Always new ways..

Common sense has never stopped a politician from making a law (which could be because of a lack of common sense on the part of politicians, but that's another discussion though a worthy one)

The 'getting away with it' is a big part of it. The thrill of being a reactionary against the Big Bad Establishment (read, Big Corporations and the Government) and flaunting the law without being caught.

For some there's real money in it as well. A colleagues son was arrested a few years ago when his internet use began to explode soon after getting cable.
The ISP flagged him for violating their fair use policy, when he didn't stop they took a look at what he was doing. He was downloading large amounts of Manga movies faster than anyone can watch them. A look at his website and email traffic turned up that he was burning those movies to DVD and selling them, at which point the whole thing was locked and turned over to law enforcement.

How about pay-for-torrents like torrents.searching.com or napster.com - what do they sell you? I understand itunes offering songs for $0.99 but why would anyone pay for a copy of funny TV ads or crappy paris hilton clips or home videos of theater movies, for that matter?

Oh well. Back to piratebay.com, I guess it is just a matter of time before the swedish government gives in to the Hollywood war on copyright issues.

Tivo to go anyone? (like the way they share board members with NetFlix)

You mean "it's only a matter of time before the Swedish government acknowledges that people have a right to determine how their work is distributed" I hope?
Because it sounds like you're actually defending blatant theft.

I have family that works in entertainment (more so on the starving artist side). I am all about freedom but not free domain. There is nothing right about cheating, no matter from what country, or stealing to be more accurate in this case.

I was also a DJ in popular nightclubs while young and felt a need and obligation to own it all (vinyl). I guess human nature is creating the demand for such illegal actions. But why does the Swedish government not have laws that hold up copyright infringement like the US and most other countries (according to piratebay's website)?

thepiratebay.org is legal under Swedish law. The reason they were raided was due to the Swedish government being put under pressure by the US government and the MPAA

Also, referring to the downloading of music, films and software as theft is totally incorrect. It is copyright infringement. The two are completely different.

i asked my law teacher he says in the uk pirating via bittorrent is the worst type of pircay charge as technically you are supplying if you are uploading

Nothing is absolute.

If we blindly follow laws, the world would be a pretty sad place. Not all laws are good. A healthy dose of skepticism as to the wisdom of our supposed leaders enacting the laws can only be beneficial to the society as a whole. That is the cornerstone of democracy. The people's wills will decide the path of the government and society, not the other way around.

If you look at the reverse side-of-the-coin, take for instance the greed motivating huge corporations like Sony and their rootkit DRM fiasco.

We had copyright laws to in effect maintain an equitable balance between the "copy rights" of the author of an original piece of work, and the implicit "fair use rights" of the patrons appreciating this piece of work.

I would agree it is fair the author should receive some form of financial compensation for his/her creations. Yet, once that creation has been offered out in the open, and the author has received some compensation, it now is in the non-private domain. Still is under copyright laws, so others should not monetarily profit from someone else's work. But the author just lost control of his work also. Fair trade. If the author wants full eternal control, then they should just keep their offerings to themselves, and not bother others.

Now, just because we live here or there, does not mean we (the people living here or there) have any monopoly on what is right or wrong elsewhere in the world. Thus each society is also usually its own sovereign country. Different cultures, languages, races, and social laws. The law of the land.

Who is to say, just because Greedy Hollywood lobbied and lined up the pockets of politicians for hire, to have them act favorably towards their own selfish interests, that DMCA is moral, ethical, or even necessary?

On the contrary, the world became a better place because people were give freedom of action, thought, and choice. And some revolutions (aka treason, against the law) were in order to attain the good world we live in today.

Those inventing the bit-torrent protocol did society and the Internet a huge favor. But simply looking at them like pirates, hackers, or second-class citizens is shortsighted at best.

Yet outdated methods of milking the last penny out of customers, using antiquated marketing techniques, not relevant to the costs of manufacturing these manufacturers charge is outrageous.

Wal-Mart became the largest retailer in the world, for one reason. They provide a win-win situation for the patrons as well as themselves. A good deal. They offer unconditional, and no-time-limit "satisaction guaranteed, or money back".

Try to get that out of Hollywood.

It would be gratifying to see some balance between what is wrong / right, and the fault does not always lie with the so called pirates. The real pirates are the greedy corporations, infecting society with DRM, DMCA, HDCP, and all kinds of other crap that have nothing to do with making Earth a better place, other than maximizing their own selfish profits, and shoving down our throats "their" morals, and "their" brainwashing.

I think the Swedes should do as they please, like Americans already do as they please. And should Sweden come up with different laws than in the US, so be it. They are as much entitled to their laws as we are in North America.

And in Canada, our laws allow both sharing, downloading, uploading because Hollywood imposed a levy on all recording media (CD, DVD, HDD, flash-cards) to be paid to "artists" somehow. The levy is more than the product sells for. Now that's obscene! But once Hollywood won these terms, it now comes to haunt them back. Because the levy is taken, now they have no cause to say they've not been compensated. In effect they shot themselves in the foot! All the way to the Supreme Court. Serves them right.

"The only constant is change" ~ Heraclites, Greek Philosopher 480BC

I don't think you will stop pirated software no matter what Micro$oft do. Pirate's will always find a way around things.