credible evidence, a screen shot and an assumption that the internet subscription owner and the perpetrator are the same, is enough these days. Recent verdicts in the previously civilized part of the world has shown that one is in fact no longer presumed innocent until proven guilty when it comes to acts of copyright infringement. Instead, we've taken a giant leap backwards in time and embraced the principle of "guilty until proven innocent". Makes it all a lot easier for the court, doesn't it? "So, you can't prove that you're innocent? Can't prove that somebody else was using your WLAN that night? Too bad, that'll be 15 millions in fines. Next!"

Also, I can't help but wonder how the judge in Solna tingsrätt is affiliated with the mafia entertainment industry in this particular case. Or perhaps he too was promised a well paid pro forma job in the industry if he helped them along by making a decision that went against all common sense?

If anyone should be on trial here it should be Antipiratbyrån and Henrik "Pirate" Pontén, as they have illegally gained entrance to a private FTP server. Somehow these computer crimes, regularly performed by Antipiratbyrån to secure "evidence", are never an issue.

Clearly, those with enough money and lobbying power own the justice system.

Spotify for iPhone

If you're one of those people choosing overpriced hype instead of features, chances are you might be the owner of an Apple iPhone. If you also happen to be a Spotify-user (if not, check this out), you'll finally be able to use it with your iPhone - not thanks to Apple or Spotify, mind you!

A brilliant mind has created an open source Spotify-client for the iPhone called Spot. Of course you will need to jailbreak your phone in order to use the application, but then again this is something you have to do anyway if you want to unlock your ridiculously expensive phone's full potential.

Check out the demo below, and download the software here.



Or you could just wait for the official version of the mobile Spotify application, which is gonna cost you though.

Iran is a role model for Europe

Nokia Siemens Network have built Internet infrastructure for the Iranian government, and as a part of this project they have implemented sophisticated ways to monitor the network, allowing the government to save and index information on individual users and their communication.

I'm guessing the Swedish government, and all of EU for that matter, is all ears. Perhaps they could arrange a seminar and exchange information and experiences on Internet censorship and surveillance, and get some good ideas on how to further tighten the screw on innocent citizens? Hey, while you're at it, invite China as well, they might have some valuable input. After all these two beacons of democracy seem to be the ideal for European politicians these days.

Office Management

Office Management is a company that really gets on my nerves. I have to admit I have no clue what kind of services they deliver, or if they do a good job, and I have no intentions to find out either.

What bugs me is the fact that they equip their employees with company cars that are way beyond their miserable driving capabilities. You know, those silver grey BMW's, Audi's and VW Touareg's with the red and black Office Management logo, that swivel around on the roads, erratically changing lanes without giving a sign, driving in the bus lanes, speeding and doing all kinds of stupid stunts.

Seriously, this is not good publicity for your employer. When I see the complete lack of judgement you guys demonstrate out on the roads, I wouldn't dream of hiring any of you baboons to do whatever it is you do.

And to the management: Stop handing out these kinds of cars to this kind of people. They're obviously not mature enough for them. Give them a Toyota Prius or something instead, with limited capabilities to cause harm and destruction. Or at least remove the Office Management logos from your cars so you're not associated with the kind of behaviour your employees show in traffic. Thank you very much.

Exit Mr. Schulman

The website of the not-so-successful political analyst and not-so-funny comedian (or whatever he is), Alex Schulman, will be shut down due to lack of funding. Big surprise.

Must be caused by those damn pirates who just want to get everything for free. It seems they are the cause of most economical problems these day.

Copyright is worth standing up for

According to the British Minister of Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, Mr. Stephen Carter, the copyright legislation is worth standing up for.

Human rights and civil liberties, however, are not, as they stand in the way of increased surveillance, censorship and passing new and obtrusive laws in the name of maximizing the entertainment industry's profit.

Money first, human rights second. Glad that's settled.

In case you're wondering, this buffoon has a history working in the entertainment industry. Big surprise.

Sweet deal...ummm, or not.

Virgin, or the ISP-part of the company, has revealed a sweet deal for it's broadband customers. In fact, you could say it's "an offer you can not refuse":

1. Download or stream MP3-files legally, for a monthly fee, and...

2. Get you internet activity closely monitored by Virgin, who reserves the right to terminate your internet connection if they suspect you're engaged in file sharing activities.

No, thanks, Virgin.

The fine art of prioritizing

DI.se and Aftonbladet.se, SVD.se and DN.se all report that the Swedish police will hire 15 policemen who will work exclusively on trying to track down those illegal and dangerous...wait for it...copyright infringers. Those vicious, lethal bastards who threaten to tear apart our society by performing acts of, yes you got it, copyright infringement...

Upon reading the articles it becomes clear that these 15 policemen will not be new hires, but will instead be transferred from other police departments where they have hopefully been busy doing important work up until now. Well, not anymore, they won't! Instead they'll be busy upholding laws created by the entertainment industry to protect their obsolete business models instead of developing like the rest of the world, and to help them maximize their profit. What a brilliant way to spend my tax money. I mean, who really cares about rapes, murders, kidnappings, arson, robberies and random acts of violence when you've got the massive threat of kids (and grownups for that matter) who simply enjoy sharing art, entertainment and information with each other?

