Live data from Hacker News

Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

arstechnica.com

121–130 of 356 posts

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#121
post #98
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Meanwhile, there's no single country that could shut down e.g. Wikipedia. You don't have to shut it down, you can simply prevent access to it, like in China. Problem solved, if that's something you considered a problem in the first place.

Wikipedia is designed to be easily downloaded and distributed in other ways

Easily, only when you have fast connections. The smallest archives are in the 20 GB kind of range for the English language, and that's without pictures. And good luck finding updated mirrors for the content, or even recent dumps.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#122
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone doing things that affect the US is automatically subject to US jurisdiction. But whether they can be extradited depends on the particular treaty the country in question has with the US.

Are there any good examples of when this works the other way around? A US citizen being extradited to another country for non-violent crimes? Something in tune of computer hacking or hosting a website? Other than drugs and murders, I have a hard time believing US govt to give out its citizens to third parties...

extradition treaties are reciprocal, no country is going to extradite its citizens if the other country won't extradite theirs in return.

the numbers don't necessarily balance: probably a lot more Mexicans commit crimes in the US and flee to Mexico than the other way around.

Usually, I would think, extradition entails countries extraditing their own citizens back to face charges at home; people will tend to commit crimes where they are, and run away after to escape; most people are citizens where they live. Countries with higher rates of immigration will have more foreignors around who have a natural place to escape to if they commit a crime.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#123
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, Americans have been saying that about drug war, civil forfeiture, surveillance and many others things for a long long time.

... and its important to say, as experience shows, at this point its sadly irrelevant what average americans say. while OP is right -- this doesn't seem to serve majority, the truth is that the system is rigged and this supposed to serve a few multinational corporations that feel their profits are severely cut due to copyright infringement, meanwhile posting record earnings. it is still mind-boggling to me that this…

> the truth is that the system is rigged and this supposed to serve a few > multinational corporations that feel their profits are severely cut due > to copyright infringement, meanwhile posting record earnings.

Ignore that the system is rigged for the moment. I think it is safe to say these companies really like making more money. I have always wondered why then, they spend so much effort enforcing copyright laws rather than trying alternative methods to solve the problem and make more money.

E.g I know a lot of people who have some unblocking service and Netflix. Now they could increase prices for Netflix, so we wouldn't need the unblocking, but that's not on the cards. They would rather spend their efforts blocking me.

Is this purely to satisfy contractual obligations? I'd assume that any existing contracts must be in place for such a long time that making changes can't be done for quite a few years into the future and there is no realistic way to amend existing contracts. The contracts would have to cover new productions too.

Otherwise, this whole thing makes no sense to me. They appear to be giving up revenue, for no benefit to themselves.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#124

Very interesting. It seems he got busted by making the mistake of once-upon-a-time hosting in the US and Canada, thus providing them grounds for persecution. So reading in that context, they would have been free and clear if it were not for that mistake!

Big opportunity for a zero knowledge data center provider in Switzerland that only accepts Monero

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#125
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should have used bitcoin :(

Wouldn't help much once the bitcoin is exchanged for another currency, thus linking the bitcoin address to his personal information if the authorities compel the exchange to provide the info.

Not only can bitcoin be tumbled, but think about the scenario where it is exchanged for another crypto-currency like litecoin then exchanged for bitcoin at another site, then exchanged for cash. Good luck tracing that.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#128

If I was making millions of dollars from illicit activities I would practice incredibly rigorous opsec. I realize modern lifestyles don't align with any kind of anonymity but come on. Here's a short list: - No Apple - No Facebook - No Google - Don't live in a 5 eyes or affiliated country - Know the extradition and legal precedent in all countries visited

Its really hard to do....

I was shorting the A50 via deutsche bank swaps on an ETF on the NYSE while China was arresting people for short selling. Is there an arrest warrant for me valid in Singapore if I happen to visit 3 years from now? What if the TPP gets ratified?

Fact is, nobody knows.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#129
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean like netflix/hulu/hbo now/AIV (+ prime) Generally hits good enough on all categories. of course torrents still win in content. Especially newer movies. I want to watch a newer movie. Is it on netflix/hulu/hbo/prime? Nope Is it on AIV paid? Yes. How much? 20 dollars. That's too much for a movie I probably will only watch once. Any other options? At best a rental on AIV for a few bucks. That's pretty borderlin…

Those are streaming websites, correct? I downlowd my music instead of using spotfy so I can listen to it where and when I want, the same with movies. HBO Go I would pay for though as I rather watch their shows as soon as they come out than download it later. But it's not available in my country.

Spotify does allow you to save your music for listening offline.

Re: Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested

#130

Very interesting. It seems he got busted by making the mistake of once-upon-a-time hosting in the US and Canada, thus providing them grounds for persecution. So reading in that context, they would have been free and clear if it were not for that mistake!

^This, if you're working with copyrighted material its best to not leave a paper trail to a server in the US

Ever? Isn't there a three-year statute of limitations on copyright infringement?
Post reply on HN