Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy • Hacker News Board

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#291

Post by Natsu » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 4:15 AM UTC

tomp wrote: post #114

droithomme wrote: post #34

Wow, that article's certainly not biased! > "MegaUpload.com is already engaged in a legal fight with Universal Music Group over a promotional video featuring some UMG artists." I suppose there are some reading that that don't know MegaUpload hired all the artists and had contracts and copyright licenses with them and had complete rights to the video, which UMG illegally and fraudulently filed a takedown notice agains…

> UMG illegally and fraudulently filed a takedown notice against YouTube I don't necessarily agree with UMG's action (and that's completely beside the point), but AFAIK (according to the news articles), UMG didn't file a DMCA takedown notice, but a takedown notice that was completely a contractual issue between two businesses (UMG and YouTube). There's nothing illegal there.

And then Google restored it, claiming UMG had breached that contract which only permitted them to take down content they owned.

That said, it's obviously some sort of grey area. Will be interesting to see how this plays out, though I already have my guesses, knowing that ex-RIAA lawyers were appointed to top Justice Department spots at the start of this administration.

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#292

Post by feralchimp » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 4:18 AM UTC

dazbradbury wrote: post #284

I have posted the full Indictment as a news story here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3487808 It's an interesting and sometimes amusing read. However, in case people are curious, but don't want to read the ENTIRE document here are my extended highlights: ---- KIM DOTCOM, MEGAUPLOAD LIMITED, VESTOR LIMITED, FINN BATATO, JULIUS BENCKO, SVEN ECHTERNACH, MATHIAS ORTMANN, ANDRUS NOMM, and BRAM VAN DER KOLK, the defe…

Party at the impound lot!

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#293

Post by st3fan » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 4:25 AM UTC

kayoone wrote: post #53

Kimble goes to jail once again it seems.. I remember people downvoting me in an earlier bit about megaupload where i said that this guy has his hands dirty and should be avoided. People claimed i shouldnt judge him by his past crimes...well there you go ;)

Yeah I did not realize that this was about Kimble. It all makes sense now :-)

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#294

Post by spdy » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 4:31 AM UTC

Police Statement: http://www.3news.co.nz/Megauploads-Kim-Schmitz-arrested-in-A...

Kim does not look so happy

from http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3488213

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#295

Post by nerfhammer » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 4:43 AM UTC

noonespecial wrote: post #152

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…

The deliberateness has never once mattered when I was stopped for speeding. It didn't matter if I was aware of my infraction, or if it was intentional. Just the speed. It didn't matter if I only drove over the limit 0.001% of the time, I was still busted. That's what I'm afraid of. A world where 1 user-posted file that someone claims is protected results in arrests and the total loss of my site.

Setting aside minor traffic infringements, intent is a very basic part of criminal law.

As a counter-example, what if you hit someone with your car? Do you think it should matter if evidence exists that it was an accident or if there is evidence that you hit the person purposefully?

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#296

Post by learc83 » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 4:44 AM UTC

mbreese wrote: post #221

anamax wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Almost everyone plea bargains. Yup, because the feds have amazing resources and the "law" is such that everyone is guilty of enough "crimes" to get 100 years. In other words, feds win a rigged game.

In other words, they don't bring cases that they can't win. If you are Federally indicted, it's because they have more than enough evidence to convict. They don't like to lose cases, so they don't bring cases that are risky.

Exactly, our local District Attorney had a 100% conviction rate as DA because he handed off anything he wasn't positive he could win to his Assistant DAs.

Also many times the Fed can pick and choose what they prosecute more so than local prosecutors. Many Federal cases are instead of or in addition to local prosecution, so they aren't always completely necessary because the defendant will likely get local jail time anyway.

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#297

Post by troll24601 » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 4:55 AM UTC

sebphfx wrote: post #289

troll24601 wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you. It's nice that at least ONE person recognized that maybe their uninformed reaction to a short article might not be 100% correct, and was willing to go read the indictment and learn a bit more.

you made your point.the indictment,the indictment. Someone was talking about how our freedoms are getting more and more restricted. The big picture. You get in and try to educate people. Well, that's probably how you see yourself.

Arrests for large-scale commercial copyright infringement and money laundering schemes aren't new. This simply isn't an example freedom getting more and more restricted.

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#298

Post by anamax » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 5:01 AM UTC

mbreese wrote: post #221

anamax wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Almost everyone plea bargains. Yup, because the feds have amazing resources and the "law" is such that everyone is guilty of enough "crimes" to get 100 years. In other words, feds win a rigged game.

In other words, they don't bring cases that they can't win. If you are Federally indicted, it's because they have more than enough evidence to convict. They don't like to lose cases, so they don't bring cases that are risky.

> In other words, they don't bring cases that they can't win.

That's not what I wrote. I wrote that they can convict anyone because they have vastly more resources and everyone commits several felonies/day, that is, is guilty.

Are you claiming that being able to win because of extra resources is good or is it the "everyone is a criminal" part that you like?

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#299

Post by a_a_r_o_n » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 5:04 AM UTC

"I cannot believe that Megaupload is being touted as an anti-SOPA posterchild."

The US government just proved that the US government does not need SOPA to shutdown a foreign site and physically arrest its operators in foreign countries.

I can't think of any better demonstration against the need for SOPA.

Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy

#300

Post by anon-I-mous » Fri, Jan 20, 2012, 5:08 AM UTC

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…

Thank you for offering your opinions on this matter, but allow me to disagree on the following points:

1) Robin hood was a criminal. Stealing is a crime, and he stole from the rich to give to the poor.

2) In this context, "piracy" does not mean stealing, it means sharing. Sharing objects, whether they are information objects such as movies or real objects such as lawnmowers, is natural and a natural right. See John Locke for details.

3) The MPAA, RIAA, and major software and video game makers have organized, through political donations and manipulating public opinion, a legal, institutionalized system of tyranny that deprives ordinary people of their natural rights.

4) The United States of America, through the FBI and other federal agencies, devotes considerable resources to finding and prosecuting those who work to oppose this system of tyranny. The United States of America is working for the tyrants whose business is predicated upon depriving ordinary people of their natural rights.

--- tl;dr ---

You do not have a choice between right and wrong. You have a choice between greedy scumbags who are tyrants and greedy scumbags who helping, in their own greedy, scummy way, ordinary people exercise their natural rights.