AfterDawn: News

Pirate Bay bringing SSL encryption for its users

The infamous torrent tracker The Pirate Bay has announced that in response to a new Swedish legislation passed this week, it will be offering encryption services to all of its users.

On Thursday, Sweden passed a new "surveillance law" which allows authorities to monitor all incoming and outgoing transmissions if they feel it is in the best interests on national security. The Pirate Bay had lobbied against the bill, but unfortunately their efforts for futile. In response to the bill however, all Pirate Bay users will be given an encryption option this week.

"Many people have asked me what we’re planning to do," admin Peter Sunde writes "- and the answer is “A lot!”. We’re going to help out in any way we can with fighting the law. This week we’re going to add SSL to The Pirate Bay. We’re also going to help out making a website about easy encryption - both for your hard drives and your net traffic. As some people know, we’re running a system for VPN-tunnels already and we’re going to lower the price for that as well and open it up for international users as well."



The levels of protection offered will most likely vary depending on the end users location with concerned users in Sweden getting the best. Users outside of Sweden should have little reason to worry as the new bill will not impact them but I'm sure many will appreciate the free extra level of security.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Jun 2008 17:41

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• 25 comments

• blueroad

  this is headed towards an all out war mind you

  22.6.2008 17:52 #1

• KKM

  Pirate Bay are heroes. They're fighting for online freedom. We should all be grateful their is still people in the world willing to stand up.

  22.6.2008 17:57 #2

• windsong

  Until the Swedes outlaw encryption...

  22.6.2008 18:18 #3

• JRude

  Some ISP's already block encrypted traffic!
  http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/05/1512247&from=rss

  22.6.2008 18:28 #4

• defgod

  Originally posted by blueroad: this is headed towards an all out war mind youThat's exactly where it's going. I don't know exactly what type of war we are talking about whether a global civil war or something else. But this isn't what really started it it was the media conglomerates whining and complaining about "pirates". Combined with their stupidity not to change their old worn out business model.

  22.6.2008 18:56 #5

• LiveChaos

  @blueroad
  Yep, it is, and we should support the pirate bay for standing up to fight for our online freedom :) They are putting it all on the line whist we sit on the sidelines helpless to take on Goliath.
  
  Let us not forget that all it takes is one or two lawsuits for greedy politicians, lobbyists, and organizations to get their foot in the door and start dictating our online freedoms (or lack thereof) for us.

  22.6.2008 20:16 #6

• varnull

  How can blocking and inspecting p2p traffic be "in the interests of national security"
  I think them Swedes should take a long hard look at what their politicians are up to in the name of "national security"
  I wasn't aware they were on the Al Qaeda top 10 list of countries for reprisals.
  
  "They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

  22.6.2008 20:29 #7

• xSModder

  haha, what a pleasant surprise :)

  22.6.2008 21:17 #8

• susieqbbb

  Big deal!!!
  
  I hate piratebay all of there torrents contain trackers fakes or worse and if you get caught downloading from them via a tracker that the mpaa or riaa or one of these other company's use like adobe and apple and microsoft i hope you enjoy spending time in jail.

  22.6.2008 21:58 #9

• tripplite

  it must be a maze for the ISP's collecting on this....i dont how the situation in Europe goes but i will say that the ISP's across the US are greedy monopolies!!! but they'd rather lose a few pennies to piracy then start hiring people to monitor the system...with both individual and tracker based encryption its becoming very difficulty and perhaps even costly (soon) for the ISPs to continue this game...am sure their being as lazy as possible about the situation LOL!
  
  and now some ISP'S are starting to lose their most beloved socialist monopolies over areas and are starting to have competitors (GASP OH NO!!) at any rate they have bigger fish to fry then to be lap dogs of the RIAA/MPAA LOL if they aren't already;)
  
  -tripplite

  22.6.2008 22:51 #10

• DoomLight

  Originally posted by susieqbbb: Big deal!!!
  
  I hate piratebay all of there torrents contain trackers fakes or worse and if you get caught downloading from them via a tracker that the mpaa or riaa or one of these other company's use like adobe and apple and microsoft i hope you enjoy spending time in jail.how annoying. please go away with that hate.

  22.6.2008 23:59 #11

• LiveChaos

  @DoomLight:
  
  Thanks! Just what I was thinking. Also notice that this wasn't susieqbbb's first post spewing hatred and anger.
  
