View source for Company:PRQ

{{Short description|Swedish internet service provider}}
{{Infobox company
 | name = PRQ
 | logo = PRQ logo.jpg
 | type =
 | genre =
 | foundation =
 | founder =
 | location_city =
 | location_country =
 | location = [[Place:Stockholm|Stockholm]], Sweden
 | locations =
 | area_served =
 | key_people = Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm
 | industry = Internet service provider
 | products = [[Web hosting service]]
 | services =
 | market cap =
 | revenue =
 | operating_income =
 | net_income =
 | assets =
 | equity =
 | owner =
 | num_employees =
 | parent =
 | divisions =
 | subsid =
 | homepage = {{URL|www.prq.se}}
 | footnotes =
 | intl =
 | module = {{Infobox NSP
| child = yes
| asn = [http://bgp.he.net/AS33837 33837]
| peeringpolicy = Open
}}
}}
'''PRQ''' is a Swedish Internet service provider and web hosting company created in 2004.

==Ownership==
Based in Stockholm, PRQ was created by Gottfrid Svartholm and Fredrik Neij, two founders of [[Social:The Pirate Bay|The Pirate Bay]].<ref>Häyhtiö, Tapio. ''Net working/Networking'', Tampere University Press, p. 344, 2008.</ref>

== Business model ==
Part of PRQ's business model is to host any customers, regardless of how odd or controversial they may be. ''The New York Times'' wrote in 2008 that "The Pirate Bay guys have made a sport out of taunting all forms of authority, including the Swedish police, and PRQ has gone out of its way to be a host to sites that other companies would not touch."<ref>Gallagher, David F. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B01E5D7173CF936A15751C0A96E9C8B63 BITS; Wikileaks Has Friend in Sweden] ''The New York Times''. 25 February 2008.</ref> The PRQ service has been described as "highly secure, no-questions-asked hosting services". The company holds almost no information about its clientele and is maintaining few if any of its own logs, according to a 2008 news report.<ref name="register1">Goodin, Dan. [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/21/wikileaks_bulletproof_hosting/ Wikileaks judge gets Pirate Bay treatment], ''The Register'', 21 February 2008.</ref> Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm are said to have amassed "considerable expertise in withstanding legal attacks". Svartholm is quoted to have said, "We do employ our own legal staff. We are used to this sort of situation" in a telephone interview.<ref name="register1" /> Due to hosting The Pirate Bay, PRQ was the target of a police raid.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1205 |title=Slyck News – Aftermath of The Pirate Raids |publisher=Slyck.com |accessdate=26 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211163304/http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1205 |archive-date=11 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Criticism ==
The co-founders have been criticized for hosting controversial websites, including web pages that promote paedophilia,<ref name="dagensnyheter">Carp, Ossi. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100724151046/http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/pedofilsajt-tar-skydd-av-lagen-1.598221 Pedofilsajt tar skydd av lagen] ''Dagens Nyheter'', 5 June 2007</ref><ref name="register2">Libbenga, Jan. [https://web.archive.org/web/20111228020241/http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/06/05/pirate_bay_hosts_dodgy_site/ Pirate Bay founders host paedophilia site] ''The Register''. 5 June 2007.</ref><ref>Thangham, Chris V. [http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/192076 Pirate Bay Founders Host Paedophilia Site, Calling it Free Speech] ''Digital Journal''. 6 June 2007.</ref> such as the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA), a paedophile and pederasty advocacy organization. Local authorities and anti-paedophilia activists in Sweden have failed to persuade PRQ to close the sites.<ref name="local">Vinthagen, Peter. [http://www.thelocal.se/25986/20100409/ Police powerless to close paedophile forums] ''The Local'', 9 April 2010.</ref> The pair defended their decision, citing [[Philosophy:Freedom of speech|freedom of speech]].<ref>Moya, Jared. [http://www.zeropaid.com/news/8833/the_pirate_bay_pedophilia_and_freedom_of_speech/ The Pirate Bay, Paedophilia, and Freedom of Speech] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524050239/http://www.zeropaid.com/news/8833/the_pirate_bay_pedophilia_and_freedom_of_speech/ |date=24 May 2010 }}, zeropaid.com, 7 June 2007.</ref>

The co-owners were also criticized for creating and hosting AMERICASDUMBESTSOLDIERS.COM, a website identifying deceased military personnel that invited visitors to rank how "dumb" the soldiers were based on the manner in which they died.<ref>"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTOKXCEwo_8#t=13m12s TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard]", ''[[TPB AFK]]'' on YouTube, 8 February 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2013.</ref>

Other criticism originates from the hosting of [[Software:BitTorrent|BitTorrent]] website [[Social:The Pirate Bay|The Pirate Bay]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ripe.net/membership/indices/data/se.prq.html |title=RIPE |access-date=18 May 2009 |archive-date=5 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605061440/http://www.ripe.net/membership/indices/data/se.prq.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Social:WikiLeaks|WikiLeaks]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fastcompany.com/1608468/crib-sheet-julian-assange-of-wikileaks |title=Crib Sheet: WikiLeaks and Its Spokesman, Julian Assange |publisher=Fast Company |date=6 April 2010 |accessdate=26 April 2010}}</ref> and the French far-right blog Fdesouche.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fdesouche.com/159879-fdesouche-chez-les-pirates |title=Fdesouche chez les pirates |website=fdesouche.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228003632/http://www.fdesouche.com/159879-fdesouche-chez-les-pirates |archive-date=2010-12-28}}</ref>

==Legal issues==
On 1 October 2012, PRQ was raided and a number of sites which they provided hosting for were taken offline for alleged copyright infringement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/torrent-sites-go-offline-as-police-raid-alleged-copyright-infringers/ |title=Torrent sites go offline as police raid alleged copyright infringers |publisher=ArsTechnica |date=1 October 2012 |accessdate=1 October 2012}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.prq.se/ Official website]
* [http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/08/02/wikileaks_and_the_swiss_bank_of_internet_providers The Swiss bank of Web hosts] ''Foreign Policy'' on PRQ


[[Category:Web hosting]]
[[Category:Internet privacy]]
[[Category:Companies (Computing)]]
[[Category:Companies]]

{{Sourceattribution|PRQ}}