The link in TFA takes you to a torrent freak article that explains it all with links http://torrentfreak.com/and-when-even-the-death-penalty-doesnt-deter-copyi

The link in TFA takes you to a torrent freak article that explains it all with links http://torrentfreak.com/and-when-even-the-death-penalty-doesnt-deter-copying-what-then-110807/ http://torrentfreak.com/and-when-even-the-death-penalty-does... From the article: "The King responded by introducing penalties for pirating these fabrics. Light punishments at first, then gradually tougher. Towards the end, the penalty was death by public torture, drawn out over several days. And it wasn’t just a few poor sods who were made into public examples: sixteen thousand people, almost entirely common folk, died by execution or in the violent clashes that surrounded the monopoly." original article in swedish (sources in the comments) http://falkvinge.net/2010/11/04/och-nar-dodsstraff-heller-inte-stoppar-fildelning/ http://falkvinge.net/2010/11/04/och-nar-dodsstraff-heller-in...