  @susiebbb: What, you have nothing better to do than come onto this thread just to bag on pirate bay?!? I have some advice for you, susie: 1) go back to third grade and learn some punctuation and grammar. "there" is a location. I think you meant "they're" as in, the contraction "they are". 2) Get off mommy and daddy's aol account and find something better to do than attack people like piratebay.org and EFF who are protecting YOUR rights on the internet!! From looking at your posts in other threads, you are angry and in the need of therapy. You don't like usenet, you don't like piratebay, blu-ray prices, you don't seem to like much of anything or anyone! (go ahead and search for her posts people, this girl seriously needs some Prozac!)
  It's not like piratebay can check every seeded torrent that some corrupt, greedy company (RIAA, MPAA, Apple, Microsoft) has slipped in to trap torrent users! Also, you complained about Usenet in one of your other threads! Usenet has viruses, etc. but nothing like what you can find on the web.
  
  So, susie, If you can't contribute, take your anger and hate somewhere else!

  23.6.2008 00:49 #12

• xelu01

  I think this is great, I am all for it, though i left torrents awhile ago for rapidshare which is fast, and also uses ssl encryption. Pirate bay will go down in history as one of the greatest sites and the pirates who run it as some of the greatest pirates who ever lived.

  23.6.2008 01:20 #13

• mspurloc

  Yes, they'll just pass another law, but it's an interesting step forward.
  My concern is that it will add enormous overhead to TPB's system.

  23.6.2008 02:01 #14

• Andrew691

  Originally posted by xelu01: I think this is great, I am all for it, though i left torrents awhile ago for rapidshare which is fast, and also uses ssl encryption. Pirate bay will go down in history as one of the greatest sites and the pirates who run it as some of the greatest pirates who ever lived. I also have been using rapidshare recently, but I would hardly say its fast. Unless of course you are a Premium user.
  
  Of all the public torrent sites I've used in the past TPB is the one with the least fake files so i have no idea what susieqbbb is talking about. A few fakes every now and then is to be expected (even on some private sites) and that's where the whole comments system helps.
  
  On a slightly less happy note, the other day my mate got pinged for DL'ing a movie, his internet was down for several days as a company from another country had contacted his ISP. Lucky for him they run on the "3 strikes your out" rule.

  23.6.2008 04:46 #15

• pensfan12

  Originally posted by susieqbbb: Big deal!!!
  
  I hate piratebay all of there torrents contain trackers fakes or worse and if you get caught downloading from them via a tracker that the mpaa or riaa or one of these other company's use like adobe and apple and microsoft i hope you enjoy spending time in jail.
  Are you kidding me?
  Stop the hate, piratebay is awesome because the way they fight those bastards.
  not the shit torrents that flood their site! haha
  And yes, you will end up in jail because we have seen millions of people gone to jail because of downloading a Microsoft product.

  23.6.2008 05:07 #16

• blueroad

  Quote:Originally posted by blueroad: this is headed towards an all out war mind youThat's exactly where it's going. I don't know exactly what type of war we are talking about whether a global civil war or something else. But this isn't what really started it it was the media conglomerates whining and complaining about "pirates". Combined with their stupidity not to change their old worn out business model.Quote:
  @blueroad
  Yep, it is, and we should support the pirate bay for standing up to fight for our online freedom :) They are putting it all on the line whist we sit on the sidelines helpless to take on Goliath.
  
  Let us not forget that all it takes is one or two lawsuits for greedy politicians, lobbyists, and organizations to get their foot in the door and start dictating our online freedoms (or lack thereof) for us.
  
  
  hey hey dont exxagerate and by that i refer to the comment that were sitting on the sidelines helpless. your forgetting its up to all of us to keep sharing for the community and availibility of files increase..(very) fortunately for me i live in the middle east and im not affected by the notorious mpaa riaa etc(though the disadvantage is that our highest connex speed is 5M :[ ) anyway i belive its bound to reach us eventually though here people go to court over emule music downloads and as opposed to whats going on there were winning some battles,but untill people really rise up and i mean rallies and all that it involves to show the greedy politicians and companies that your a real force and that theres a limit to how much the can push you over the edge this is just going to continue..
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  23.6.2008 05:54 #17

• 7thsinger

  We'll just have to watch and see how this pans out.
  
  Quote:which allows authorities to monitor all incoming and outgoing transmissions if they feel it is in the best interests on national securityI think that's ridiculous.

  23.6.2008 08:33 #18

• xempler

  *Applauds Pirate Bay*. These big companies and organizations think they can throw their weight around and threaten legal action to dictate internet law and policy.

