Day two of the TBP is on the books and the big news of the day: 50% of the charges where dropped. Although that may a headline, there is more substance on the sidelines. For example, the comments on twitter are hilarious, smart and interesting. Unfortunately I didn’t flag them or save them, however if you been following it, you know what I’m talking about. If you don’t well most of the jokes are toward the Prosecutor Håkan Roswall technological incompetence and illiteracy to fully understand BitTorrent. He could just gone to How Stuff Work and showed the “How BitTorrent Works”, instead of using slides and videos.

Blog post are abundant, however is though to follow everything. From twitter I found a post by Thomas Mennecke on Slyke news (i guess is a news blog). He recalls the how almost 10 years ago Napster made P2P mainstream, how this trial in essence is similar to what went on with Napster. I love to look for patterns and anomalies (don’t do it professionally) and I’m a fan that history (kind off) repeats itself. I agree with Thomas last statement:

BitTorrent, file-sharing, and P2P technology isn’t going anywhere.

The thing is that ”old habits are tough to break” and 10 years on the internet is a lifetime. For this habit to continue, our dependence on TPB (site and tracker), Mininova and other sites should decrease. Imagine if they all closed today. What will be of the world with so much hunger? Some may panic, other will move on and few will try to find a way out and create new ways to share. Still the P2P world will be less worried, if there were more niche torrents trackers i.e wrestling, basketball, Fox cartoons, manga. In other words “not having all our eggs in one basket”. But maybe we need this test, generally people become very resourceful in critical times, at the end of the day only time will tell.

I guess this is Håkan Roswall before the trial (source)

To finish, here are some random thoughts and lessons from this two days:

• Håkan Roswall is a great example of how when people spend a lot time in a box (his being law) we become incompetent on other boxes (common sense and technology). So, Håkan next time get a Mac and a kid to explain the “complicated” tech stuff.
• The people, the community and the customers are not always right, but they are actually in control (we just need help other people see it)
• Times have change and there will be always resistance to change
• Have you ever ask yourself what will you do if you had stock on MGM, Warner, Fox, etc?
• ideas are stronger than words and richer than richest of them all.
• We need more private trackers, then again we need places so anybody can have their private trackers
• Not anybody can do what the TPB founders are doing, in other words “not everybody is made of the same wood”.
• Thanks to Sofia for great work.
• Finally, some people just don’t get it, either because they don’t care, conflict of interests or simply they are blinded by greed.

Note: You can download the new “Steal this film: trial edition” here and remember to visit torrentfreak regularly if you just want a recap and not follow the conversation in twitter.

Some will call it “the political trial of the decade” or a “show… or an spectacle”, however at the end of the day (and many to come) is a battle of interests. In one corner the plaintiffs:  20th Century Fox, EMI, MGM, Colombia Pictures, Warner Bros, Sony BMG and Universal. On the other The Pirate Bay (TPB) and a community of people in pro of choice, freedom to share ideas, files, media, feelings, etc. It’s not a clash of generations, although is tough to argue on that when you see the people against TPB. Niether is a clash of ideologies, its about the money, money the plaintiffs think they are not making, because people choose to download either than to buy it.

The trial is important because “the people” (we, the customers of the plaintiffs) are asking for a change, and not through hallow words, but through action. You see when there was no Internet, we didn’t have a choice, we had to consume what they wanted us to consume, see what they wanted us to see. At the same time we permitted them to accumulate riches at our expenses, but times had change we have more power, freedom to choose and we just realized that. We had chosen to consume without paying and if we find it fitting we will give back by becoming fans, sharing, spreading the word, hosting the media, buying merchandise that supports the artists and through other ways of supporting the creators of media.

You may think, how is possible, why should we given “that privilege” to watch a movie or listen to a cd for free, and then decide if we should pay for it. Then I ask, what is a movie without eyes to see it or a song without ears to listen and feet to dance? Who is the privilege now, here is a hint: they are. Its like food court Chinese restaurants or shops at a fair, they are competing for you to buy their food and goods, they give you a free sample and decide or can even choose to neglect them.

Gottfrid Svartholm Warg (aka Anakata), Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi (aka Brokep) and Fredrik Neij (TiAMO), The Pirate Bay Founders chose to take a stand for us. Their intentions may be question, however for their gutsy performance you have to cheer for them. Ask yourself the following: will you risk what they have at stake, to take a stand for your ideas? Not many people will do, however they are not alone and that is for a reason.

If The Pirate Bay wins, appeals will come and if they lose nothing will change, the community will find a way to continue fighting. The interesting thing is that the result itself is not important. However it is important because its an eye opener, it permits the community to grow stronger and continue to take a stand.

In the meantime I salute at the The Pirate Bay, the community of supporters and at Sofia for translating the trial through Twitter.

For more check the Torrent Freak converge here and here.