The Pirate Bay’s summer tour started off in Sweden, where the bus was prepared. On July 10th, the bus was in Malmo where the ‘Bay and Piratbyrån (Bureau of Piracy) announced their ‘mixtape amnesty‘.
The bus, originally codenamed ‘S23M’, then headed off to Berlin to continue its European tour, with Pirate Bay co-founder Peter Sunde declaring, “It kinda shows that we’re more than just a site, that we’re an idea, and that we’re art in ourselves. As I’ve said many times before, we see The Pirate Bay as some sort of ongoing art project/performance.”
Somehow, over six months later, the bus is currently sitting in a parking lot in Belgrade, many miles away from home. In the fall of 2008, Piratbyrån renamed the bus S23X, and now want to bring S23K, as it’s now known (I hope you’re keeping up!) back home to Stockholm, Sweden. Here, it will serve as a press center for the upcoming Pirate Bay trial.
“During February and March 2009 there is a state-funded spectacle arranged, unprecedented in the capital. The Trial of The Pirate Bay – one of the longest in Sweden’s history – will be held in the Stockholm District Court on Kungsholmen,” note Piratbyrån.
The bus, they say, will have a very special function. “Once in place it will be used in direct connection to the trial in order to intensify the spectacle, including serving as the press center for Piracy Office and The Pirate Bay, and a natural meeting point for supporters and the curious.”
In order to fund the journey from Belgrade to Sweden, supporters are being invited to make donations via the Piratbyrån website. In return, donors will be invited to be a VIP guest at a party celebrating the bus’ homecoming.
More photos, videos and history behind the bus can be found here.
