Marit Bjoergen of Norway celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the women's 1.2 km classic sprint of the Nordic Ski World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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Marit Bjoergen of Norway celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win the women's 1.2 km classic sprint of the Nordic Ski World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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World cup leader Marit Bjoergen of Norway competes during the qualification race of the women 1.2 km classic sprint of the Nordic Ski World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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Nikita Kriukov of Russia competes during the qualification race of the men 1.5 km classic sprint of the Nordic Ski World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)
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Nikita Kriukov of Russia (1) reacts as he crosses the finish line to win the men's 1.5 km classic sprint of the Nordic Ski World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. At right is second placed Petter Northug of Norway. (AP Photo/Armando Trovati)
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Two men walks in front of an electoral poster featuring the leader of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) Artur Mas following Sunday's elections in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. A day after voters in Spain’s economically powerful region of Catalonia dealt a punishing blow to the ruling party advocating independence from Spain, the pressure was on the party leader and regional president Artur Mas to form a new government that would carry out his promise. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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An electoral poster featuring the leader of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) Artur Mas is seen in the street following Sunday's elections in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. A day after voters in Spain’s economically powerful region of Catalonia dealt a punishing blow to the ruling party advocating independence from Spain, the pressure was on the party leader and regional president Artur Mas to form a new government that would carry out his promise. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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People walk past torn electoral posters calling for the independence of Catalonia following the elections in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Nov. 26, 2012. A day after voters in Spainís economically powerful region of Catalonia dealt a punishing blow to the ruling party advocating independence from Spain, the pressure was on the party leader and regional president Artur Mas to form a new government that would carry out his promise. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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The leader of the center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), Artur Mas, center, looks at the crowd following his election results in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. The economically powerful region of Catalonia has voted into office a large majority of pro-independence lawmakers, but the leader who made a referendum over breaking away from Spain a central plank of his campaign saw his party's majority reduced by 12 seats. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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The leader of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), Artur Mas reacts after his elections result in Barcelona, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. The economically powerful region of Catalonia has voted into office a large majority of pro-independence lawmakers, but the leader who made a referendum over breaking away from Spain a central plank of his campaign saw his party's majority reduced by 12 seats. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Pirate Bay moves from Sweden to Norway, Spain
STOCKHOLM (
AP) — Embattled file-sharing site The Pirate Bay is looking for safe havens in Norway and Spain after its Swedish host came under legal pressure to shut it down.
The Swedish Pirate Party, a small political party advocating transparency and freedom online, has provided Internet access to the site for the past three years.
But it's handing over those duties to sister parties in Norway and Spain's Catalonia region following legal threats from the Rights Alliance, a Swedish anti-piracy group representing the entertainment industry, officials for all three parties told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
"Basically, the service that was provided by the Swedish Pirate Party is nowadays provided by the Norwegian Pirate Party, and soon also by the Catalan Pirate Party," said Kenneth Peiruza, a spokesman for the Catalan group.
The Pirate Bay is one of the world's biggest free file-sharing websites, offering millions of users a forum for downloading music, movies and computer games. The site doesn't host any pirated material itself, but acts as an index to help people find files they can share with each other using BitTorrent software. The entertainment industry has failed to shut it down, even after its operators were convicted of copyright violations in Sweden in 2009.
Sara Lindback of the Rights Alliance said the case underlines how difficult it is to combat illegal file-sharing online, but suggested the fight against The Pirate Bay would continue.
"It's a step in the right direction that the service is driven out of Sweden," Lindback said. "But as long as the service is up we will do what we can to protect our rights-holders."
Pirate Party officials said the laws in Norway and Catalonia would make it hard for the entertainment industry to prevent them from offering web hosting services to The Pirate Bay.
By doing so, the parties are only acting as a "digital post office," said Geir Aaslid, leader of the Norwegian Pirate Party. "We're not responsible for the mail passing through the pipeline."
The Pirate Bay didn't comment on the move directly, but changed the name of the site temporarily to The Hydra Bay, an apparent reference to a mythological beast that grows two new heads when one head is cut off.
Tags:
ap, catalonia, pirate party, spain, culture_politics, tuesday, duties, entertainment industry, internet access, sweden, political party, norway, stockholm, transparency, safe havens, file sharing, legal pressure, the pirate bay, anti-copyright, small political party, pirate bay, file-sharing site, copyright violations, swedish pirate party, popular file-sharing hub, spokeswoman anna troberg, swedish anti-piracy group, swedish host, sister parties, freedom online, legal threats, piratbyrån, the pirate bay trial
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