And so they finally arrived; the latest legal threats against Swedish file sharing nexus Pirate Bay. The online piracy drama has been on the news consistently throughout the years since the Napster service was first launched in America. Now a collection of record and movie companies, pop artists and various lobby groups are cracking down on possibly the world's largest Bittorrent site and the Swedish authorities don't know how to proceed with the case.

Personally, I couldn't care less about what's going to happen with the Pirate Bay. While I've downloaded music in the past and bought most of the stuff I've found worthy to own in physical form, I'm no fan of this piracy culture. It seems to me that it mostly consists out of bored and uncultivated people who have nothing better to do with their time than to download entertainment. As if the TV wasn't enough, the computer today has become an advanced television with keyboard.

I'm surprised the movie and music industry didn't expect this before they turned these mediums into pure commercial products. People feel no obligation to make millionaire artists and billionaire directors even richer. They sense this is all one huge profit machine and simply want the product, a desire created and sustained by the entertainment industry. And now it claims to be under threat? Give me a break.

When I observe the piracy debate, I see these two camps whine over self-interests. The media industry wants a tight monopoly on everything they produce and the consumers want the right to consume as freely and cheaply as they can. It's like a zoo, where the caretaker brainwashes chimps with bananas and suddenly the chimps go wild and do anything to get their hands on a yellow fruit. I'm not sure our lives will get better if we're allowed to download all the music in the world. Likewise, I don't see the industry contributing with anything of artistic or cultural worth, even if they bring in 30 instead of 20 million dollars on Alien 6 or American Pie 98.

Piracy is a sinking ship. It's an embarrassing remnant of a society that only revolves around financial profits and self-interests. Some people will say it's good to be able to download a CD or a movie before buying it, and I agree with this, but we all know this piracy cult is not really just about "trying out new stuff." Like TV, video games and sex, it's more like a drug to make us endure our passive, boring lives. We're tired of all shit around us and therefore consume entertainment to pass the time for an hour or two. All talk about "new releases," "sequels" and "special cuts" is just bullshit to have something to discuss.

We need to rise above this behaviour. Stop downloading and buying things you don't need. Once you realize that the desire to consume is simply a social costruction to control you, you will slowly break free from this mentality and spend your time on more constructive things. Abandon the sinking consumer ship; soon it lies on the bottom of the sea and at that point, no one could care less about "free culture" and "legal rights." Forget all your rights. You have a responsibility to wake up, trash all entertainment and make something out of your life. Make this into your ethos and watch the world around you crumble into pieces with a smile on your face.