PIRATE BAY CLOSED AS RESULT OF COURT INJUNCTION

UNCLAS STOCKHOLM 000546 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KIPR ECON ETRD PGOV SW SUBJECT: PIRATE BAY CLOSED AS RESULT OF COURT INJUNCTION ¶1. (U) Notorious BitTorrent tracker site "The Pirate Bay" was closed down on August 24 after a court injunction. The Stockholm District Court ordered the Internet Service Provider Black Internet to stop supplying the file sharing site The Pirate Bay with capacity. Faced with a fine of 500,000 kronor ($70,700) Black Internet decided to cut off the Pirate Bay, and the site has been closed since. ¶2. (U) "We received the decision about the fine shortly after lunch and turned off capacity just before 3 PM. There are laws and regulations in society and one should follow them. What we think about this and how we shall act in the future remains undecided," Black Internet's CEO Victor Moller told newspapers. ¶3. (U) The court ordered that server capacity to The Pirate Bay should be closed pending the conclusion of the court case directed against the founders of the website by the U.S. film and music industry. According to Moller, The Pirate Bay is unlikely to remain out of service for long. He said that Black Internet is probably the largest service provider, but not the only one. However, the court injunction was only directed towards Black Internet. BARZUN