the pirate bay

Features

• Pirate Bay sale signals the death of an era

  With all the outrage over The Pirate Bay going legit, I think it's time to reconsider the merits of illegally media sharing. The world has changed since Napster introduced peer-to-peer file sharing in 1999, and the culture that made the practice seem necessary has transformed.

• Will a legal Pirate Bay thrive? (Hint: no)

  The Pirate Bay, a torrent site that has attracted millions of users by offering a wealth of (often illegal) content, is now at a turning point. With a $3.8 million fine dangling around the neck of the owners and a fresh $7.8 million acquisition by Global Gaming Factory X, announced this morning, the site is about to embrace a legal business model. How well will this work?

• 5 traps the (new) Pirate Bay must avoid

  Ah, the Internet cafe, home to yuppies, flavored lattes, and The Pirate Bay? If you haven't heard, Swedish Internet cafe operator, Global Gaming Factory X, today bought The Pirate Bay for $7.8 million. The new owner says it intends to sail The Pirate Bay out of its murky waters, and put the former rogues gallery on the straight and narrow. In other words, The Pirate Bay is going legitimate.