Torrentfreak: “Swedish Police in Bangkok to Detain Pirate Bay Founder” plus 2 more |
- Swedish Police in Bangkok to Detain Pirate Bay Founder
- German Police Raid 121 Homes in Massive Pirate Site Crackdown
- Dutch Parliament Wants Popup Warnings on Pirate Sites
| Swedish Police in Bangkok to Detain Pirate Bay Founder Posted: 05 Nov 2014 02:47 AM PST
Instead, Neij flew to the Asian country of Laos where he has been enjoying family life with this wife and three children. He made no secret of his whereabouts, with Facebook updates appearing to show a relaxed man enjoying life in the capital Vientiane, a city situated on the Mekong near the border with Thailand. Vientiane’s location appears to have played a big part in both Neij’s life and his eventual downfall. Laos is somewhat lacking in facilities so being right on the border with Thailand was convenient when Neij’s family required things such as healthcare. However, according to Thai authorities he crossed that border 27 times in recent years and Monday was to be his unlucky day. Neij was already the subject of Swedish and Interpol warrants so when he was spotted wearing the same shirt as he was wearing in his ‘wanted’ photo, Thai border police arrested him. After being held in custody during Monday and Tuesday, Neij is now on his way to Bangkok pending his almost certain return to Sweden. While it is being reported that Neij will be extradited, Sweden and Thailand have signed no extradition treaty. That being said, removing him is not expected to be an issue. Local media is reporting that Thai authorities have revoked Neij’s visa, meaning that he can now be deported. Most people being removed from the country are taken to Bangkok and Neij is now confirmed as being en route to the Thai capital. “Three Thai policemen will escort him on the flight to Bangkok and Swedish police will help us whisk him to the immigration bureau before he is handed over to Swedish authorities,” Police Colonel Panlop Suriyakul na Ayutthaya told AFP. That Swedish authorities are in Thailand ready for Neij was confirmed by his lawyer Jonas Nilsson. “As I understood it, staff from the Swedish embassy are on their way to where he is. [Fredrik has] also been informed that he will be transported to Sweden,” Neij's lawyer, Jonas Nilsson told SR. The deportation procedure is relatively straightforward and an initial investigation could be completed within 48 hours but extended for seven days and beyond if necessary. [Update: Thai authorities say Neij will be sent to Sweden "within the next month"] If earlier plans for Neij’s incarceration in Sweden play out, on his return he will be processed and taken to Kirseberg prison in Malmö. The prison first came into operation during 1914 and has a capacity of 131 inmates and around 170 staff. According to the decision of the court, Neij is set to spend a total of 10 months inside.  In addition to his prison sentence, Neij is required to pay his share of roughly $6.78m in damages owed to copyright holders. Previous investigations by Swedish authorities turned up no assets in his name but yesterday Thai authorities revealed that the Swede has a house on the island of Phuket and five million baht ($153,000) in a local bank account. Whether this is within reach of copyright holders remains to be seen. Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services. |
| German Police Raid 121 Homes in Massive Pirate Site Crackdown Posted: 04 Nov 2014 09:34 AM PST
The police actions are part of a large investigation into the local piracy scene in Germany which are today followed by one of the largest anti-piracy raids in history, involving the link forum Boerse.bz. Police headquartered in Cologne have just announced that they carried out raids on 121 homes across the country. The police are gathering evidence on the operators of the popular linking forum and many of the raided homes are connected to active contributers to the site. The police raids involved around 400 police officers who seized numerous computers, hard drives and other storage media. No arrests have been made thus far but some suspects have reportedly been willing to cooperate. According to the authorities the suspects have shared a considerable number of movies, music albums, software and e-books via various cyberlockers and Boerse.bz over a long period of time. These files were shared among an estimated 2.7 million Boerse.bz users and the uploaders reportedly earned referral commissions of up to several thousand euros per month through various cyberlockers. The raids are the result of a criminal complaint filed by German anti-piracy outfit GVU. According to GVU, Boerse.bz is offering more than 100,000 files without permission from rightsholders, including 61,776 movies and 13,560 TV-shows. Most of the evidence the police acted on was provided to the police by GVU, who say that Boerse.bz is a highly structured operation with a clear division of labor. Despite the massive police force that was used in today’s raids and those of last week, both Kinox.to and Boerse.bz remain online. The alleged operators of the sites are still on the run. Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services. |
| Dutch Parliament Wants Popup Warnings on Pirate Sites Posted: 04 Nov 2014 06:42 AM PST
Until a few months ago the Netherlands was a relative safe haven for these “pirates” as downloading and copying movies and music for personal use was not punishable by law. In exchange for this “legalization” rightsholders were compensated through a "piracy levy" on writable media and hard drives. However, this changed after a recent verdict of the European Court of Justice. Since then, not much has changed. Copyright holders haven’t indicated that they want to target individual downloaders, and the authorities haven’t either. However, a new proposal put forward in the Dutch Parliament could change this inaction, with the suggestion that potential pirates should be warned via popup browser notifications. The idea comes from the VVD and PvdA, which holds a majority in the current Parliament. While the exact details still have to be worked out, the parties want visitors of torrent sites and other download portals to receive a popup warning telling them that they are breaking the law. Jeroen van Wijngaarden, Member of Parliament for the VVD, told NOS that the warnings should also refer people to legal content. “It should also state that there’s a legal alternative, to which the user should then be referred,” he says. Van Wijngaarden explains that these popups, which will presumably have to be implemented by local Internet providers, will increase the chance that people choose legal alternatives over pirate sites. The plan will be discussed in the Dutch Parliament tomorrow where there is bound to be strong opposition. Kees Verhoeven, Member of Parliament for D66, characterizes the popup proposal as “stupid” as it would require ISPs to become the Internet police. Instead of popups, the entertainment industries should fight piracy by increasing the availability of legal content, he believes. “It’s a stupid plan and shows a lack of knowledge of how people use the Internet and how they download. You don’t reduce illegal downloads with pop-ups, but with more legal supply,” Verhoeven says. Local Internet providers have yet to respond to the proposal, but considering the fierce opposition against the Pirate Bay blockade, it’s expected that they won’t be too keen on monitoring users’ “pirate site” visits. Photo: Michael Theis Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services. |
After the final guilty verdicts were handed down in the historic Pirate Bay trial, Fredrik Neij decided that life in a Swedish prison wasn’t for him.
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