  23.6.2008 09:43 #19

• lxfactor

  even with the fakes.. thepiratebay powns.. they last longer than tspy.. & others that were pretty top of the line.. they got out of legal trouble.. and found little holes to make even isp bans work around.. the pirate bay is good

  23.6.2008 11:50 #20

• atomicxl

  Originally posted by KKM: Pirate Bay are heroes. They're fighting for online freedom. We should all be grateful their is still people in the world willing to stand up.I've never understood this logic. I use them like anyone else, but they aren't standing up for anything respectful. Their whole site is based around stealing and not paying people for their hard work. Theres nothing noble about them.
  
  Its not like albums and movies cost cost $500+. You can buy a new CD for $8. If you hate the music, don't listen to it. Its easy. These guys aren't Robin Hood or anything.
  
  LOL @ greedy lobbyist and politicians (not from my quote). How are they greedy? They are saying if you use our product, pay for it. If you don't want to pay for it, don't use it. Unless you find the very concept of commerce to be greedy, I don't understand how this is "greedy". I know none of you goto work and get your paychecks like, "damn i'm so greedy. I shouldn't be payed for working. I wish there was a group working for the betterment of mankind that would come and steal my paycheck from me."

  23.6.2008 13:14 #21

• venomX05

  ah, don't you just love pioneers...i know i do, i mean hell, they are not taking $hit from anyone let alone their own government. i don't use TPB much but when i do, it isn't bad, but got to give them respect for taking care of their people.
  
  BTW, didn't i read somewhere they were even trying to do their own protocol? could have sworn i read about that somewhere on wiki. oh well, anyways...
  
  keep it up TBP!!!!

  23.6.2008 21:16 #22

• xempler

  Quote:Originally posted by KKM: Pirate Bay are heroes. They're fighting for online freedom. We should all be grateful their is still people in the world willing to stand up.I've never understood this logic. I use them like anyone else, but they aren't standing up for anything respectful. Their whole site is based around stealing and not paying people for their hard work. Theres nothing noble about them.
  
  Its not like albums and movies cost cost $500+. You can buy a new CD for $8. If you hate the music, don't listen to it. Its easy. These guys aren't Robin Hood or anything.
  
  LOL @ greedy lobbyist and politicians (not from my quote). How are they greedy? They are saying if you use our product, pay for it. If you don't want to pay for it, don't use it. Unless you find the very concept of commerce to be greedy, I don't understand how this is "greedy". I know none of you goto work and get your paychecks like, "damn i'm so greedy. I shouldn't be payed for working. I wish there was a group working for the betterment of mankind that would come and steal my paycheck from me."I get what you're saying and agree with some of it. But, TPB is standing up for the little guy in a way as well. Think about it.
  
  Right now the Music industry has governments placing hidden music taxes on blank CD's, taxes on ISP use, taxes on portable devices such as MP3 player, and now recently they're even trying to get royalties from Radio station that play their music. I mean COME ON, now they're going after radio stations??? Traditionally radio stations are used to PROMOTE the music for artists are they not??
  
  They sue everyone they even THINK is illegally downloading music. Recently it was discovered their investigations were borderline incompent by a judge who discovered they were suing an elderly man in a retirement home who didn't even know how to use his email...but somehow they thought he was downloading illegal music torrents.
  
  Whether you realize it or not, you are paying these guys whether you legally or illegally download music files (Oh and don't forget none of this money actually goes to the artist themselves). I mean at this rate, if noone stands up to them, you'll have to pay just for being caught humming a music tune on the streets.
  
  That's the freedom people are talking about.

  24.6.2008 10:18 #23

• Bushed

  hi all i think this is great news and have a related question for someone who is well informed of what this will actually mean for me.
  
  i live in new zealand and recently had my internet cut off. when i phoned to find out what was happening i was informed that i had a copyright infringement from a film from the pirates bay they operate on 2 strikes so im now too scared to dl anything.
  
  so basically will this help me at all?
  
  also can anyone point me in the direction of a FREE safe alternative to torrent. i say free because i object on moral grounds paying some russian my hard earned cash for allowing to steal other peoples work

  27.6.2008 19:37 #24

• ultrajess

  Xempler:
  
  "I mean at this rate, if noone stands up to them, you'll have to pay just for being caught humming a music tune on the streets.
  
  That's the freedom people are talking about."
  
  U rock because your right.
  
  
  Bushed, you should have invested in peerguardian. Its free!
  

  WHy aM i stUCK on DELL???

  25.3.2009 03:43 #25