Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer
It was a legal civil action, I agree. However, just because it was legal doesn't mean it was just. The UK public is barred from accessing a website and the operators of The Pirate Bay have had their site blocked in the UK even though they could not make any arguments in the court proceedings (since the action wasn't against them). As I said, even if you don't like The Pirate Bay, this sets a worrisome precedent in the UK for site blocking with seemingly little consideration about the harm blocking causes to the public.
Maybe a more apt analogy than petty theft would be the police shutting down a printing press that was printing pro-piracy pamphlets, as well as other material.
Popular speech, like the websites that you describe above rarely need special protection under the law; unpopular speech, like that contained on The Pirate Bay, is where consideration of free speech is actually necessary.
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An even more apt analogy would be an organization that provides a printing press set up to print copies of copyrighted material (without obtaining permission of the copyright holder or providing any compensation to same) and invites anyone in the public who wishes to do so to come in a print a copy for themselves for free. The Pirate Bay does not just advocate piracy, it facilitates it and provides the means.