“True” pirates may have disappeared since the time of colonial adventures and salty sea adventures, but as far as the entertainment goes, today’s pirates are no less. TorrentFreak, firm upholders of the Pirate code (alongside The Pirate Bay and related websites), are facing what can be described in clichéed terms as a taste of their own taste.
BREIN, a famous Dutch anti-piracy organization seemingly stole a quote from TorrentFreak. The context was an article on SumoTorrent, another torrent site, moving to Canada (TorrentFreak’s equally propagandic writers declare this to be a celebration on their part, but we’ll leave that to you). BREIN copied a quote from TorrentFreak, who had conducted an interview with SumoTorrent earlier, without linking back to them or acknowledging them. Plagiarism? I say piracy!
Legally, TorrentFreak has a point – BREIN has infringed their copyright. TorrentFreak is actually considering a lawsuit here, for a good $975,000 and prison time. Harsh? I have a feeling. Then again, I also have a feeling that the lawsuit won’t go anywhere for quite some time. If you head to TorrentFreak here, you’ll find out how they are freaking out over the issue in a rather biased manner.
What is hilarious here (apart from TorrentFreak’s bias) is the irony of the situation. BREIN is anti-piracy, but has plagiarized a quote from a pro-pirates site. TorrentFreak, who would generally be sympathetic to anti-piracy lawsuits, are considering an insane lawsuit themselves against BREIN. Oh god, this is making my head spin.
