Peter Sunde was one of the key people behind The Pirate Bay in the early years, a role for which he eventually paid with his freedom.
Peter Sunde was one of the key people behind The Pirate Bay in the early years, a role for which he eventually paid While he cut his ties with the notorious torrent site many years ago, his activist nature hasn’t vanished.
In recent years Sunde has focused on several other projects. His links to the domain registration service Njalla and the Ipredator VPN, which merged recently, are well known.
RIAA and MPA Report Njalla
Coincidence or not, many copyright holders are not happy with these ventures either. This month, several copyright industry groups reported Njalla to the US Trade Representative (USTR), branding it a ‘notorious market.’
According to the RIAA and MPA, services such as Njalla are a threat because they offer extensive privacy protection to domain name registrants. This ultimately prevents copyright holders from identifying the operators of pirate sites.
It is no secret that Njalla was founded to offer privacy for domain registrants. Indeed, the company sees privacy as a fundamental right. A right that is increasingly threatened.
Peter Sunde Writes the USTR
Instead of staying on the sidelines, Peter Sunde decided to write a letter to the USTR as well. Not to defend Njalla per se, but to warn against the threat major US corporations present to the Internet.
“Being mentioned, both by name, and also through some of my earlier performance pieces, I felt it would be justified that I also bring a comment for the good of the discourse,” Sunde writes in his letter.
“As you might know, I am one of the people that was involved in the earlier times of The
Pirate Bay, one of my more known art pieces,” Sunde notes, adding that the ‘artwork’ was exhibited at prestigious festivals, inspiring millions of artists and fans around the world.
Over the years Sunde has launched several projects to support Internet freedom, freedom of speech, and online privacy. At the same time, however, he watched major US companies use their powers to centralize the Internet and restrict the free flow of information.
The Centralization Threat
As a result, the established differences in the physical world are more and more reflected online. Those with power and money, have the most influence and control.
“This is something that is very much the fault of a few Central North American companies and their lobbying efforts,” Sunde writes.
“We’re now living in a world with fake news and trolls as presidents. We can’t take the rights to information for granted. We should not centralize the control over information, in any shape or form.”
The letter is not so much about the fact that Njalla has been nominated as a notorious market. In fact, Njalla isn’t mentioned at all. Instead, it’s a frontal attack on the lobbying efforts by wealthy organizations that are trying to control the Internet.
This critique isn’t new. The Pirate Bay was founded to make it easier for people to share whatever they want. The site aimed to make information free, a mantra Sunde still supports today.
Information Should be Free
Increasingly, major US companies are trying to seize control over the information that’s shared online to further their own interests, Sunde says. This has to stop.
“Information is the cornerstone of our cultural heritage, democracy, common knowledge, and common language. This should not be something that a few opportunistic rich lobbying organizations should get the right to dictate terms for,” he writes.
“Claiming that basically half of the internet, half of the world, are enemies of one’s business model should rather be a wake-up call to realizing that this business model is archaic and that it’s time to adapt to reality.”
The Pirate Bay co-founder knows all too well what he is up against. The same companies had him followed and ultimately sent him to prison. However, that wasn’t ‘just’ according to Sunde.
Mafia-esque Practices
While powerful industry groups may claim to represent artists, Sunde believes that power and money are the true drivers here.
“The same organizations that promise to protect artists and culture are the ones screwing them over; always fiscally (like with Hollywood Accounting), sometimes physically (Harvey Weinstein is not the first nor last one).”
This comes at the expense of the public at large, who see their power and control over information diminish rapidly.
“These organizations are willingly putting our global democracy in jeopardy. The legislation brought forward by their lobbying, to protect one business model affected by the internet, is also being used for stopping people in opposition from overthrowing dictators.
“As long as these mafia-esque organizations are allowed free reign over the immaterial rights discourse, they will never relinquish their power nor money to the intended recipients,” he warns.
Fighting for The Future
These are strong words and harsh accusations but Sunde stands behind them 100%. He believes that it’s time to invent new business models that benefit not just major companies, but also artists and the public at large.
While the USTR aims to protect copyright holders and American corporate interests, Sunde urges the Office to keep track of the broader picture. After all, the Government is supposed to serve the people, not just privileged corporations.
“These are not righteous organizations. These are not the voice of the people. These are not elected officials. They are the antithesis of that. Please keep that in mind, making your decisions and own thoughts going forward,” Sunde concludes.
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A full copy of Peter Sunde’s letter to Jake Ewerdt, USTR’s Director for Innovation and Intellectual Property, is available here (pdf)
