Mininova: Tax-Paying Internet Pirates

As the trial of Pirate Bay, one of the most prominent torrent tracking Web-sites in the world, unfolds in Sweden (the verdict is expected on April 17th), the subject of Internet piracy has attracted a considerable amount of public attention.  The common misconception about sites like Pirate Bay is that they are usually run by ...

As the trial of Pirate Bay, one of the most prominent torrent tracking Web-sites in the world, unfolds in Sweden (the verdict is expected on April 17th), the subject of Internet piracy has attracted a considerable amount of public attention.  The common misconception about sites like Pirate Bay is that they are usually run by shady criminals operating on the margins of the shadow economy, hiding their servers in the third world or, at least, in deep basements of their houses. To dispel this myth, TorrentFreak, the go-to source for anyone who wants to understand Internet piracy and file-sharing, has posted highlights of an interview (in German) that the founders of Mininova, which, by some counts, is even more popular than the Pirate Bay, gave to the Austrian public radio.

Quite surprisingly, Mininova is a very successful and fully legal (and even tax-paying) Dutch company, with revenues of over one million dollars a year (and they seem to have a very nice office too, to judge by the photos over at TorrentFreak). Mininova’s secret? They have a proper copyright takedown request system, so the rightholders could complain  to Mininova’s management about copyright violations (the Pirate Bay doesn’t like to compromise at all – hence the lawsuit). This is apparently enough to satisfy Dutch authorities (although BREIN, the prominent Dutch anti-piracy group had been pressing Mininova to pro-actively censor their content even before they hear from the rightholders).

Photo by  earcos/Flickr

Evgeny Morozov is a fellow at the Open Society Institute and sits on the board of OSI's Information Program. He writes the Net Effect blog on ForeignPolicy.com

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.