Yes, that would be the title of a bestseller likely to simply ROCKET off the shelves. I can hear it now…the voices of children, stuttering with excitement about a soon to be released treatise on the unfair balance between government regulation and the oft-trampled rights of the consumer. Perhaps the main character could be a 14 year old 19th century English boy named Steven…he’d travel forward through time and explain how things came to be, then die of black lung resulting from his 4 years employed as a chimney sweep. What a ROLLICKING good time that book would be! I’d like to use a pop-up format …it would make the final scene with little Steven coughing up his own darkened lung tissue so much more compelling.

Anyway, today the verdict came down in the case against the founders and apparent financial backer of The Pirate Bay. Well, actually the verdict didn’t technically come down…yet everyone knows what it is. How that’s even possible without any of that pesky ‘government interference’, I have no fucking idea, but I’m sure we can’t possibly accuse a government of LYING to the ELECTORATE can we?! Why the scandal would drive the populace in to a blood rage of making some sort of loud exclamation while reading about it, then hurrying to their keyboards to type up an angry spiel about the goddamn politicians and how they…oh…

Call me crazy, but I was actually a little bit surprised at the fact that the rendered verdict was guilty. I dunno, I guess I just always assumed that when the Prosecution presents a ‘case’ consisting of claims they didn’t back up, ‘expert witnesses’ who didn’t seem to have the slightest fucking clue what they were talking about, and desperate pleas for anonymous backing of the major case points themselves, MAYBE they haven’t exactly presented a winner of an argument. Yet that is precisely the ‘case’ the prosecution did present…and rather than it resulting in their being lit on fire and laughed at as they screamed and burned for wasting the court’s time, it has apparently resulted in a conviction.

Now, it probably didn’t exactly help the Pirate Bay guys out with their assertion that they don’t profit from piracy when they, a couple weeks ago, announced plans to set up a side deal for TPB users who could pay a fee and access higher speed downloads featuring full ISP masking of what they’re doing. Note to Swedish pirate sites…it’s a little bit difficult to say you aren’t profiting or trying to profit from piracy when you announce plans…to profit from piracy. Maybe make a note of that. Continue reading »