Not the brightest political analyst out there

I really don't know, Alex Schulman might be good at some things, but he should definitely not quit his day job to become a political analyst. His analysis of The Pirate Party's EU election result is nothing short of a disaster.

Perhaps it's all just meant to be a joke, some sort of irony or something, in which case he doesn't succeed very well, I think. Most likely though, he just doesn't have a single clue what he's talking about.

Fortunately there are real journalists and writers out there who do a minimum of research before they start typing. And there are bloggers out there who can put Schulmans pointless rant into perspective.

FRA in Norway

The Swedish FRA-law seems to have been implemented by mistake in Norway as well... The Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg has had his e-mail and internet activity monitored by the Norwegian defence.

Get used to it, Stoltenberg. I'm sure you'll soon implement a similar law in Norway, and why should you be treated any different than the rest of the population?

As the fans of increased surveillance always say: If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about. Right?

This is why

If anyone is still wondering why Piratpartiet, The Pirate Party, got 7,1 percent of the votes in this weekend's EU elections, and why they are so desperately needed in the EU, here's your answer. And here.

The well established political parties are simply too stupid, ignorant and/or well paid by the entertainment industry (who spend 900 million SEK a year "lobbying" and suing dead grandmothers and bullying minors instead of developing new and sustainable business models) to care about the fact that the bills they're passing are colliding heads on with basic rights that we're used to in this part of the world, at least after the fall of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, and that many, thank God, refuse to give up without a fight.

My guess is that England and France will have their own pirate parties, or civil liberty parties if you will, taking several seats in the EU parliament after the next election, and working for the basic rights and liberties that the old parties are dismantling in an absolutely unbelievable attempt to increase the profit of an industry unwilling to adapt to the modern times.

The price of gas

Could someone please explain this to me:

Last year the oil cost 145 USD per barrel, and 1 USD was worth 6 SEK. One barrel cost 870 SEK.

Today the oil costs 70 USD per barrel, and 1 USD is worth 7,70 SEK. One barrel costs 539 SEK.

So why the hell is the gas price virtually the same (13 SEK/liter and increasing week by week versus an "all time high" of 14 SEK last year)? Yes, I know 0,4 SEK is contributed to an increase of the gas tax, but there's still a pretty big gap here, and God only knows what the gas price will look like once the oil reaches 145 again...

More ugly mugs

Yes, I am a union member. God knows why, so far it has only involved a monthly expense, the frustration of seeing my money being used in election campaigns for the Socialist Democratic party, and a poor excuse of a magazine called "Kollega", usually full of frustrated socialists crying out for higher salary, more vacation, shorter workdays and so on.

And speaking of "Kollega", I just got the latest edition in my mail today, and imagine my surprise when I saw the ugly mug of ultra-corporatist, Henrik "I sold my soul to the Devil" Pontén, with the heading "A hated man". Great, I though. Perhaps "Kollega" will finally include a piece of critical journalism, nailing this unethical, human piece of garbage to the wall and demanding a few answers. In short, give the average reader the answer to why he's such a hated man. But no, not one single critical question.

What a complete waste of perfectly good forest.

While at the subject, have a look at Mr. Pontén playing cop - which is of course completly illegal, as is most of Antipiratbyråns "work" (I sincerely hope this is a fabricated clip, but something tells me it isn't...this guy actually believes he's a cop):

Look to China!

Swedish politicians should see great potential in this new software developed in China with the aim to block websites containing unwanted material. Apparently China's aim is that this piece of censorship software must be installed in every new computer sold from the first of July.

This could be a logical next step after IPRED2 has been implemented. If anything, it could help further boosting The Pirate Party's ratings just in time for the next EU elections.

Come on, Reinfeld & co., look to China once again!

Congratulation, pirates

Piratpartiet, the Pirate Party, was last nights sensation with 7,1 percent of the votes in the EU parliament election, giving them one seat in the parliament and giving the more established parties a well deserved slap in the face for not doing their homework (or, rather, doing the entertainment industry's homework - to the letter!) when it comes to issues on privacy, integrity, human- and citizens rights. To be honest I'm surprised that only 7,1 percent of the 43% that actually voted found that these basic rights are more important than employment and welfare issues, subsidies for EU-farmers, the size of a cucumber or anything else for that matter. After all, who bloody cares if they've got a job or not as long as basic human and citizens rights have been taken away from them, one by one?

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Shockingly, the Pirate Party is the only political party in Sweden who want to uphold this article of the UN human rights declaration.

Unfortunately, CNN have - as usual - left a lot to desire in their research, and claim that the Pirate Party are all about legalizing sharing of copyrighted material. I can imagine the election result is quite a surprise for CNN if they really believe a political party could get 7,1 percent of the votes based only on the fact that people want to continue sharing music...

Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt also seems to have problems grasping what this is all about, but agrees to listen to some of his (many) critics:

-Jag ska lyssna på vad Niklas Wykman säger för vi vill vara ett parti som tar frågan om integritet på allvar.

Riiiight, something about not criminalizing an entire generation now, wasn't it? That turned out pretty well. But, of course, you won't hear any real self-criticism from the prime minister:

-Vi ska komma ihåg att Moderaterna är ett regeringsparti. Vi kommer inte att gå till väljarna med enfrågeresonemang och populistiska utgångspunkter, säger Reinfeldt.

You know you're a hardcore politician, and completely out of touch with reality, when you turn questions of important human and citizens rights into "silly, populist reasoning that has no place in a government party". What a pompous ass.

Garbage

I'm sick and tired of various political parties polluting my community with posters showing the ugly mugs of their candidates to the EU parliament, surprisingly enough posing with other party members who are not at all running for the EU parliament, as the example picture of two Socialist Democrats show (Mona Sahlin, for instance, is not a candidate to the EU parliament, and God only knows what she's doing in the picture).

Their ugly mugs are accompanied by stupid slogans that mean absolutely nothing: "Injustice is not the way" (obviously not, but I don't see your party trying to do anything about that), "We prioritize work" (well, yeah, there are very few political parties out there who prioritize unemployment benefits...) and so on. They obviously think the voters are complete morons.

I've got the following question: Why do the political parties feel the need to invade our community with garbage like this? Will they come and remove this garbage after the election? And doesn't Mona Sahlin look remarkably like Beavis?

A joke, I presume?

"You've got to be kidding me". That was my first thought when reading Henrik Pontén's letter in today's Svenska Dagbladet. Assuming Mr. Pontén is in fact the athor (which I must admit I'm having problems believing) he seriously wants the public to believe that IPRED, IPRED2, FRA, Hadopi, Acta and Datalagringsdirektivet, to mention a few, are just products of our imagination, they're not real, they're not threatening the freedom of speech or personal integrity. And none of them are the result of lobbying efforts from the entertainment industry. Oh, and the industry paying off judges and policemen to win highly questionable lawsuits, that's just part of the whole conspiracy theory against these peaceful "friends of the Internet" (yes, he actually uses this term!).

What kind of drugs is Henrik Pontén on? Or perhaps he's just trying to be funny, or something?

Pontén ends his ridiculous rant with a call for The Pirate Party to explicitly denounce the threats made to him over the last couple of years. As if this political party has somehow been involved in these threats.

If anything Don Pontén and his little Camorra-army should apologize profoundly to all the people whose lives they have ruined or seriously damaged with outrageous threats, lawsuits and compensation claims. Innocent or not, it doesn't matter, pay up or face the consequences.

SJ

I had the pleasure of traveling by train today, just trying to do my part to save the environment. I had paid extra for re bookable tickets, in case I finished work early. I figured it would work more or less like it does when traveling by airplane: You can change flights within your class, no extra charge. But no... This is the deal over at SJ: Sure, you can change your ticket and go on an earlier train, but you have to pay the difference between the ticket you've bought and the new ticket, which is of course always more expensive since the Swedish railroad monopoly, Svenska Järnvägar, increase the ticket price the closer you get to the train departure.

This is what you get with a complete lack of competition. I guess SAS would do the same if they had a monopoly on domestic flights in Sweden.

No democracy for you

I've written about the fact that I'm not allowed to vote in the EU elections in a blog post called "No democracy for me". Turns out the question of democracy is just as relevant for EU citizens who are entitled to vote, following what appears to be a large scale election fraud in Sweden, where election tickets for The Pirate Party have been hidden or thrown away by the officials at the polling stations!

How this grave attack on the democracy has not caused more attention in the media is beyond me. In fact none of the larger newspapers in Sweden seem to have written about it. I can only imagine the commotion if the Socialist Democratic Party was the victim, and not The Pirate Party.

"I refuse to take part in the future"

"I'm a guy who doesn't see anything good having come from the Internet...(The Internet) created this notion that anyone can have whatever they want at any given time. It's as if the stores on Madison Avenue were open 24 hours a day. They feel entitled. They say, 'Give it to me now,' and if you don't give it to them for free, they'll steal it."

Sounds like a joke, right? Well, it isn't. These are the infamous words of the Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO, Michael Lynton. And the best, or worst, part is they were actually spoken in May 2009!

This retarded bastard could just as well be saying that "I don't see anything good coming in the future. Why improve anything that is sort of working today, and why should we be bothered looking for new business models anyway?". I guess it explains why Sony and the rest of the entertainment industry are refusing to embrace even today's technologies, not to mention the future, and are digging their graves by continuing to not give their customers what they really want, and suing them instead. From the Betamax to VHS to DVD to Blueray, it's still the same, hopelessly outdated way of distributing movies.

Makes me wonder who hires such incredible morons for these positions.