The Pirate Bay sold for $7.8 million

GGF will "launch new business models that allow compensation to the content providers and copyright owners", states the press release.

Sounds like a paysite to me. TPB will die if this happens. The only hope I have is that TPB are moving on to better P2P technologies (like the one they have been developing for years).

Long live TPB (until it gets new owners that is). I bet they will even take down the legal threats section.

The Pirate Bay loses in court, then sells out.
tsk-tsk
I highly doubt a publicly traded corporation would buy a brand name that threatens them with illegal download lawsuits. TPB will join napster in p2p heaven. So where gp we move to? Who's the next new power site?
demonoid? or mininova?

Maybe , finally , some of you "freedom fighters" who believe all that crap about TPB being the noble defenders and freedom of speech and expression advocates and who wear rose coloured glasses and hearing aids every time TPB speaks or prints will see them for what they really are -
a small group of very clever swedes who have been raking in the millions for years now , using a swiss advetising agency to maximise their advertising revenue, buying luxury penthouse suites and property in fashionable stockholm, selling t-shirts and at the same time - asking for donations to buy a fantasy island....all this while claiming "it's not for profit " - they are worse than the knock off dvd sellers in the local black market.
This sell out and capitulation sahould be no surprise to anyone with a brain - they were always about the money and nothing else - the whole reason they went out creating controversy and issuing ridiculous freedom fighter statements was just to attact more customers and traffic ( and it worked like a dream ) - now the going gets tough , it's time for them to move on and retire with their millions to a caribbean island and hope they get away with it in the courts by selling the site .
Don't expect this business model to resurface any time soon in any form whatsoever - they don't have the stomach for a protracted court fight and they don't want to lose their personal fortunes and property bought with the site's revenue.

Long Live TPB you say ( and I know most of you will disagree with me and continue to chant that because you don't want to wake up and finally smell the coffee ) - Long Live TPB and long may they continue playing the majority of people in here like a harp... and long may you continue buying their products, swallowing their crap and donating to their private p2p island.

"This sell out and capitulation sahould be no surprise to anyone with a brain - they were always about the money and nothing else - the whole reason they went out creating controversy and issuing ridiculous freedom fighter statements was just to attact more customers and traffic ( and it worked like a dream ) - now the going gets tough , it's time for them to move on and retire with their millions to a caribbean island and hope they get away with it in the courts by selling the site "

This is capitalism, what is wrong with making a business and profiting from it? So, they tell the people one thing but do another, this is what the politians do all the time and even more so. At least with TPB you can either use it or not its called choice with the goverment they are the only force that can put a gun to your head tell you to deal with it..... All in all I would rather live in a world where people that come up with a product and are able to profit from it (by people using that product and idea)
Then a world where the goverment will tell you what you can and can not buy.

bcnn, well said. Hopefully, you will post more.

I am greatly saddened by this turn of events. This does mark the beginning of the end of the torrents.

Originally posted by bcnn:

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"This sell out and capitulation sahould be no surprise to anyone with a brain - they were always about the money and nothing else - the whole reason they went out creating controversy and issuing ridiculous freedom fighter statements was just to attact more customers and traffic ( and it worked like a dream ) - now the going gets tough , it's time for them to move on and retire with their millions to a caribbean island and hope they get away with it in the courts by selling the site "

This is capitalism, what is wrong with making a business and profiting from it? So, they tell the people one thing but do another, this is what the politians do all the time and even more so. At least with TPB you can either use it or not its called choice with the goverment they are the only force that can put a gun to your head tell you to deal with it..... All in all I would rather live in a world where people that come up with a product and are able to profit from it (by people using that product and idea)
Then a world where the goverment will tell you what you can and can not buy.

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and who said usenet sucked? :)

$7.8 million what a smart deal those TPB guys have done.

They clear their (ridiculously excessive) fines and hopefully their legal bills and pocket a nice wedge of cash.

The new company get to watch everyone abandon TPB when they try selling their predictably cr@ppy expensive & low quality pay-site BS.

Everyone's happy - especially when the new trackers spring up to replace TPB.

I have nothing but thanks for the guys who started & ran TPB.
I was perfectly happy to donate to support them - unlike some I do not think that stuff can be done entirely for free.

Thanks guys, it was fun while it lasted.

(and thanks to TPB I got to see and hear a hell of a lot of artists and their work than I would have ever managed without them.....and by that I mean real artists, not wannabe f*ckwits chasing fame, wealth and 'celebrity')

Interestx, you are so VERY right!

About 30% of my favorite artists are virtually unknown in the US even though award winning and well respected in the world community. I have even bought many of their albums even though they needed to be imported because they do not sell unknowns in the US. One was well respected enough that Barbra Streisand sang with them. Apparently, she must have heard about them somehow! Torrents were the only way quality artist can be heard in countries with an ignorant music industry such as mine controlling what we hear.

