Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Only if you loose.
Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
181–190 of 1001 posts
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#182As an Aussie observer, I'm seeing more US influence in our region. With some 'diplomacy', Julian Assange was brought home after near 15 years fighting for BS extradition charges. The news and politicians in Australia follow almost lock step with whatever our US overlords allow us to say. It's been more of a thing lately with them trying to secure the pacific away from China's sphere of influence and the biggest 'dumb…
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Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#183Kim DC is not a likeable or admirable person, but this vindictive pursuit seems even worse. It appears very similar to the treatment of Ross Ulbricht, Assange, maybe even Snowden? These are the equivalent of white collar crimes (typical massive frauds from the finance sector, etc) but they are getting a blue collar punishment of decades in jail that a successful and persistent street drug dealer could receive, NOT th…
He's not one of "them" (bankers, politicians, lobbyists).
Street dealers as well: not belong to "them".
See how Epstein was punished in 2008:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Epstein#Legal_proceedi...
"On June 30, 2008, after Epstein pleaded guilty to a state charge of procuring for prostitution a girl below age 18, he was sentenced to eighteen months in prison. While most convicted sex offenders in Florida are sent to state prison, Epstein was instead housed in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade and [...] allowed to leave the jail on "work release" for up to twelve hours a day, six days a week."
That's for a horrible crime. Not for allowing people to copy some audio and video files for entertainment purpose.
He was one of "them".
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
I do not categorize him as “small folk like us”
Agree. "Two weeks later on 20 January, Dotcom, Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk were arrested in Coatesville, New Zealand by the New Zealand Police, in an armed raid on Dotcom's house involving 76 officers and two helicopters. Seized assets included eighteen luxury cars, large TVs, works of art and US$175 million in cash. Dotcom's bank accounts were frozen, denying him access to 64 bank accounts wor…
Large TVs?
I wonder what the threshold is for assets worth seizing. Anything under about 100” is going to cost more to seize than it’s worth. If the kitchen is full of AllClad do they seize the cookware?
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#185A fair amount of “this is fine, governments enforce IP laws and that’s a public good” vibes in here, which is all a very reasonable perspective. I’d argue Kim was too successful and too unlikeable at the end of the day, and that was probably his downfall. Toward the end, MEGA had transitioned to actually partnering with hip hop artists for distribution. The US has a long history of IP rights holders criminalizing new…
The government enforcing IP laws is certainly not a public good, in my book.
I also don't think you can be held responsible for what your users do with your service, especially if you are complying with DMCA requests.
They're shooting the postal service just because it bothered some powerful people.
This is happening because Media is a powerful lobby in the USA and Mega is a nobody.
Just another example of government corruption, move along.
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#186Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of our former prime ministers, Paul Keating, came out strongly against the submarine deal. IIRC two important dimensions are that Australia has shallow waters which are not a good fit for the chosen submarine technology and that tactically it makes limited sense for Australia to focus on weapons to be used on our largest trading partner. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/15/paul-... I am not an…
They might make sense if in the long term we build out a nuclear deterrent? We'd need a handful of deep water submarines with big missiles on them. Although I expect that it'll turn out they're designed wrong for that or something. Other than that I can't see what situation they'd be useful in practice though. If we get into a war with Indonesia, China or the like that is the end. There will be no winners and we'll e…
> if a country can't defend itself with diplomacy then it is in a lot of trouble
If you have a strong neighbor that wants to take something you have by force, how do you get them to instead practice diplomacy with you?
The only way I'm aware of is by projecting enough of your own strength that they think it might not be worth it to try and take by force.
Military might is an arm of diplomacy.
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#187You know how it is. You search someone's home, you set aside the evidence, and you promptly forget about it for 12 years. I dislike Kim Dotcom as much as the next gal or guy, maybe even more, but this is weird.
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I'm sorry, but what is your point with this comment? I don't see a link at all with the topic.
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#188Kim DC is not a likeable or admirable person, but this vindictive pursuit seems even worse. It appears very similar to the treatment of Ross Ulbricht, Assange, maybe even Snowden? These are the equivalent of white collar crimes (typical massive frauds from the finance sector, etc) but they are getting a blue collar punishment of decades in jail that a successful and persistent street drug dealer could receive, NOT th…
One of these things is not like the other. Ross Ulbricht was part of a murder for hire scheme, and was not a whistle blower or anything close to a reporter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht#Murder-for-hire_...
I understand what you are saying, but I wonder if that is the right type of defense here. Each of those individuals could be separated from otherwise sympathetic audience by diving the audience( 'he is x$ and therefore bad' approach ).
Same here. Murder for hire is bad, but his prosecution was about just as bad[1] and one could argue that (edit) by using warrantless spying without any probable cause undermined US constitutional rights. In a grand scheme of things, it is better to have one criminal get away than trample on everyone's rights.
What they do have in common, however, is an inordinate amount of resources expended to punish them by the state..
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Ulbricht#Murder-for-hire_...
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#189Kim DC is not a likeable or admirable person, but this vindictive pursuit seems even worse. It appears very similar to the treatment of Ross Ulbricht, Assange, maybe even Snowden? These are the equivalent of white collar crimes (typical massive frauds from the finance sector, etc) but they are getting a blue collar punishment of decades in jail that a successful and persistent street drug dealer could receive, NOT th…
> but this vindictive pursuit seems even worse.
It's been profitable for the US agencies that stole millions for KDC
https://www.techdirt.com/2015/03/27/how-us-government-legall...
Re: Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand
#190Earlier quoted context omitted.
Destroying commercial art culture really might not be a bad thing. The overwhelming majority of visual artists, writers and musicians don’t make money from their art, and would continue doing it even if the big corporate parasites went bankrupt.
I believe the implications are a bit different. It takes a lot of time to learn to make music. If you can’t make it as a famous artists (the odds of which are about as high as becoming a football star), you previously still had the option to use your music skills to make money with boring work: music for ads for example. That’s going away. Now it’s becoming a lot more like professional sports: either you make it, or…
"either you make it, or your hard earned skills are useless on the job market"
I think uncommon focus, discipline, physical and mental dexterity along with the ability to perform under pressure are being undervalued here.