[nate]

Pirate Bay gives you links to stolen movies.

No, not really. It gives you a list of other computers that may or may not have whatever you searched for. If you are hell bent on prosecuting thieves, start kicking in the doors of the users that are sharing data. I'm sure that you can net some pirates as well as the nerd down the street that wanted a copy of FreeBSD.

Do you not understand the difference between a set of systems
designed solely for the purpose of theft and a general purpose
tool like a pair of scissors?

Your leading question aside, they are both tools and can be used for various things. I can open a bottle of beer with a pair of scissors, and I can download Tokyo Breakfast by loading a torrent from Pirate bay in my torrent client.

It seems to me you're complaint should fall with the user and not the tool. I mean, they will send you to jail for stabbing somebody with general purpose tools... like scissors.

you do realize that
most laws aren't federal, right?

You do realize the Constitution trumps each and every state law that has existed or ever will exist, right? The first amendment to that all-overriding set of laws protects the right to communicate. That's all Pirate bay Does. They communicate. They reply to questions? User asks "Who has a gentoo ISO they'll give me? Pirate Bay says "That guy over there said he had one, go ask him". That's protected speech.

So you think the first amendment protects a bunch of people planning
a robbery

Unless they are conspiring to commit a robbery, yes. Pirate Bay doesn't conspire, they only hand out information that is asked for. If I knew a cool way of getting into fort knox and told you about it, that doesn't make me a conspirator regardless of whether you break in or not. That's part of what makes America great.

Perhaps extortion, threatening to harm someone unless they give you
money

Who is pirate Bay extorting or threatening? Nobody that I know of. On the other hand, I'm not sure how well a mere threat could be prosecuted. Unless the person making the threat is violating some sort of parole or physically acting against another person or their property, I'd say it's free speech. Thats what restraining orders are for. You can't really threaten someone if a judge tells you to stay 1000 feet from them at all times and to not contact them by any means.

copyright infringement

I don't think there are many copyrights placed on torrent files, and that's all Pirate bay gives you. It seems to me that by their nature, torrent files are made specifically to be public domain. If you know of any copyrighted torrent files, point them out.

Yes, they both use links, but for entirely
different purposes.

I don't see the difference in purpose. Both can be used with equal ease for both good and nefarious purposes. Just like scissors and wiper blades. Your beef is with users, not tools. You just don't seem to know it.