The Pirate Bay’s Founders Are Going To A Prison That’s Better Than Your Life


Not just any prison — Swedish prison. After fighting copyright infringement charges for years, the three gents behind the world’s most notorious torrent site are headed to the slammer. Luckily, TPB lives, and Swedish prison is great!

TorrentFreak reports the trio lost their final round of appeals, and will now have a few months to live in Swedish homogenous utopia before heading to their swanky new home: Swedish prison. That means soft lighting, smooth wood and modernist cells straight from IKEA. Maybe. TF reports that because the case originated so long ago, and the defendants’ sentences are so light to begin with (all less than a year each), they may end up never stepping foot in a cell. Sweden!


But even if they did, Swedish prison looks nice. Like, nicer than my college dorm nice. Nicer than my apartment nice. The rooms have hanging lamps! The NYT reports that Sweden’s so-called “open” prisons have “no fences, and room doors are locked by the prisoners themselves.” And then there’s this story, recounting three Israelis jailed abroad:

Three Israelis jailed in Scandinavian country turn down offer to continue serving their sentence in homeland, explain ‘here we are treated with steaks, sex and private television airing World Cup games for free’


So the moral here is move to Sweden, start a massively successful piracy site, and the worst case scenario is locking yourself up in a pleasure palace more chicly decorated than where you came from. [TorrentFreak]

Update:
– TorrentFreak reports that Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström were all given sentences scheduled to begin in a few months times. One defendant informed the site that an appeal will be made at the European Court of Justice, but that won’t affect the Swedish sentences from being carried out. The one complication: Sunde and Neij no longer live in Sweden. That loophole, and the fact the sentences are a few months away is why the Pirate Bay Blog currently states:

“Our 3 friends and blood brothers have been sentenced to prison. This might sound worse than it is. Since no one of them no longer lives in Sweden, they won’t go to jail. They are as free today as they were yesterday.”

– Meanwhile, the Pirate Bay website has been redirected to a .se domain, possibly to protect against US seizure.


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