Comments on: UK Pirate Party drops its Pirate Bay proxy after legal bullying; international Pirate Parties take up the slack

By: JonS

JonS — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 10:35:00 +0000

You mean … the internet routed around damage? Like it’s supposed to?

Today is a good day. Well done, internets.

By: Tynam

Tynam — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 09:17:00 +0000

In theory, anyone can sue anyone for anything. The case might not stand up in court, but they can make it expensive to defend yourself, as long as it looks convincing enough to pass a first glance. And in a case like this, where the relevant laws were mostly written by the plaintiffs, there's every chance that it would stand up.

By: Rindan

Rindan — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 08:54:00 +0000

That isn’t always true in the US or the UK. If Obama bribes a government official, the Democratic party might eat a fine or something legal consequences but Obama would also personally face jail time (pardons not withstanding). Being incorporated offers a lot of cover, but just because you are acting as an agent for a corporation doesn’t mean that you don’t have to personally worry about breaking the law.

You are generally right that being incorporated offers up a lot of protection, but it isn’t a perfect shield. That said, it does generally shield pretty well against civil suits, at least in the US. I would think that the UK law that they would be using would fall under civil law and so the people would be personally protected, at least in the US.

By: Boundegar

Boundegar — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 22:12:00 +0000

I didn’t get a clear answer from the earlier story – isn’t the Pirate Party a corporation? Aren’t its officers protected from personal liability under UK law?

IANAL, but in my understanding it would be impossible in the USA to sue Obama personally, for example, if one claimed to be damaged by the Democratic Party. You can sue the party, but not its members, because it’s a corporation.

Is UK law that much different? Or was BPI just being really really creative?

By: bcsizemo

bcsizemo — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 15:07:00 +0000

Theoretically can’t you still reach it via Tor? Since TPB doesn’t actually host anything other than magnet files it’s not like you’d be straining the Tor network just surfing.