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Comment by josho | Hacker News Reader

This illustrates just how hard it is to stay anonymous while conducting commerce. Ie. the pirate bay has been de-anonymized across several political jurisdictions and is one VPN bug or compromise away from being exposed and being shutdown again.

And is interesting to contrast to how seemingly easy it is for the wealthy (people and corporations) to Legally hide their wealth to minimize their taxes.

It’s telling who really has the power.

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> is one VPN bug or compromise away from being exposed

You assume they use one vpn, after the sort of attack they suffered in the past? That's naïve.

TPB, by now, is likely a marvel of security engineering. They've definitely put too much trust in legal systems in the past, but I bet they won't make that mistake again.

It would be neat if they could document their setup so that others could benefit and replicate it, but in doing so, that would likely expose them.

Let’s be honest, The Pirate Bay exists and is primarily used to illegally download porn, movies, video games, and other software. You can try to sugar coat what PB can theoretically be used for, but that’s not what it is actually used for. A fraction of a fraction of the data transactions that originate from the PB are for “conducting commerce”. I have no idea what that has to do with people legally following tax codes in multiple jurisdictions for their own financial gain... that just seems smart.

Edit, to add: given what the PB is generally used for, people should not be surprised that content creators are hiring people to try to disrupt its existence.

It's an odd time to tackle PB for these issues, however. The convenience of streaming services is well worth the cost to most people. Credential sharing is likely a much bigger issue for these markets.

Continuous monitoring via FaceID FTW...

Just because it's illegal, doesn't mean it's wrong.

Just like a lot of other life pleasures ;)

Remember, it's only external, artificial entities who say something is illegal for you. And often they do not have your best interest at heart. Therefore, live life the way you want to as long as it doesn't infringe on the rights of others.

A true libertarian society would be Heaven on Earth.

Huh? I would assume that "conducting commerce" means TPB selling ad space..

I have Netflix, Youtube TV, Tivo with OTA, Amazon Prime, Apple TV (from new iphone). I have no problem acquiring new subscriptions.

I still grab stuff off TPB just because it's easier, faster, and more convenient. I cannot stand this cluster-f of gimped interfaces (eg. youtube on pretty much any device), dangling boxes, remote controls, and hdmi switches.

I don't have time for all that crap. TPB downloads appear right at the top of the list of my primary device.

I don't mind paying. But we have to admit television is a mess right now and tpb fixes that mess.

edit: obvious caveat I'm sure many people on tpb are pirate

I 100% agree and am in the same boat - I have many subscriptions and still use TPB at least weekly. I’m just not surprised when I hear that big corps are actively trying to dismantle TPB, nor do I think they are doing anything untoward in actively trying to protect their IP and profit from their media. I wish they would put that money and energy into making their products better and more accessible even when I am trying to pay for them, but that’s just my view. I try to give my money away to watch a number of Euro soccer leagues and nobody will take it. So I pirate all those streams.

Try newline or vanced on Android. They are frontend apps for YouTube that resolve most of the issues

Minor correction, it's "NewPipe".

Bah. The powers that be are abusing their influence over the legislative to completely pervert the original intent of the copyright system. I have not problem whatsoever with TPB existing and applaud its continued presence on the web.

I guess with "Content creators" you mean the multinational corporations that bind the artists, rob them of their creations and strip them of their ability to ever be able to make money from their art?

>illegally download porn

People use torrents to download porn? Actually? Why? Why would someone spend the time to torrent porn when there's a bajillion instantaneous free ways of seeing porn?

Not all porn is equal, I guess?

Quality, niche, continuity of collection after legal/moral societal changes.

> Let’s be honest, The Pirate Bay exists and is primarily used to illegally download porn

The plebs have digital porn, the rich have Epstein's phone number. A lot of resources is spent investigating the former...

Once you stop trying to shove DRM into everything, maybe people will pirate less.

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