VampDude
August 25th, 2009, 13:17
Via: BBC
The file-sharing website The Pirate Bay (TPB) is offline after a court ordered its internet service provider Black Internet to pull the plug.
Stockholm district court made the order on 21 August, saying Black Internet would be fined 500,000 kronor (£43,180) if it did not comply.
The court order comes as a result of legal action brought against TPB by the music and film industry.
In a Twitter post, Peter Sunde, one of TPB founders, said it was "a scandal".
"A Swedish court apparently decided it is illegal to be an ISP," wrote Mr Sundae.
"One ISP (not even the one TPB is using) has been forced by a Swedish court to not allow traffic to TPB.
"It's a scandal as usual of course," he added.
Black Internet's chief executive, Victor Moeller, said his firm had no choice but to comply with the court order.
"We received the decision about the fine shortly after lunch and shut down the capacity," Mr Moeller told the online edition of the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
"There are laws and rules in society and they should be respected," he said.
The news adds to uncertainty surrounding the purchase of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay (TPB) by Swedish-based Global Gaming Factory (GGF).
Trading in GGF shares has been suspended and there are reports that the firm's chairman - Magnus Bergman - has resigned.
GGF agreed to pay 60m kr (£4.7m) to take over TPB in June this year.
The Swedish stock market is investigating whether GGF has sufficient funds to complete the sale.
In an exclusive interview with BBC News, GGF's chief, Hans Pandeya, said that the acquisition of The Pirate Bay would go ahead on 27 August as planned.
"The Aktietorget - the Swedish stock market - said they wanted more information on investors, which we said we would release after the acquisition," he said.
"There are risks and possible lawsuits, and this makes people nervous.
"None [of the investors] wants to give out their details, otherwise the media will attack them," he added.
Mr Pandeya said he had no knowledge of Mr Bergman's resignation, as reported in the Swedish media, but he added that the company knew he was going to leave soon.
You are not supposed to buy an illegal site. This is out-of-the-box thinking
Hans Pandeya
Global Gaming Factory
"We are going to have a shareholder meeting to get a new board and we were doing that because Magnus was going to leave," he said.
"I have not had any information that he had already left and I met him on Friday and he didn't say anything."
Business model
The deal, which was announced on 1 July, would see the new Pirate Bay host legal content, paying copyright holders for their work, and also paying file sharers for making their files available.
The company is also looking at harnessing the storage capacity and processing power of the file-sharing community, creating a powerful grid of peer-to-peer linked computers to share legitimate files.
Mr Pandeya said the unusual nature of The Pirate Bay did not sit comfortably with some Swedish bankers.
Hans Pandeya
Mr Pandeya says the acquisition of The Pirate Bay would still go ahead.
"Because it is unconventional it is viewed with uncertainty by Swedish culture, even if I don't view it that way.
"Because of that, they want details and 100% assurances, but in business that is not always something you can get," he said.
Mr Pandeya said that despite this he was hopeful the Aktietorget would let GGF resume trading.
"Why stop trading when, in three days, we will find out if [the acquisition] is real?" he asked.
The file-sharing website The Pirate Bay (TPB) is offline after a court ordered its internet service provider Black Internet to pull the plug.
Stockholm district court made the order on 21 August, saying Black Internet would be fined 500,000 kronor (£43,180) if it did not comply.
The court order comes as a result of legal action brought against TPB by the music and film industry.
In a Twitter post, Peter Sunde, one of TPB founders, said it was "a scandal".
"A Swedish court apparently decided it is illegal to be an ISP," wrote Mr Sundae.
"One ISP (not even the one TPB is using) has been forced by a Swedish court to not allow traffic to TPB.
"It's a scandal as usual of course," he added.
Black Internet's chief executive, Victor Moeller, said his firm had no choice but to comply with the court order.
"We received the decision about the fine shortly after lunch and shut down the capacity," Mr Moeller told the online edition of the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
"There are laws and rules in society and they should be respected," he said.
The news adds to uncertainty surrounding the purchase of file-sharing website The Pirate Bay (TPB) by Swedish-based Global Gaming Factory (GGF).
Trading in GGF shares has been suspended and there are reports that the firm's chairman - Magnus Bergman - has resigned.
GGF agreed to pay 60m kr (£4.7m) to take over TPB in June this year.
The Swedish stock market is investigating whether GGF has sufficient funds to complete the sale.
In an exclusive interview with BBC News, GGF's chief, Hans Pandeya, said that the acquisition of The Pirate Bay would go ahead on 27 August as planned.
"The Aktietorget - the Swedish stock market - said they wanted more information on investors, which we said we would release after the acquisition," he said.
"There are risks and possible lawsuits, and this makes people nervous.
"None [of the investors] wants to give out their details, otherwise the media will attack them," he added.
Mr Pandeya said he had no knowledge of Mr Bergman's resignation, as reported in the Swedish media, but he added that the company knew he was going to leave soon.
You are not supposed to buy an illegal site. This is out-of-the-box thinking
Hans Pandeya
Global Gaming Factory
"We are going to have a shareholder meeting to get a new board and we were doing that because Magnus was going to leave," he said.
"I have not had any information that he had already left and I met him on Friday and he didn't say anything."
Business model
The deal, which was announced on 1 July, would see the new Pirate Bay host legal content, paying copyright holders for their work, and also paying file sharers for making their files available.
The company is also looking at harnessing the storage capacity and processing power of the file-sharing community, creating a powerful grid of peer-to-peer linked computers to share legitimate files.
Mr Pandeya said the unusual nature of The Pirate Bay did not sit comfortably with some Swedish bankers.
Hans Pandeya
Mr Pandeya says the acquisition of The Pirate Bay would still go ahead.
"Because it is unconventional it is viewed with uncertainty by Swedish culture, even if I don't view it that way.
"Because of that, they want details and 100% assurances, but in business that is not always something you can get," he said.
Mr Pandeya said that despite this he was hopeful the Aktietorget would let GGF resume trading.
"Why stop trading when, in three days, we will find out if [the acquisition] is real?" he asked.