Comments on: MegaUpload raided, founder arrested; Anonymous launches mass DDoS against entertainment companies and US law enforcement

By: That_Anonymous_Coward

That_Anonymous_Coward — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:14:00 +0000

Also its a statement made by people who claim paying the hosting bills was laundering money.
The indictment was made on one sides version of the truth which most likely was embellished to get the outcome they wanted. There has been no challenge allowed to the statements made, and if proven false what is the remedy the damage has been done.

By: wrybread

wrybread — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:34:00 +0000

I think the analogy would be “what if gun manufacturers encouraged and profited from people shooting each other”. Not saying they don’t… But read the part in the indictment about MegaUpload removing links to files but not the files themselves. That’s pretty clearly willfully profiting from piracy.

Of course, the whole bit about confiscating all that property without any sort of trial or conviction, and invading a home half way around the world, is a bit insane…

By: smashingtech

smashingtech — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:25:00 +0000

New Megaupload site here: http://mega-video.webs.com/

By: Teller

Teller — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:04:00 +0000

Mr Schmitz is the right kind of 1%er, so he gets support from Anonymous. I was thinking they weren’t like any other PAC. What a relief. It’s still the world I’m used to.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:52:00 +0000

Do you want to be charged with aiding and abetting piracy?

By: That_Anonymous_Coward

That_Anonymous_Coward — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:51:00 +0000

Megaupload can be used for good or evil.
You just hear about the evil and assume they are 100% that way.

I heard someone was shot with a gun once, shall we round up and seize all of the manufacturers of guns because all I ever hear is stories of people using guns to commit crimes so that must be their only use.

By: That_Anonymous_Coward

That_Anonymous_Coward — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:49:00 +0000

And it could have nothing to do with the fight with UMG and the new platform he was developing to allow artists to sell directly to fans and get 90% of the money.

By: velacreations

velacreations — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 18:00:00 +0000

what about my files that were on megaupload? Should I bring a case against the DOJ for restricting access to my private property?

By: Ipo

Ipo — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Now THAT is theft.
When the owner loses possession as a result of THEFT.

By: zarray

zarray — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 08:57:00 +0000

Well I’m pissed because I had some old schoolwork files on there. I’m hoping beyond hope that they’ll release the ‘non-infringing’ files but I highly doubt they will.

By: jerware

jerware — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:54:00 +0000

Am I the only one thinking, “Cory, why are you sending MP3 files to be mastered? Send uncompressed!”

By: titoincognito

titoincognito — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:23:00 +0000

This is too ridiculous to reply to other than to say it is too ridiculous to reply to. Wait . . . I just replied. Doh!

By: zyodei

zyodei — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:20:00 +0000

Yep, if you take the government’s word at face value, it does sound pretty bad.

That, however, is never a good idea…

By: CharredBarn

CharredBarn — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:17:00 +0000

I believe wholeheartedly in freedom of speech, and am against laws that impede it unnecessarily. But you can’t possibly be following the arguments on both sides if you believe that, as a rule, the anti-SOPA people want to see unlawful file sharing criminally punished, and only want to see authorized file sharing protected against industry overreaching. There would be no need for the “piracy is good for the music/movie/etc. industry (arguments that appear in this forum not infrequently) if this were the case.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:13:00 +0000

Our government is made of people…

Yeah, people with nictitating membranes.

By: grimc

grimc — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:54:00 +0000

DropBox doesn’t publicize the files I upload.

By: CharredBarn

CharredBarn — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:33:00 +0000

But I always thought BB’s position on illegal sharing was a bit more … nuanced, if you will … than how you make it out. A link to the “illegal sharing is repugnant” claim, please?

By: Sirkowski

Sirkowski — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:08:00 +0000

Enough with conspiracy theories. Read the indictment: http://www.scribd.com/doc/78786408/Mega-Indictment It was a racket.

By: ialreadyexist

ialreadyexist — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:00:00 +0000

SOPA was just a stupid law all around. The DNS provisions were irrelevant, the power was given directly to corporations, there was no due process, there was no recourse for sites shut down in error, the entire “if you link to a site that has any questionable content, you can be shut down too” part…. SOPA would have screwed over the entire Internet and would have done absolutely nothing to combat piracy.

