It seems the Web Sheriff is coming to Sweden. The Web Sheriff is John Giacobbi (pictured) who works for the Entertainment Law Associates (ELA) who have managed to recruit Prince who says he is going to sue The Pirate Bay (and ebay and YouTube). What is most appealing about this story is the character of Sheriff John Giacobbi, who seems to be pulling away from the pirate metaphors used so often regarding file sharing technology and is taking up the wild west outlaw motif (ELA also includes Wild West Management).
Maybe we are entering a new phase of the P2P situation? I watched the BBC series Blackbeard recently and I learnt something about pirates from it. The "Golden Age of Piracy" began with the 'discovery' of the Americas by Europeans and ended with the establishment of European law around the colonies in the 18th century. With the establishment of law began the expansion west and from that the mythology of the frontier was developed.
Perhaps the digital frontier is now taking over from the utopian 'uncharted territory' (terra incognita) motif that, although it remains regarding cyberspace, is not as strong as it was 10 years ago.
Whether or not Sheriff John Giacobbi can ride into town (Sweden) and take out a mean hombre remains to be seen. Judging by the Torrentfreak reactions it is not being taken too seriously.
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