Yes domie, freedom fighters is a good term. Many of us reject the garbage foisted on us buy the moist evil and most stupid industry we politely call the music industry. I have less polite names for them. It is the freedom to listen or watch what we want.

Originally posted by grkblood:

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and who said usenet sucked? :)

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Quote:

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Originally posted by grkblood:

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and who said usenet sucked? :)

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19yo noobs who don't want to pay $11 bucks a month. :)

I have Astraweb and it far exceeds anything tpb ever offered.

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Originally posted by grkblood:

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and who said usenet sucked? :)

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Originally posted by bcnn:

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"This sell out and capitulation sahould be no surprise to anyone with a brain - they were always about the money and nothing else - the whole reason they went out creating controversy and issuing ridiculous freedom fighter statements was just to attact more customers and traffic ( and it worked like a dream ) - now the going gets tough , it's time for them to move on and retire with their millions to a caribbean island and hope they get away with it in the courts by selling the site "

This is capitalism, what is wrong with making a business and profiting from it? So, they tell the people one thing but do another, this is what the politians do all the time and even more so. At least with TPB you can either use it or not its called choice with the goverment they are the only force that can put a gun to your head tell you to deal with it..... All in all I would rather live in a world where people that come up with a product and are able to profit from it (by people using that product and idea)
Then a world where the goverment will tell you what you can and can not buy.

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If you guys read the article, TPB didn't come out smelling like a rose as you all seem to be claiming. As far as cash, they get enough to cover their fines and legal fees with maybe a little left over. The rest is all in stock shares which means that they're actual gains depend on the success of the new site. And we all know the new site is going to fail miserably(most likely) and they won't be able to give away their shares.

So you say they should just take it down and go to jail and pay their fines and not try to at least salvage something from the wreckage? These shares will be available to transfer or sell or exchange as soon as it's set up.. probably some greedy mpaa shysters will want in.. if just to get these guys out. Shrewd imho XD

( Most ) of you guys have me shaking my head in disbelief and scratching it at the same time...you slam the big media corporations for having a successful business model and selling consoles, games, cds, dvds and whatever and makinga profit and you then praise The Pirate Bay for making millions and a vast personal fortune by advocating illegal copying and theft of these items and think that is OK ?

What a bunch of morally bankrupt abject hypocrites you all are - justifying your own theft and dishonesty by hiding under the " it's all done for free " banner even though anyone with half a brain knows TPB made millions and that was the only reason they did it.

Whatever happened to the idea that the only reason p2p had some moral grounding was because it was done by and for people who didn't make any profit out of it at all and only did it for sharing and enjoyment ?

I can't believe after all these years and the evidence that has been uncovered that most of you still claim that "they didn't make that much and only to cover their expenses" when you obviously have no idea or clue how much they made or where it all went or what you are talking about .YOu obviously have no idea what revenue a site in the top 500 internet sites in the world is capable of generating and if you did, you would fall off your chair in disbelief.We are easily talking millions a year in dollars.

You probably also think that OJ Simpson was the innocent victim of a cover up and that The Titanic is still floating around somewhere in the Atlantic because it never really sank.

Maybe one day , some of you will come to realise that making big bucks out of p2p activity is what fuels the argument and fires of the RIAA and MPAA etc and makes their job that much easier in the eyes of judges etc - those of you who praise TPB for making a tidy profit and having a good business model and limitless bank accounts are the same people who the authorities cite as examples of how p2p activity is all about theft and making money. It is no better than selling fake dvds in a street market and makes the job of those of us who really are only interested in a bit of fun and free sharing absolutely impossible as we are all labelled as money raking thieves , as the owners of TPB undoubtedly are..

They just ran an indexing service .. it was never intended to supply anything to anybody for any profit. Google is the same.. all torrent links can be found using their indexing service.. and their bosses are hugely rich.. They are just as guilty by your logic. Covering your expenses is fair enough.. and your time has a legit value.. unlike the music companies who give the content creators 3% (if they are VERY lucky) of the money fleeced from people..

The Bay was never ever about copyrighted things.. that was plain and simple down to the users exploiting the freedom of information stand of people like Sunde. As the owners really believe in their ethical stance it puts them in an awkward place.. They always removed without question any actual illegal content.. don't forget.. in many countries file sharing is not illegal, but what about legal though copyrighted content? .. copyright doesn't stop somebody borrowing.. and it doesn't stop somebody learning from and using that information.. it exists purely (or is supposed to) so that other people can't just take AND SELL some other persons work.. Now this is the bit I don't get.. copyright can be passed to somebody who has nothing to do with the actual creation of the content.. sold to some publisher or whatever who then takes the bulk of the money raised.. In the days before we had this wonderful virtually free information distribution system when there were real overheads to distributing information that may have been needed.. as a starving writer couldn't afford to print 1000's of copies of a book or whatever.. but now when it's just a matter of a free hosted website and a few links?? .. different model altogether. When you make a completely off topic comment about how much these people (allegedly) earned.. and it's only hearsay.. they aren't rich even now. The owners of Afterdawn can tell you how few people if any actually look at adverts on sites.. and how much revenue it brings in realistically.. and you will start to believe the claims of barely covering operating costs. I run a small website.. it gets 12,000 unique hits a week.. the advertising revenue for a top 20 google listed site just about pays the hosting.. Last year I earned £1.32 for the advertising on the site.. in a year.. I spent more on power administering it than that.

