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Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

justice.gov

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Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#31

Post by goblin89 »

BlueAndroid wrote: post #23
KhalPanda wrote: post #2

This just seems ridiculous to me. I may well get downvoted, but it needs saying. Why do 99% of the world's governments seem completely retarded when it comes to copyright laws? How many tens of millions in legal resources were expended in bringing 'justice' here? And what does the outcome even matter? Good job, tens of millions down the drain for one year of an Estonian's time? The system would surely be better serve…

I work in Law Enforcement, so feel to disregard my opinion as biased , however, 75% of my work relates to child exploitation material, and an enormous amount of child abuse material disappeared from easy access when mega-upload went down. I used to find computers with lists and lists of megaupload urls. When that method died out a little beacon of happy shone for me. Now I understand that free movies trumps removing…

> 75% of my work relates to child exploitation material, and an enormous amount of child abuse material disappeared from easy access when mega-upload went down.

However, this apparently did not serve as the grounds for punishment, and is not mentioned in statements quoted in the article—the whole deal seems to hinge on copyright infringement allegations.

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#32

Post by omeid2 »

jcrei wrote: post #25

What if you are a programmer working for any major corporation that happens do be doing some illegal stuff (Banks, Oil, gambling, etc). Should you be afraid to go to jail?

Of course not, Banks, Oil, and basically all big corps are immune from law.

The sad thing is, that is hardly an exaggeration.

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#33

Post by blowski »

Raphael_Amiard wrote: post #26
easytiger wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please, give it a rest on this "banker" polemic nonsense.

why ?

Because it makes the issue seem like it's only a concern of angry and ignorant teenagers. While I for one would love for the current corporate capitalist model of society to be fundamentally restructured, it's not going to happen by making snide remarks on Hacker News.

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#34

Post by TeMPOraL »

ledzep2 wrote: post #5
KhalPanda wrote: post #2

This just seems ridiculous to me. I may well get downvoted, but it needs saying. Why do 99% of the world's governments seem completely retarded when it comes to copyright laws? How many tens of millions in legal resources were expended in bringing 'justice' here? And what does the outcome even matter? Good job, tens of millions down the drain for one year of an Estonian's time? The system would surely be better serve…

They are not retarded. They are just money driven IMHO. And I bet the story behind this is no worse than the plot of House of Cards.

Some people buy a car to do whatever the hell they want with it. Others buy chunk of a nuclear superpower's government to do whatever the hell they want with it.

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#35

Post by chii »

easytiger wrote: post #18
jackjeff wrote: post #9

I really dislike the extra-territorial aspect of it. From what I understand the Netherlands copyright law is more lenient than the US law. For instance downloading copyrighted material was legal until very recently. So downloading something from Megaupload was hardly a crime there... http://www.zdnet.com/article/downloading-pirate-material-fin... So you could do something which is legal, or illegal but not criminal o…

Also imprisoning people who are not a danger to society in any way shape or form is very modern American. And socially destructive.

i wonder if the war on drugs is really orchestrated (either with intention, or manipulated by vested individuals) to make drugs more scarce, and more difficult to obtain, to justify their high price. By making it highly illegal, trafficking drugs has never been more profitable (for the drub lords - not for the peddlers nor the mules obviously).

You hardly see the real boss go to prison...

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#36

Post by chii »

jepper wrote: post #15
jackjeff wrote: post #9

I really dislike the extra-territorial aspect of it. From what I understand the Netherlands copyright law is more lenient than the US law. For instance downloading copyrighted material was legal until very recently. So downloading something from Megaupload was hardly a crime there... http://www.zdnet.com/article/downloading-pirate-material-fin... So you could do something which is legal, or illegal but not criminal o…

The United States can request an extradition for crimes committed by an individual(as argued under the US law). However this does not mean that the Netherlands has to comply. If a Dutch person committed a crime in the Netherlands according to the US, but its legal here, he/she will NOT be extradited. The same is true if the punishment is unreasonably severe according to Dutch law (death penalty.). For the latter ther…

why would anyone waive the hearing (presumably, where you would argue that you shouldn't be extradited)?

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#37

Post by chii »

RickS wrote: post #6
KhalPanda wrote: post #2

This just seems ridiculous to me. I may well get downvoted, but it needs saying. Why do 99% of the world's governments seem completely retarded when it comes to copyright laws? How many tens of millions in legal resources were expended in bringing 'justice' here? And what does the outcome even matter? Good job, tens of millions down the drain for one year of an Estonian's time? The system would surely be better serve…

My guess is that their strategy is to create a chilling effect by making an example of this guy. From their perspective, if smart people become more frightened to take on projects like this, their money was well spent. $10M is lunch money here.

it's like arresting the knife maker for a crime committed by a murderer.

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#38

Post by SebKba »

blowski wrote: post #33
Raphael_Amiard wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why ?

Because it makes the issue seem like it's only a concern of angry and ignorant teenagers. While I for one would love for the current corporate capitalist model of society to be fundamentally restructured, it's not going to happen by making snide remarks on Hacker News.

It's the first thought that popped into my head...

I don't exactly see how your comment helps any more than mine but that's fine.

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#39

Post by draugadrotten »

chii wrote: post #36
jepper wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The United States can request an extradition for crimes committed by an individual(as argued under the US law). However this does not mean that the Netherlands has to comply. If a Dutch person committed a crime in the Netherlands according to the US, but its legal here, he/she will NOT be extradited. The same is true if the punishment is unreasonably severe according to Dutch law (death penalty.). For the latter ther…

why would anyone waive the hearing (presumably, where you would argue that you shouldn't be extradited)?

Plea bargains. A promise of 1 year in low sec prison vs the risk of getting a life sentence in solitary.

It's similar to what was done to witches in medieval times: "Confess, and we will kill you gently, or be sentenced and be burned alive."

Re: Megaupload programmer goes to prison for one year

#40

Post by Tharkun »

Fuxy wrote: post #7

There's a lot of lip service but I still don't get why a programmer need to go to jail for this crap. Are they prosecuting everyone that ever worked for or did business with megaupload now? Because that seems a bit shady.

Might as well jail every tobacco or arms producer as well.
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