By: habbi1974

habbi1974 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:10:00 +0000

popularity

By: Nadreck

Nadreck — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:42:00 +0000

Note on the history of file sharing. In the 1950s there was a jukebox system where all of the records were played from a set of turntables in a central office. The “box” in the bar, or wherever, was basically an intercom system. You pushed a button and asked the Jukebox Girl at the other end to put your record on. An Ur-Napster!

Anyone ever actually seen one of these things? I’ve only ever heard about it in the Old Radio episode of “This is your FBI”: ‘The License to Kill”, January 20, 1950. You can listen to it on the Radio Jukebox at http://www.archive.org/details/thisisyourfbi2, song #133. The description of the system and the segue to the Jukebox Central start at 2 minutes in.

By: noen

noen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:37:00 +0000

What the feds have on Megaupload

When a user complained that the sound wasn’t in sync with the video when they watched episodes of Showtime’s Dexter, Dotcom forwarded the email and said they should “solve this asap!”

He criticized employees in April 2009 for deleting links that were “reported in batches of thousands from insignificant sources.”

In July 2010, Dotcom sent a link to a news article titled “Pirate Bay and Megaupload Escape Domain Seizure by US,” calling the U.S. government’s effort to crackdown “a serious threat to our business”

Kim Dotcom “barricaded himself into a safe room within the house which officers had to cut their way into.” When they got inside, they “found Mr Dotcom near a firearm which had the appearance of a shortened shotgun.”

They knew what they were doing and they knew it was illegal.

By: noen

noen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:27:00 +0000

Copyright holders have a right to go after criminals who violate their rights. Web sites like Megaupload that work with those criminals to help them commit their crimes are also guilty. Good anti-piracy legislation should enable law enforcement to pursue criminals while not penalizing those like BoingBoing who do not engage in wholesale criminal behavior.

My understanding of BoingBoing’s and other’s objections to SOPA is that it doesn’t protect them from bogus and malicious charges NOT that those engaged to criminal behavior should go unpunished.

By: ialreadyexist

ialreadyexist — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:16:00 +0000

Google’s entire business model is built on theft by proxy. They are, essentially, profiting from the copyrighted works of others. Whether the profit comes from advertisers or directly from users isn’t really relevant.

MegaUpload’s problem here wasn’t that they charged users, but that they crossed the line and got too greedy.

By: noen

noen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:13:00 +0000

Wow! If true that really is criminal behavior and I don’t see how anyone can defend that. If you are colluding with those who are engaged in criminal behavior you are guilty too and yes, your web site that you use to deliberately facilitate that criminal behavior should be removed and you go to jail.

That’s what justice is. People who violate the rights of others should face prosecution and those who conspire with them to commit their crimes should also.

Ideally this is what SOPA and PIPA should do. Go after the real criminals while not unduly burdening web sites like BoingBoing for checking every single off site link.

BoingBoing has never advocated piracy and they have always said that illegal sharing is wrong and repugnant. What they are concerned about are laws that are too restrictive and make standard web practices illegal. Not about the legitimate pursuit of criminal behavior.

By: robdobbs

robdobbs — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:04:00 +0000

What’s the difference between these guys and DropBox?

By: loroferoz

loroferoz — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:56:00 +0000

It shows instead, that the present forced upon us by the so-called “rights-holders” and their agents in government is bad enough, and that the future the will force upon us is infernal.

By: ialreadyexist

ialreadyexist — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:32:00 +0000

According to http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/19/senate-democrats-hold-fast-to-anti-piracy-bill/ you are correct. With Queen Barbara Boxer getting over $1 million and Al Franken getting some $777,000.

By: ialreadyexist

ialreadyexist — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:23:00 +0000

After reading the indictment, it appears that the DOJ have one or more insiders feeding them a lot of technical data and internal emails, etc. Either that or they were able to hack into most of MegaUpload’s servers. Either that or they’re making stuff up. Most likely though, they got hold of a little guy and applied pressure to the gonad region until he squealed. If they can prove half of what they claim, Kim & Friends are in trouble.

By: habbi1974

habbi1974 — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:22:00 +0000

woah! can I pay google to get faster downloads of pirated games and porn? where do I sign?