Is there an international obligation to prosecute pirates

Combating piracy at sea and apprehending pirates have been a long-standing problem for the global community. Increasing acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia have prompted the UN Security Council to intervene in the matter. The Council, through several resolutions, has authorised states to take action against Somali pirates in the territorial waters and land territory of Somalia and recently adopted a resolution urging all states to fully implement relevant international conventions in their domestic legal systems. However, despite the Security Council's intervention in the matter most states are still reluctant to prosecute Somali pirates in their domestic courts. Considering the most recent Security Council resolution and existing international law, this article examines whether there is an international obligation to criminalise piracy under domestic legal frameworks and to prosecute pirates in domestic courts. It submits that existing international law arguably imposes an obligation to prosecute pirates, at least in certain circumstances, and the recently adopted Security Council resolution reinforces this obligation.

The transformation of Sweden from a haven for online pirates to the hope of the digital music industry [Musikbranschens föregångsland]

1974 was the year when the Swedish pop group ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton and when Blue Swede reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Although Swedish pop music gained some international success even prior to 1974, this year is often considered as the beginning of an era in which Swedish pop music had great success around the world. With brands such as ABBA, Europe, Roxette, The Cardigans, Ace of Base, In Flames, Robyn, Avicii, Swedish House Mafia and music producers Stig Andersson, Ola Håkansson, Dag Volle, Max Martin, Andreas Carlsson, Jorgen Elofsson and several others have the myth of the Swedish music miracle kept alive for nearly more than four decades. Swedish music looks to continue reap success around the world, but since the millennium, Sweden's relationship with music has been more focused on relatively controversial Internet-based services for music distribution developed by Swedish entrepreneurs and engineers rather than on successful musicians and composers. This chapter focusses on the music industry in Sweden. The chapter will discuss the development of the Internet services mentioned above and their impact on the production, distribution and consumption of recorded music. Ample space will be given in particular to Spotify, the music service that quickly has fundamentally changed the music industry in Sweden. The chapter will also present how the music industry's three sectors - recorded music, music licensing and live music - interact and evolve in Sweden.

Prosecution of maritime pirates : the national court is dead—long live the national court

Piracy is one of the main maritime security concerns in the contemporary world. The number of piracy incidents is increasing rapidly, which is highly problematic for maritime security. Although international law provides universal jurisdiction for the prosecution of maritime pirates, the actual number of prosecutions is alarmingly low compared to the number of incidents of piracy. Despite many states becoming parties to the relevant international conventions, they are reluctant to establish the necessary legal and institutional frameworks at the national level for the prosecution of pirates. The growing incidences of piracy and the consequential problems associated with prosecuting pirates have created doubts about the adequacy of the current international legal system, which is fully dependent on national courts for the prosecution of pirates. This article examines the possible ways for ensuring the effective prosecution of pirates. Contrary to the different proposals forwarded by researchers in the wake of Somali piracy for the establishment of international judicial institutions for the prosecution of pirates, this article argues that the operationalization of national courts through the proper implementation of relevant international legal instruments within domestic legal systems is the most viable solution. However, this article submits that the operationalization of national courts will not be very successful following the altruistic model of universal adjudicative jurisdiction. A state may enact legislation implementing universal jurisdiction but will not be very interested in prosecuting a pirate in its national court if it has no relation with the piratical incident. Rather, it will be successful if the global community seriously implement the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA Convention), which obligates the states that have some connection with a piratical incident to prosecute pirates in their national courts.

Why a movie tax will make even more of us pirates

In a nation of rampant illegal downloaders, a tax on movies and television downloads is the last thing we need. Australian consumers and content producers are among those likely to be worse off should Joe Hockey succeed in his efforts to extend GST to online video-on-demand services like Netflix. It is easy to see why Mr Hockey and his state treasurer counterparts have reportedly agreed to this move. That doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

The shoe sellers of Karoussades

A short travel memoir about the village of Karoussades, Corfu. Early on my first day in the village, a message came that two respectable ladies of Karoussades, its shoe sellers, needed a section of wall lime-washed. They were willing to use the black market labour organized from the Pirate’s taverna, where I waited for my first job—but they did ask that he send someone polite...

Claiming the moral high ground in the copyright wars

Copyright was once one of the more obscure areas of law. It applied primarily to resolve disputes between rival publishers, and there was a time, not too long ago, when ordinary people gave it no thought. Copyright disputes were like subatomic particles: everyone knew that they existed, but nobody had ever seen one. In the digital age, however, copyright has become a heated, passionate, bloody battleground. The 'copyright wars' now pitch readers against authors, pirates against publishers, and content owners against communications providers. Everyone has heard a movie producer decry the rampant infringement of streaming sites, or a music executive suggest that BitTorrent is the end of civilisation as we know it. But everyone infringes copyright on an almost constant basis - streaming amateur videos with a soundtrack that isn't quite licensed, filesharing mp3s, copying LOLcat pictures from Facebook, posting pictures on Pinterest without permission, and so on - and most know full well they're in breach of the law.