sweden

A group of supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed responsibility today for hacking into and jamming several Swedish government Web sites, according to the Associated Press.

Initiating a denial-of-service attacks, the hacking group reportedly took down the Web sites of the Swedish government, armed forces, and the Swedish Institute for several hours.

According to the Associated Press, it isn't clear who was behind the attacks but an unidentified group announced responsibility on Twitter and told the Swedish government to take its "hands off Assange."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden to face questioning about allegations that he committed sex crimes, the U.K. Supreme Court has ruled.

Six law lords today said that the WikiLeaks editor can be extradited to Sweden under a European arrest warrant, as requested by Swedish prosecutors. Assange was not present to hear the London court's ruling.

"The request for Mr. Assange's extradition has been lawfully made, and his appeal has been dismissed," said Supreme Court president Lord Phillips as he handed down the court's decision.

The decision was not unanimous, with … Read more

The European Court of Justice laid down a law interpretation today that could have a profound impact on the prosecution of alleged pirates in Sweden.

The ECJ said today (translate) that Sweden's law does not provide any barriers for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to hand over the data of alleged pirates when rightsholders, trying to prosecute those folks, request it. The move could pave the way for Sweden's highest court to force ISPs to hand over user data upon request whenever a person is suspected of pirating music, movies, e-books, or any other form of entertainment.

Those on … Read more

Jeff took a spill on the ice during a hockey game yesterday, but he manages to limp his way into the studio to help us out with today's rundown. We wouldn't be The 404 if we didn't cover the 2Pac holographic concert at Coachella last weekend, and even though it's technically just a clever optical illusion, we're excited about the upcoming 2.0Pac tour and the potential of resurrecting our own favorite performers from history.

Meanwhile, Ikea furniture designers in Sweden have come up with a new way to vertically integrate their furniture with another … Read more

The torrent-downloading site The Pirate Bay announced last week in a blog post that the Swedish authorities had launched a new criminal investigation into its activities.

"The Swedish district attorney Fredrik Ingblad initiated a new investigation into The Pirate Bay back in 2010," the blog said. "Information has been leaked to us every now and then by multiple sources, almost on a regular basis."

Today, the torrent news site TorrentFreak confirmed that the Swedish police were looking into The Pirate Bay. Apparently, authorities requested that the Swedish hosting company Binero, where The Pirate Bay is registered, … Read more

Three of The Pirate Bay's founders won't be able to argue their case before the Sweden Supreme Court.

Earlier today, the court announced that it won't hear an appeal by Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl Lundstrom, meaning the jail sentences and fines imposed by the lower Swedish Court of Appeals will stand.

Torrent Freak was first to report on the news.

The trouble for the men started in earnest in April 2009 when a Swedish court found them guilty on charges of making 33 copyright-protected files available for illegal file sharing on The Pirate Bay. The … Read more

Do you pray to the god of file sharing? If so, you might want to move to Sweden. The Church of Kopimism--a group with roots in file sharing and the notion that everything should be free--is now an official religion there.

Kopimism is the brainchild of philosophy student Isak Gerson, who founded the church in 2010 to protect his beliefs that copying and sharing information is a good thing. (If Kopimism has a Ten Commandments equivalent, I'm guessing "Thou shall not steal" didn't make the cut.)

Before you dispute Kopimism as hogwash, there are some things to consider. According to TorrentFreak, the movement has a couple thousand followers, and the number is expected to rise with its official status. … Read more

Battlefield 3's multiplayer mode is hugely addictive; just ask my girlfriend, who has become a keyboard widow. Now I come to find out EA and DICE will actually financially reward people like me for logging in to the game next weekend.

While Battlefield 3 is the hot ticket right now, the looming shadow of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and several other major titles is just around the corner.

In what we're guessing is a response to any potential BF3 interest that may wane when those games arrive, EA and DICE are holding a Battlefield 3 "Says Thanks" sweepstakes. Eligibility is simple, and mostly anyone can enter by simply logging in to the multiplayer portion of the game on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC from November 11 to 13. … Read more

Expect Facebook's new server farm to be pretty cool.

The social-networking giant is expected to announce tomorrow that it will build its first non-U.S. server farm in Lulea, a town in northern Sweden about 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, according to a report in the Telegraph.

The new farm will comprise three server halls covering an area about the size of 11 football fields and will take advantage of the region's cool temperatures to keep its equipment cold. The Lulea River, which is said to produce twice as much hydro-electric power as the Hoover Dam, is … Read more