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Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
311–320 of 357 posts
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#312Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#313[deleted]
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#314Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's analyze the propaganda speak here: > Megaupload never complied with DMCA requests Based on not only the experience of others, but the claims of the DoJ itself, this is clearly false. > The site charged for access to, and provided advertising around, pirated content. This is true in the same way YouTube provides advertising around, and your friendly local ISP provides access to, pirated content. > The site paid…
The other side of this SOPA battle is playing us like a fiddle. This WSJ article took our stance (it's not my stance but the majority here's stance) and attacked us with it by saying we're pro-piracy. That doesn't go over well outside this community. If we just got off the copyright/privacy topic for a minute and focused on the big picture we could fight more effectively. Point out that SOPA/PIPA are unnecessary beca…
> saying we're pro-piracy. That doesn't go over well outside this community.
Just a side-note: that's not necessarily true, and a perception that is partially based on scare mongering. Vast numbers of people engage in "piracy", and it isn't seen as harmful by the general public. Hollywood and music industry aren't exactly as popular as their products either, and it's the biggest fans of those products that "pirate" the most.
Piracy and illegality isn't necessarily something that scares the general public either. I'm thinking for example of the illegal pirate radio stations in Europe in the past. Hugely popular, and eventually the reason for their existence was accommodated by the law.
On the other side of the coin: the mainstream US public hasn't been particularly concerned about throwing due process out of the window since 9/11... Fuck, it's public knowledge that the US is detaining and torturing people outside the law, the people are cool with that.
Since when has "due process" suddenly become a convincing argument for the masses? Maybe you should actually be waving the pirate flag instead...
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#315Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm more upset with the precedent than I am with the particular site. I've never made a DMCA request against them, but my understanding from the DoJ presser was that they did comply with the letter- They removed the links that were sent. They just didn't necessarily remove all other links to the same file. When you filed yours, did you follow legal procedure, and go through their registered DMCA agent with paper mail…
Regardless of precedent or merits on this case, the fact that it exists at all makes it harder to justify the existence of SOPA or PIPA. They didn't need either act to be passed to arrest a bunch of people in New Zealand, after all.
It is an extradition proceeding, not charges under New Zealand law (according to http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6288082/NZ-...).
For the request to go ahead, the alleged offence need to be an extradition offence (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1999/0055/latest/D...) - which means that the alleged conduct of the defendants would be a crime in New Zealand if it was done here, and would be a crime punishable by 12 or more months imprisonment in the US.
New Zealand has a bar to Internet provider copyright liability (http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/latest/D...), defined as follows: " Internet service provider means a person who does either or both of the following things: (a) offers the transmission, routing, or providing of connections for digital online communications, between or among points specified by a user, of material of the user’s choosing: (b) hosts material on websites or other electronic retrieval systems that can be accessed by a user " However, ISPs have to forward notices from rights holders to the user, and after the third notice, to the copyright tribunal, allowing proceedings to be filed.
If MegaUpload did nothing more than offer a file upload service, and complied with the applicable procedures for responding to rights owner requests, it seems unlikely that that particular allegation would amount to a crime in New Zealand. However, the article lists a number of charges, and the extradition law doesn't allow them to challenge the alleged facts, only whether they amount to a crime in New Zealand and the country they are being extradited to.
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#316Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's better to allow these sites to continue to exist and demand that they comply with the requests than take them down with the FBI or whatever law enforcement agency. The precedent is far too dangerous. It's so dangerous that it could make PIPA / SOPA look like little cute puppies. The moral issues of being a pirate or not being a pirate and of allowing or not allowing piracy to exist are more of a "feel good, don'…
It's funny how people are raging against the "government" who shut down Megaupload, when really the feds were merely the instrument. The real decision was made in some corporate office somewhere - the real owners of the weak little puppet called "government".
The state consists of two parts, the corporation and the government. The government are not some dumb fools who are just "get used" by some old shadowy men in some corporate office. Its a symbiotic relationship.
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#317OMG This is about Kim Schmitz aka Kimble and his Kimpire. He was a lot in the news in 2005 or so. Insider trading, shady business etc. Wow!
Even further back than that too :-) He's been around a long time.. always hilarious to follow his exploits. Lots of videos of his "driving" on YouTube also. He won the Gumball 3000 twice.
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#318Beware opponents of sharing will 'USE' DOJ and FBI to bring about their goals rather than the frotndoor of US Congress.
Remember folks, DOJ is supposedly chasing down child porn..with what funds? Who do think was on the bill to fund this? Guess..
Just like the TSA..if you want kill it you remove support for the funding bill in US Congress..PIPA/SOPA are red herrings and smoke screens
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#319Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think it's worse that dropbox dedupes files, which means that they(dropbox) already have infrastructure that could seriously combat their use in infringement. I do wonder how this plays into the whole Swizz Beats is CEO news.
The indictment papers specifically claim that megaupload was also dedupping files (general allegation 22.) That's related to their claim that the DMCA take down requests weren't honored: Allegedly, while appearing to comply with requests to remove infringing content, they would merely take down the reported links, yet would keep alternate links to the same md5-hash-matching content working.
Thank you for pointing that out. That issue has been brought up several times but I had not yet read anything that quoted the indictment.
Re: Megaupload down, FBI Charges Seven With Online Piracy
#320Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> The site charged for access to, and provided advertising around, pirated content. > This is true in the same way YouTube provides advertising around, and your friendly local ISP provides access to, pirated content. I can get the full "The Dark Knight" in 720p on YouTube? Links please
Not 720p, but I don't think that was really the main point. By the way, I just got the link by going to YouTube and searching for "the dark knight part 1". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuaUcGr32SM
Well, starting at about part 6 it displays a copyright message for me so you can maybe call this an extended trailer.
The point is that YouTube doesn't offer a movie experience that is comparable to what was available on megaupload.com