Live data from Hacker News

Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

torrentfreak.com

41–50 of 84 posts

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#41
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the 60 million dollars are for two years, as described in the article linked from Torrentfreak. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-09/05/c_1318292...

So "only" 150% of the average yearly state expenses instead of 300%. Was there a point you were trying to make or you're just being pedantic?

I think the point he's trying to imply (and you're trying to ignore) is that Sweden effectively paid Cambodia $20 million to arrest this person.

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#42
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This would be a good time for an experienced enough investigating journalist to set up a Kickstarter project on it. I'd chip in at least..

Now that Peer has refuted the gossip[1], perhaps this topic can be considered settled. It's an interesting idea though. Some subjects are interesting enough that it actually might work. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4480830

I'm on no side, but what did he refute? That no strings were attached? That noone threatened to hold payments back?

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#43
post #32
post #18

Am I the only one tired over how TorrentFreak will say anything, related or not, to try to confirm their bias? This aid was decided on for over 5 months ago, in march 2012 ( http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/574/a/94013 ), and it is obviously not the result of Sweden trying to get at Svartholm. But if you want to be believe it then please do...

I didn't know Sweeden gave money to Cambodia and I am glad that TorrentFreak informed me of this. Foreign aid from rich to poor countries is used in general to keep diplomatic cooperation flowing smoothly in matters of interest to the giver country.

It's "Sweden," not "Sweeden." I see a lot of people making that mistake on HN[1].

[1] http://www.google.com/search?q=site:news.ycombinator.com+swe...

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#44
post #11

A more interesting question is, who is paying the Swedes, and how? They really don't have a dog in this fight, so whatever motivation they have, it hasn't been made public. Yet.

Uhm, we do pay taxes here you know :) As for the motives... IF the arrest of Anakata was a paid job, what other reasons than keeping good relations with the U.S. do we (or rather, the Swedish state) need?

A fair statement, but I'm not sure that nebulous 'good relations' are enough to explain the amount of time and money the Swedish government is pouring into what would seem, at least from a Swedish perspective, to be petty crime at best. I suspect there are much more specific gains being had, maybe officially through some kind of US concessions or accommodations, or unofficially. Certainly the RIAA and MPAA can open (and close) lucrative doors to Swedish media, for example.

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#45
post #38

This is not a story. Sweden have in the past (since 1979) sent aid to Cambodia. In 2011 we sent 168 million SEK and in 2012 and 2013 we will send 200 million (a total of 400 million for 2 years) and this was decided a long time ago. Do you really think Sweden will pay 400 million to get one person back and have him serve ONE year in prison? http://www.swedenabroad.com/sv-SE/Ambassader/Phnom-Penh/Utve...

For sure not. But if I'd pay 400M SEK and had a little wish, I'm sure I'd let the other side know about my wishes.

It's not my argument, but the interesting argument is not that Sweden paid 400M SEK to get a prisoner - that cause and effect are working this way. But it's interesting that he is arrested after quite some time in Cambodia and Sweden is paying 400M SEK aid.

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#46
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except the 60 million dollars are for two years, as described in the article linked from Torrentfreak. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-09/05/c_1318292...

So "only" 150% of the average yearly state expenses instead of 300%. Was there a point you were trying to make or you're just being pedantic?

You read my point. You can fill in the dots. Also, see the other comments in this thread that this is _old_ news, which predates Anakata's arrest.

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#47
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> They really don't have a dog in this fight Really? "The Pirate Bay (commonly abbreviated TPB) is a Swedish file-sharing website founded in 2003..." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay There are media companies in other parts of the world too you know. The world is a big place, it even exists outside the US.

Thanks for the enlightening observation, but I'm already quite aware that TPB is in Sweden; nonetheless, the Swedish government has gone to what would seem to be extraordinary lengths to punish an offense that has had a minimal impact on its citizens, and rather disproportionate impact on outsiders. I ask again, what are the Swedes getting out of this?

Historically, Sweden has to rely on the US for defence vs a certain Bear in their neighbourhood. Even during the Cold War, their allegedly-neutral stance was really backed by US reassurances. Maintaining good relationships with their American friends is clearly seen by the establishment as worth much more than the life of a couple of nerds and some free movies.

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#48
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody is claiming that Svartholm alone was worth $60M to Sweden. Still, is it equally "obvious" to you that not even a tiny fraction of the lump amount was allocated to "strengthen the relationships between the immigration departments" of the two countries? If you want to believe it then please do...

I thought that was exactly what the article tried to imply. From the article: "But today, in another one of those unusual political coincidences, Cambodian officials announced the “strengthening of bilateral ties” with Sweden – along with a $59 million aid package sweetener."

The implication is that the package helped (in part or in whole, that's not implied) sweeten the deal. How does the fact that it was decided half a year go make it obvious that the implication is wrong? Wasn't Svartholm wanted back then?

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So "only" 150% of the average yearly state expenses instead of 300%. Was there a point you were trying to make or you're just being pedantic?

I think the point he's trying to imply (and you're trying to ignore ) is that Sweden effectively paid Cambodia $20 million to arrest this person.

I'm not really following your math, the point is that it's a shit-ton of money for Cambodia, whether we're talking about $60M or $30M per year.

Re: Pirate Bay Founder Arrest Followed By $59m Swedish Aid Package For Cambodia

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ah, so the folks who were inexplicably sure that it had nothing to do with his Pirate Bay association were completely wrong. I know that was probably an emotional response and the phrase "correlation does not imply causation" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_caus... ) gets thrown around here alot more than it should but that's a very strong statement to make. Is it possible that it's true,…

Yes, plausible deniability is present... the Swedish may have a soft spot for Cambodia's challenges. A list of Swedish foreign aid amounts and recipients would be interesting to compare this $59M with.

as someone else pointed out. The $59M is over 2 years, and the foreign aid was decided on 6 months previous to this.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4480754

Post reply on HN