The movie and record industry associations want you to think that unauthorized copying -- oh sorry, "piracy" -- of their wares is eeeeevil because it funds terrorism. From which perspective, this is a decidedly mixed blessing. A peer-to-peer filesharing gizmo based in Palestine has declared:

JENIN, West Bank, Aug. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the email received today from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) to Earthstation 5 for copyright violations for streaming FIRST RUN movies over the internet for FREE, this is our official response!

Earthstation 5 is at war with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the Record Association of America (RIAA), and to make our point very clear that their governing laws and policys have absolutely no meaning to us here in Palestine, we will continue to add even more movies for FREE.

ES5 (http://www.es5 .com) does not require any signups, registration, credit cards and/or any other personal information to watch the first rate streamed movies like TERMINATOR 3, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, MATRIX RELOADED, etc.

Our secure software protect our users who use our P2P application and there is nothing that you can do to stop us, says Ras Kabir, president of Earthstation 5 (http:/www.earthstation5 .com).

On the one hand, this is based in Jenin, where everything that happens can be "linked to" a terrorist organization, at least if you aren't fussy about what constitutes a link. On the other hand, if they're putting the stuff out for FREE, they're not obviously in a position to fund much arms traffic...

Speaking of piracy, by the way, the writeup here of St. Michael's church on Virgin Gorda briefly mentions a real-life Reverend Dr. Syn -- a parson with a sideline in piracy, of the more traditional high-seas variety. This versatile fellow is also mentioned in the latest travelog of the mysterious Isabella V., in which she slips onto the island in a silenced boat under cover of darkness to evade customs, finds out she could have accomplished the same by docking the boat on a public wharf after 5:00 PM, defies death by driving a Suzuki Samurai on bad roads, and is finally chased off the island by a force she dares not confront -- obnoxious tourists.

EarthStation press release via Slashdot