Encryption and file-sharing technology have a long history together. Usenet servers, LimeWire, uTorrent, and many other applications and protocols have taken advantage of encryption technology to help give the end user an additional layer of security. In response to Sweden's new wiretapping law, The Pirate Bay's Peter Sunde has announced the tracker’s intention to offer encryption services to its users.

According to the Local, Sweden's surveillance law, which passed on Thursday of this week, allows the government to monitor all incoming and outgoing transmissions in the name of national security.

Although The Pirate Bay's lobbying efforts against the bill were unsuccessful, the tracker still has a few cards left to play. According to Sunde, The Pirate Bay will roll out an encryption option this week.
"Many people have asked me what we’re planning to do," Peter writes in his blog "- and the answer is “A lot!”. We’re going to help out in any way we can with fighting the law. This week we’re going to add SSL to The Pirate Bay. We’re also going to help out making a website about easy encryption - both for your hard drives and your net traffic. As some people know, we’re running a system for VPN-tunnels already and we’re going to lower the price for that as well and open it up for international users as well."

The level of protection offered likely varies on the individual's geographical location. Since The Pirate Bay isn't actually situated in Sweden, a user in the United States isn't impacted by the law. However for the concerned user living in Sweden, the new SSL feature will offer some security against the perceived threat.

Historically, BitTorrent end users have faced little in the way of legal repercussions, regardless of their association with a tracker. Despite the seizure of LokiTorrent and EliteTorrent's userbase information, the only legal action taken was against the administration. That's not to say that can't change in Sweden, however history is on the side of the user – and so is The Pirate Bay. The irony, interestingly enough, is that both The Pirate Bay and Swedish Government's intentions are in the name of security.

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BitTorrent :: Trackers/Indexers

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