Peter Sunde, one of the founders of popular torrenting database The Pirate Bay, is calling for online piracy to be redefined and made legal – as he believes it’s acceptable to view copyrighted content, so long as it isn’t readily available for all viewers.

To help you make sense of that warped opinion, Sunde is essentially saying that if the film you want to watch isn’t available on a viewing platform in your country of residence, you’re entitled to use a modified set-top box (such as a ‘Kodi box‘), torrenting software or a streaming website to obtain access to it, without paying a dime.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out that’s far from moral. You don’t go to a restaurant and leave before paying the bill – even if they don’t have your favourite dish on offer – do you? So why should you watch a movie or a TV show without paying the required fees? And if it isn’t available in your location, there’s usually a reason why.

That said, I can kind of see where Sunde – online alias brokep and also a member of Finland’s Pirate Party – is coming from. In today’s connected world, spoilers are lurking everywhere – and when you’re waiting a month to watch a show that aired on the other side of the pond yesterday, the temptation to fire up a shady website and stream it right away can be a little overwhelming.

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The entertainment industry is working on an outdated business model. If it wants to put an end to piracy once and for all, production companies need to ensure their licensed content is airing on the same day globally – and is available for everyone from at least one local content provider in every region. Some of our writers have argued this before specifically in relation to sport, and the same holds true of films and TV shows, to my mind.

Speaking to TorrentFreak, Sunde says he believes that there will be less online piracy in the future, with net neutrality playing a big part in the decrease in activity – but that will be short-lived. And when it returns, it will be back with a vengeance, leaving authorities trying to figure out how to curb piracy all over again, denting the entertainment industry in the process.

He told the site:

“I’m surprised that people are so short-sighted. The ‘solution’ to file sharing was never centralising content control back to a few entities – that was the struggle we were fighting for. Netflix, Spotify etc are not a solution but a loss. And it surprises me that the pirate movement is not trying to talk more about that.”

We should point out, however, that we don’t condone piracy. Rental and royalty fees keep the lights on for many production outlets and without them, we’d be deprived of quality content. Think about it: if everyone stopped paying for Netflix, it wouldn’t have the budget to fund another series of Stranger Things.

The same applies to every entertainment company – even YouTube.

Do you agree with Sunde? Should watching pirated content be made legal? Let us know your thoughts over on Facebook or Twitter @TrustedReviews.