ARTICLE
The Gray Zone: Networks of Piracy, Control, and Resistance
Burcu Bakioğlu
Taking Operation Payback and the broader context provided by The Pirate Bay as a point of reference, I consider the role of network-based initiatives in shaping the digital rights movement. I argue that Operation Payback is a significant milestone in copyright controversies because it exposed formal and informal, legal and extralegal strategies that have crystallized into an intricate business model around intellectual property. The most consequential outcome of this operation was that it created a focus on privacy violations that occurred at the behest of copyright, and thus, revealed the tensions between intellectual property and privacy. In so doing, it brought privacy concerns front and center, galvanizing unprecedented support for the digital rights movement.
--In loving memory of my dad, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Bakioğlu