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Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

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Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#171

Post by HNatWORK »

sp332 wrote: post #75
rorrr wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> fill it with full length DVD rips As long as users do it, and the site takes them down when requested, I'm pretty sure it's legal under DMCA.

As stated in your parent and elsewhere, Mega rarely responded to DMCA requests.

Sorry to split hairs but responding with a "we took down this content based on your takedown notice" and actually taking down the content are two different things.

I've had companies take down content after a DMCA notice but never inform me they have done so; there is no requirement for them to do so.

I assume you're referring to the latter meaning though--that they left up infringing content after receiving notice. If they did that then they're in deep. ...As long as the US has jurisdiction to prosecute, which they probably do.

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#172

Post by [deleted] »

e1ven wrote: post #28

Wow. This is a really interesting situation; I can't agree with this action at all. 1) The site complied with DMCA regulations, and removed material when asked. 2) The site did not directly promote piracy, which was Grokster decision. 3) The listed employees are all (or nearly all) not US citizens, so this required international cooperation, and extradition over copyright? From my perspective it looks like they were…

[deleted]

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#173

Post by wnoise »

AlexMuir wrote: post #39

At the risk of megadownvoting here... Megaupload never complied with DMCA requests - I made several as part of some research and never received any response. The site charged for access to, and provided advertising around, pirated content. The site paid people (users/staff - it's a fine line) to provide popular content. It went to extraordinary lengths to hide the identity of its operators. Now if people believe that…

> Megaupload never complied with DMCA requests - I made several as part of some research and never received any response.

A response is not required for DMCA compliance -- only disabling access to the content. Did you test that the links you gave them still worked?

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#174

Post by DennisP »

AlexMuir wrote: post #39

At the risk of megadownvoting here... Megaupload never complied with DMCA requests - I made several as part of some research and never received any response. The site charged for access to, and provided advertising around, pirated content. The site paid people (users/staff - it's a fine line) to provide popular content. It went to extraordinary lengths to hide the identity of its operators. Now if people believe that…

I don't understand this. Megaupload is based in Hong Kong. How does the DMCA apply to them?

The site operators were arrested in New Zealand. Most aren't even U.S. citizens: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/01/megaupload-indicted...

Now they're being charged by the FBI. How did it happen that the entire world is supposed to comply with U.S. law?

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#175

Post by [deleted] »

aes256 wrote: post #168
freehunter wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slopes aren't always as slippery as you may believe. The point of this is that the site actively promoted and profited from piracy. This isn't Facebook with someone posting a few lines from a song, this is The Pirate Bay. Think of it like this: have you ever successfully argued to a cop that you only drive over the limit 10% of the time ? What matters is the deliberateness of the speed you were doing when you got cau…

How exactly has Megaupload "promoted" piracy? Rewarding people for uploading popular files does not constitute promoting piracy.

[deleted]

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#176

Post by dangrossman »

jrockway wrote: post #125
AlexMuir wrote: post #39

At the risk of megadownvoting here... Megaupload never complied with DMCA requests - I made several as part of some research and never received any response. The site charged for access to, and provided advertising around, pirated content. The site paid people (users/staff - it's a fine line) to provide popular content. It went to extraordinary lengths to hide the identity of its operators. Now if people believe that…

Why does megaupload have to comply with the DMCA; they're a Hong Kong company. The US simply has no jurisdiction over what they do.

People in the US don't have to comply with DMCA notices either. The safe harbor provision of the DMCA does not create new obligations, it creates a "if this then that" situation:

IF a service provider receives a notice of infringement AND promptly disables access to the content, THEN the service provider is granted immunity from liability for that infringement.

If you ignore the notice then this provision simply doesn't apply. You haven't "violated the DMCA" or anything like that, you simply don't gain the benefits offered by meeting the conditions of that section of the law.

Why would an entity outside of the US choose to comply with those notices? Because they may be sued in a US court, and when in a US court, the judge is going to apply US law -- including the protections of the safe harbor provision.

Why would an entity outside the US care about the result of a trial in US court? First, because international treaties mean they may be extradited to the US for violating these particular laws, and second, because the officers of the company may wish to be able to travel to the US -- at which point a sentence against them could be carried out.

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#177

Post by loopdoend »

Is there any doubt that sites like these* are simply exploiting a legal loophole? They recruit people to upload third-party content to their sites and then pay based on how many downloads/paid service signups the uploader gets.[1]

So, guess what they're uploading? They say they're compliant with a wink and nudge, but affiliates still get paid if they receive a DMCA notice against them. So yes, it is a conspiracy in that sense.

My personal views about copyright/'intellectual property'/'property' notwithstanding, these types of companies are the very cause of laws like SOPA/PIPA, which threaten the rest of us.

[1] http://www.wjunction.com/95-file-hosts-official-support

* Megaupload doesn't currently have an affiliate program, but it used to. (until mid-2011)

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#178

Post by gte910h »

adestefan wrote: post #49
gte910h wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Of course, it's now up to them to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this is true. Federal prosecutors have a 95 conviction rate for trials that go to jury. Almost everyone plea bargains.

When you have enough work to keep you busy all the time it's easy to pick out all the winners.

Or, people do really believe when their government tells them a person is guilty.

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#180

Post by sixothree »

cyanbane wrote: post #22

From DOJ Presser: For example, when notified by a rights holder that a file contained infringing content, the indictment alleges that the conspirators would disable only a single link to the file, deliberately and deceptively leaving the infringing content in place to make it seamlessly available to millions of users to access through any one of the many duplicate links available for that file. I assume the DMCA spec…

It's been shown that if you upload a file to dropbox with a hash that already exists in another userspace, the upload takes place almost immediately. This implies there is really only one copy of the file on their servers. This was maybe 6 months ago so who know what now.
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