The New Pirate Bay

**Crazed Rabbit** · 07-01-2009, 19:19

When the founders of file-sharing Web site Pirate Bay were given a year's prison sentence in April for allowing users to illegally swap copyrighted content, many thought the swashbuckling Swedish-based Internet company was finished. Not so. On June 30, Sweden's Global Gaming Factory (GGF.ST), which runs cyber cafés and sells gaming software, announced it would buy Pirate Bay for $7.9 million—a hefty sum for a Web site that became the poster child for unlawful downloads on the Internet.

What does Hans Pandeya, Global Gaming Factory's chief executive, plan to do with his new acquisition? The answer is complicated and controversial. In an interview with BusinessWeek, Pandeya said he first intends to go legal by paying royalties for online content to media companies such as Warner Brothers (TWX), Sony BMG (SNE), and Vivendi Universal (VIV.PA). He didn't say how much he'll pay—and concedes he hasn't yet entered into discussions with any music and movie companies. Analysts estimate that up to 90% of downloads from Pirate Bay's 20 million users currently are illegal.

But Pandeya's ambitions for Pirate Bay 2.0 are much greater. He has hatched a groundbreaking scheme to bundle together the collective Internet bandwidth of Pirate Bay's users into a giant new peer-to-peer network. Then, he'll resell that broadband capacity on an ad hoc basis to Internet service providers—companies like Comcast (CMCSA) or AT&T (T)—that are in need of a quick injection of cheap bandwidth. Pirate Bay aims to split the revenue with its users, who will be financially compensated for sharing their connections. Pandeya declined to say how much users could pocket.

I have to agree with the people quoted in the article who think this business plan will be hard to pull off. People only go there to DL copyrighted media. I suppose it'll be interesting.

CR

**Sheogorath** · 07-01-2009, 19:24

Man, now I want to start a bitorrent site. Then I can sell it for millions and retire in my 30's.

**HoreTore** · 07-01-2009, 19:50

Bloody marketing people. If I'm ever going to be a suicide bomber, it'll be to blow up BI, the sleaziest marketing school in this country. Bloody low-lifes, they should do something to contribute to society instead of this nonsense.

Originally Posted by Crazed Rabbit

People only go there to DL copyrighted media.

No, people go there for free stuff, with or without copyright. Just like Youtube, I'm betting that if youtube started charging people, they would disappear instantly. We want teh free stuffs.

**TinCow** · 07-01-2009, 20:05

As soon as the copyrighted works are pulled from TPB, the user base will evaporate. It won't take long for another tracker site to take over from where TPB left off. The death of Supernova didn't do anything to reduce piracy, and this deal with TPB is just Napster Redux. The new owners will find themselves bankrupt in a few years, with no users, and the pirate community will simply laugh as they continue to work from a different site. It is rather hillarious that they think TPB is unique and extra-special in some way.

**A Terribly Harmful Name** · 07-01-2009, 20:11

Well, that's the lifecycle of every big torrent tracker or piracy outlet. Bye TPB.

**Husar** · 07-01-2009, 20:30

Originally Posted by HoreTore

No, people go there for free stuff, with or without copyright. Just like Youtube, I'm betting that if youtube started charging people, they would disappear instantly. We want teh free stuffs.

Well, of course you are charged on youtube, whenever you buy from someone eho has an advertisement there, whether you block it or not, the price of their wares will be higher to pay for the ads.

The new pirate bay model sounds pretty bad to me and I'm not really sure how my bandwidth could benefit AT&T, I mean if i offer them my currently 6MBit/s that doesn't mean their 56k customer in Oklahomer can profit from that in any way.

Or would that mean AT&T would host downloads on other people's computers?

**Louis VI the Fat** · 07-01-2009, 20:58

Sweden's Global Gaming Factory (GGF.ST), which runs cyber cafés and sells gaming software, announced it would buy Pirate Bay for $7.9 million

What humourless amateurs.

If I were these developers, I'd have pirated the Pirate Bay's account and illegaly used it to illegaly distribute illegal goods.

**Monk** · 07-01-2009, 21:14

Piracy websites: when one falls, two shall rise.

**Ronin** · 07-01-2009, 21:37

Originally Posted by Monk

Piracy websites: when one falls, two shall rise.

HAIL HYDRA!!!

I wonder what Pandeya thinks he's buying exactly....it´s not like the user are gonna stick around once Pirate Bay stops being what it is right now.

**Aemilius Paulus** · 07-02-2009, 20:15

What is going to happen with me when TPB will go?? Where will I get my stuff???

Those guys may actually succeed in something by closing down TPB. A temporary fall in illegal DLs will follow. Other websites cannot match the safety (purple and green skull&crossbone users of TPB) nor the extensive collections of data. It will take quite some time to get that back.

**Beskar** · 07-02-2009, 20:24

I would buy the Pirate bay for £50, then use it to host a poster-child for Copyright reform and against the oppression of the Copyright industry with their awful gimmicks such as DRM which ruins legally bought products.