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Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

arstechnica.com

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Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#11
post #6
post #4

At what point will non-US websites just start blocking US-based traffic all together? I suppose one day in the future the US will be like an island on the internet - disconnected from other country's websites due to situations like this.

There is too much money involved it that.

I doubt that. The vast majority of non-US websites has very little to lose from blocking US traffic. And I'm not talking minor sites either.

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#12
This is completely out of hand now. The US is now a country where you are guilty until proven innocent.

It is disgusting to see domain seizures with no concrete basis of doing so. This kid is being extradited to the US because his website provided links to TV shows?

"Copyright infringers" are treated with less dignity and respect than mass murderers and rapists.

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#13
Apart from the general ridiculousness of the US extraditing copyright infringers but not pedophiles:

Do the Brits really not have any outrage over this? If the PRC successfully extradited an American for some real or imagined digital crime (say, building and hosting the website of a designated terrorist organization), we'd be in an uproar.

At least, I hope we would...

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#14
Further proof, as if we needed any more, that the current extradition treaty is a total mess. There's been some publicity recently around it, which might mean that one day this gets fixed so this doesn't get inflicted on more people in the future, but that's cold comfort to this poor bloke.

The concept of extraditing someone to face trial in another country with a possibility of jail for 10 years simply for running a website that links to copyrighted content is just sick. I would have to think pretty hard to come up with a crime less damaging than copyright infringement, and destroying a young person's life over that is a terrible thing.

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#15
The kid made $230,000 by helping users view copyrighted material they did not pay for. That sounds pretty jail worthy to me. It is however strange that he's being extradited and I generally oppose individuals "being made an example of". I'd much prefer he go through the UK system than the US.

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#17
That ARS writeup is pretty one-sided.

I love how they paint him up as a poor student, and don't mention the $250,000+ he made off the site. This was absolutely not just piracy, but PROFITING from piracy.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/9013803/Student-R...

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#18

This is completely out of hand now. The US is now a country where you are guilty until proven innocent. It is disgusting to see domain seizures with no concrete basis of doing so. This kid is being extradited to the US because his website provided links to TV shows? "Copyright infringers" are treated with less dignity and respect than mass murderers and rapists.

>This is completely out of hand now. The US is now a country where you are guilty until proven innocent.

Am I missing something? Has he been found guilty? Why is an extradition the same thing as being "guilty until proven innocent"? By definition, extradition is before a trial has occurred. After he has been extradited is when the trial will occur.

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#19
The current political and legal sell-out to the US makes me, and I believe many fellow-Europeans, increasingly angry in a way that is fundamentally different from any anti-American feelings for instance during the Bush-years.

Disagreeing with US foreign policy is one thing, but being on the receiving end of US meddling through political and legal corruption in a way that undermines our civil rights cuts way deeper.

Re: Copyright wars heat up: US wins extradition of college kid from England

#20

The kid made $230,000 by helping users view copyrighted material they did not pay for. That sounds pretty jail worthy to me. It is however strange that he's being extradited and I generally oppose individuals "being made an example of". I'd much prefer he go through the UK system than the US.

If I recall correctly he didnt break any laws in the UK.
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