Friday, February 15, 2013

Yo Ho, Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life for [those who abide by copyright laws]

On Friday, a spokesperson from The Pirate Bay (TPB) has stated that they will be suing a website for copyright infringement—a website owned by Finnish anti-piracy group Copyright Information and Anti-Piracy Centre (CIAPC).

You read that correctly.

CIAPC copied TPB's website design and created a nearly identical webpage; only the main logo and title are different.
(image via Torrent Freak)

The site doesn't link users to torrents, rather it offers sources where users could obtain their search items legally. Despite the anti-piracy message CIAPC's website attempts to send, the organization copied TPB's CSS files without permission nor attribution. Furthermore, TPB's usage policy prohibits use of the site's material without permission.

In other words, CIAPC plagiarized design code from TPB.

As a result, TPB is taking legal action. In an interview with Torrent Freak, a TPB spokesman stated:
We are outraged by this behavior. People must understand what is right and wrong. Stealing material like this on the internet is a threat to economies worldwide. We feel that we must make a statement and therefore we will sue them for copyright infringement.
This statement was made tongue-in-cheek. These self-proclaimed pirates don't really believe that stealing design code "is a threat to economies worldwide." They're called The Pirate Bay, for goodness' sake. However, I do think TPB will sue to make a point.

Let's face it, there's a lot of piracy that occurs in the murky waters of TPB. The website normally wouldn't care if someone decides to steal their site design. However, if a well-known anti-piracy group is pirating material, then what exactly does this group stand for? TPB's spokesperson said,"If not even IFPI and their friends can respect copyright, perhaps it’s time to move on."

What do you think? What kind of message is TPB is trying to send? Is it okay for CIAPC to steal from a website that fosters piracy? Is TPB simply looking for some publicity?

Arr, a storm be brewin', me hearties.

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