Free Anakata Petition A Success! Pirate Bay Founder Gets Access to His Books After Public Outcry!

It looks like the "Free Anakata Petition" was a success!

A petition with more than 100,000 signatures set to improve the prison life of Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Svartholm and apparently it was a success. Among other things, the Danish authorities are now allowing him to access the books he brought from Sweden. Previously, the police feared that these books could contain secret messages. In addition, Svartholm is now allowed to interact with other inmates, order books from the library, and have a Playstation 2 in his cell too.

Following a failed appeal to the Supreme Court in Sweden, Gottfrid Svartholm was extradited to Denmark last November, where he stands accused of hacking into the mainframe computers of IT company CSC.

The Pirate Bay founder was put in solitary confinement, as the authorities feared that he would try to exchange sensitive information with the outside world.

These restrictions also meant that he couldn't access the books he brought from Sweden.

As time passed by the restrictions were somewhat loosened. Gottfrid's solitary confinement and the restriction against meeting with other inmates were canceled earlier this month but access to his books and other reading material were still off-limits.

In an interview with TorrentFreak, Gottfrid's mother Kristina explained that she can't even send him a copy of "The Economist", as the responsible police officer fears that it may contain secret messages.

"One of the magazines that Gottfrid subscribes to is 'The Economist'. I get his copy at my home address every week, wrapped in plastic, directly from the publishers. According to the police officer in charge, this magazine could contain 'secret messages' and he therefore has check it and read it before handing it over," Kristina says.

Unfortunately, the officer in question doesn't read English, so "The Economist" never reaches Gottfrid.

When the news about Gottfrid's prison circumstances got around, a petition was started by the "Free Anakata Campaign" and the "Free Anakata Petition" was born. It asks the Danish Prime Minister to improve his conditions. Initially there were only a few hundred backers but last week this quickly grew to more than 50,000, and then quickly doubled to 100,000.