I notice it's always yanks who are crying about it (for some strange reason) .. as a revolutionary country I would have thought you would understand what happens when you put outside foreign profits over and above the interests of your own people, or isn't history taught in schools any more?. We have seen our governments and our legal systems bought and corrupted in the interests of american corporate greed.. we are seeing our economies in free fall because of the greed of yankee bankers.. and we are just expected to lie back and keep propping up the disgusting greed? As we move towards a world where we are not going to be dictated to much longer there will be a rising up of xenophobic right wing governments on this side of the pond who will put our citizens first.. just as happened in the 30's.. and it's all down to yank corporate greed and fiddling and meddling where it shouldn't be. Geee.. thanks guys.. see what you have created? .. we now have a nazi.. an open racist hater elected into the european parliament directly as a result of the collapse of our economy through the greed of your bankers leading their greedy minions in our financial and business world to follow them down the black hole. You can whine on all you like.. so the bottom line is this .. you are just jealous you didn't think of it first and will support your hated greedy and corrupt millionaires as they screw us all into the ground and watch us starve .. Vive la Revolution !! XD

Originally posted by domie:

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Maybe , finally , some of you "freedom fighters" who believe all that crap about TPB being the noble defenders and freedom of speech and expression advocates and who wear rose coloured glasses and hearing aids every time TPB speaks or prints will see them for what they really are -
a small group of very clever swedes who have been raking in the millions for years now , using a swiss advetising agency to maximise their advertising revenue, buying luxury penthouse suites and property in fashionable stockholm, selling t-shirts and at the same time - asking for donations to buy a fantasy island....all this while claiming "it's not for profit " - they are worse than the knock off dvd sellers in the local black market.
This sell out and capitulation sahould be no surprise to anyone with a brain - they were always about the money and nothing else - the whole reason they went out creating controversy and issuing ridiculous freedom fighter statements was just to attact more customers and traffic ( and it worked like a dream ) - now the going gets tough , it's time for them to move on and retire with their millions to a caribbean island and hope they get away with it in the courts by selling the site .
Don't expect this business model to resurface any time soon in any form whatsoever - they don't have the stomach for a protracted court fight and they don't want to lose their personal fortunes and property bought with the site's revenue.

Long Live TPB you say ( and I know most of you will disagree with me and continue to chant that because you don't want to wake up and finally smell the coffee ) - Long Live TPB and long may they continue playing the majority of people in here like a harp... and long may you continue buying their products, swallowing their crap and donating to their private p2p island.

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Quote:

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I notice it's always yanks who are crying about it (for some strange reason) .. as a revolutionary country I would have thought you would understand what happens when you put outside foreign profits over and above the interests of your own people, or isn't history taught in schools any more?. We have seen our governments and our legal systems bought and corrupted in the interests of american corporate greed.. we are seeing our economies in free fall because of the greed of yankee bankers.. and we are just expected to lie back and keep propping up the disgusting greed? As we move towards a world where we are not going to be dictated to much longer there will be a rising up of xenophobic right wing governments on this side of the pond who will put our citizens first.. just as happened in the 30's.. and it's all down to yank corporate greed and fiddling and meddling where it shouldn't be. Geee.. thanks guys.. see what you have created? .. we now have a nazi.. an open racist hater elected into the european parliament directly as a result of the collapse of our economy through the greed of your bankers leading their greedy minions in our financial and business world to follow them down the black hole. You can whine on all you like.. so the bottom line is this .. you are just jealous you didn't think of it first and will support your hated greedy and corrupt millionaires as they screw us all into the ground and watch us starve .. Vive la Revolution !! XD

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kidmedia - Watch the language.

Originally posted by varnull:

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...copyright doesn't stop somebody borrowing.. and it doesn't stop somebody learning from and using that information.. it exists purely (or is supposed to) so that other people can't just take AND SELL some other persons work..

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Thats stupid they should have better things to be worryin about then music there ppl starvin out there

Originally posted by kidmedia:

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You know, before you informed me, I was just another ignorant *bleep* American without half a clue.

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My question is thats with only 7.8million they are going to acquire their lawsuits aswell.