THE PIRATEBAY WORM

Abstract

The Pirate Bay is a digital and physical avant-garde media library in which you can find more than 6500 items including zines, books, CDs and DVDs. The users can access this library using two different paths. On the one hand the digital library is available online (http://thepiratebay.worm.org ) . Here you can find an extensive list of items that are available and you can obtain an identifier and description in order to facilitate the search process. Some of these items are directly available online so you can find a link to the content under the "relation" label (The Pirate Bay never offers you the files directly). On the other hand you can use the physical library placed in Worm-Rotterdam that you can visit in pre-defined time slots (Every Wednesday till Friday from 20.00-23.00 you can access ). The access to this library is free and it's promoted under the slogan "downloads are boring and passé" encouraging users to have a physical approach to the items that they are interested in.

This library is based on a "do it yourself" attitude. You can visit the physical storage and photocophy zines or books, digitise the VHS tapes or burn CDs or DVDs and everything for free. Worm Pirate Bay library is not just a place to copy paste it's also a space to enjoy. Promoted under the name: THE DISPLAY, this area allows you reading, watching, listening and sleeping inside this soft, pink womb. Pirate Bay library believes that "everything is for everyone", and "copyright is the biggest killer of creativity" so this library is publishing all this content defending that its latest goal is a global and common interest.

Questions

What is the motivation to make such a library? The idea of creating a community seems to be there ; to what degree is it built on an existing infrastructure.? They used to have a DVD library and a bookshop used to be there (so the conditions for a publically shared space were already established.. What are they trying to achieve by dividing the avilable time to visit it into time small time slots, does this create a space that while being more limited also enhances the community aspect of it? The physical space of worm is directly connected to the web library. It requires some effort to go there, some time too. Is that an important feature? Is fast access not a priority? By asking users of the library to pirate material on location, who bears the responsibility for breaking the law? Is this a phenomenon of the withdrawal of social welfare, allowing new agents to appear in place of what used to be the responsibility of the state? Is there a battlefield of whose responsibility is to provide a public library, and to offer knowledge? If you have to do a physical work to obtain your information ( photocophy, burn a cd) you are more careful and selective with the information that you are interested in. How do you know you are breaking the law? Are you conscious you are breaking the law? If I am not conscious when I am breaking the law. Am I doind that by accident? Does the action of copying raise my awareness that 'property is theft' (everything is for everyone)? To what degree is it a symbolic institution? Which are the regulations when you are copying something in a physical field? Is this physical and close relation safer when we talk about breaking the law terms? Is there any intention of curating material or is everything valid? They have tags There should be a connection between the people who run it and the content; requires effort from user and custodans.