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Away from keyboard TPB CO-FOUNDER ARRESTED AFTER YEARS ON THE LAM
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f you’ve downloaded illegal torrents, then you’ve heard of the file-sharing website, The Pirate Bay (TPB). After years of being on the run, Peter Sunde TPB co-founder, was apprehended in Sweden and sent off to serve his sentence. Found guilty of violating copyright laws, the co-founder also known as Brokep, has been pursued by Interpol since 2011 and will now serve the eight-month jail term meted out in 2010. At the time, Sunde was also fined 46 million SEK (TechCrunch), with several failed appeals of trying to reduce prison time from the sentence, along with co-founders Fredrik Neji, Carl Lundstöm, and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg. Lundstöm has already served his time and currently resides in Switzerland, while Warg was arrested in Cambodia in 2012. Only Neiji remains at large and according to multiple news outlets is believed to be in Asia. The story of the co-founders legal difficulties was partially chronicled in popular documentary TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away from Keyboard released in February of last year. Though Sunde has exited TPB, he has stayed visible and active in tech circles- at one point even campaigning to become a member of European Parliament. In 2010, he co-founded Flattr, a social micro-donations startup that lets users pay online creators to support them, relying on funding from Passion Capital and others.
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Quite ironic, coming from someone whose previous platform advocated free (albeit, illegal) content for all. Passion Capital board member Eileen Burbidge told TechCrunch that she is saddened by Sunde’s arrest, adding that it’s in “stark contrast” when compared to similar individuals who are considered “wunderkinds” and pioneers of content file-sharing and peer-to-peer development like Napster’s Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker, and Kazaa co-founders Niklas Zennstorm and Janus Friis. Burbidge also pointed out that P2P Napster and Kazaa both settled civil lawsuits, while TPB faced criminal prosecution and custodial sentences. As of last August, TPB has been operational for a decade and continues to function, now run by a non-profit organization registered in Seychelles.
Till Facebook do us part… SOCIAL MEDIA PRENUPS TO PREVENT COMPROMISING YOUR ONLINE REPUTATION
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n a world where an embarrassing picture or an inappropriate tweet could cost you your job, or ‘revenge porn’ from scorned exes can appear for sale online, a new need has presented itself: the ‘social media prenuptial agreement’. It’s basically a legally binding document or a discourse on what’s allowed to be published online about your significant other. According to ABC News, Ann-Margaret Carrozza, a New York-based lawyer, says that about a third of her clients are now opting to have “social media clauses” in their prenup or post-nuptial agreements. Apparently it’s based on a sliding scale with the price for breaching the agreement relative to a person’s wealth- Fast Company mentioned that at least one couple agreed to pay up US$50,000 for a violation (such as posting an unflattering swimsuit pic). The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers stated that social networking as an element in divorce cases is increasing steadily, and a 2013 Gulf News report positioned social media addiction as the seventh reason for UAE divorces and separation. With the amount of social media mishaps soaring, have you and your S.O. had the talk yet? After all, love is a battlefield… especially on the Wild West of the internet.