MegaUpload Shut down by Feds

275 replies
This is some scary stuff. We were all protesting SOPA yesterday, and the powers in the law area already here. Arrested are NON-US Citizens, living in Hong Kong, using offshore servers and so on.

Story***

File-sharing website, MegaUpload.com has been shut down effective Janaury 19th, by federal prosecutors claiming that the website has violated piracy laws. The website, founded by entrepreneur (and convicted criminal) Kim Schmitz, was until being shut down, the #1 file sharing website. Much of its revenue was made from performance-based and affiliate marketing advertisements placed on the website, providing one of the top display sources for the industry.

MegaUpload.com Shut Down by Feds
#feds #megaupload #shut
  • Profile picture of the author AdvancedSamurai
    Well, there are thousands of similar file sharing sites. Will they shut down every site with (pirate) "user generated" content?
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  • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
    Agreed! Silly stuff - if the site is called "pirate" something, and that's the purpose I understand. It's a new theory requiring sites to police their users.
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  • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
    Banned
    Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

    This is some scary stuff. We were all protesting SOPA yesterday, and the powers in the law area already here. Arrested are NON-US Citizens, living in Hong Kong, using offshore servers and so on.

    Story***

    File-sharing website, MegaUpload.com has been shut down effective Janaury 19th, by federal prosecutors claiming that the website has violated piracy laws. The website, founded by entrepreneur (and convicted criminal) Kim Schmitz, was until being shut down, the #1 file sharing website. Much of its revenue was made from performance-based and affiliate marketing advertisements placed on the website, providing one of the top display sources for the industry.

    MegaUpload.com Shut Down by Feds
    It was the result of a 2-year investigation and they were indicted.

    You seem surprised that the FBI can "reach out" cross-border to arrest people. Happens all the time and is based on numerous treaties between governments.
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  • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
    BIG Mike, the principle of extradition is based on crimes committed in a country. For example, someone commits a crime in the US, leaves the US and the US wants to extradite them.

    The idea that a government can impose their laws on an outside entity that has no presence in that country is ridiculous. It's a new principle that only started since 9/11, and is being enforced.

    It's generally assumed that you need to obey the law in the Country of your Physical presence, not worry about another Country's law. Can you imagine tomorrow if there was an arrest warrant issues against you for insulting the King of Thailand (illegal there) and you were forced to defend yourself? Ridiculous!
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    • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
      Banned
      Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

      BIG Mike, the principle of extradition is based on crimes committed in a country. For example, someone commits a crime in the US, leaves the US and the US wants to extradite them.

      The idea that a government can impose their laws on an outside entity that has no presence in that country is ridiculous. It's a new principle that only started since 9/11, and is being enforced.

      It's generally assumed that you need to obey the law in the Country of your Physical presence, not worry about another Country's law. Can you imagine tomorrow if there was an arrest warrant issues against you for insulting the King of Thailand (illegal there) and you were forced to defend yourself? Ridiculous!
      No, it's not a new principle - and it's long been enforced prior to 9/11. Cross-border operations are far more common than most people realize.

      Most developed countries are signatories to a variety of treaties in which all have agreed to establish and maintain a common set of laws to protect "Foreign Interests" as well as participation in the UN.

      In this case, while the crimes were not committed on US soil, they were committed against US citizens/organizations. They were arrested by the NZ police after an international warrant was issued.

      Most of the time, it's not the US specifically acting alone, but rather coordinating with the authorities in each affected country. It's also why it takes so long, i.e.; 2 years in this case to obtain an indictment, because of the intricate legalities involved.
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      • Profile picture of the author spearce000
        Originally Posted by MacS09 View Post

        Just read an article (NYT) that they are also keeping an eye on Rapidshare.

        Whatever next?

        Max
        Google Docs, perhaps? Who knows what sort of stuff that service gets used for.

        Originally Posted by BIG Mike View Post

        In this case, while the crimes were not committed on US soil, they were committed against US citizens/organizations. They were arrested by the NZ police after an international warrant was issued.

        Most of the time, it's not the US specifically acting alone, but rather coordinating with the authorities in each affected country. It's also why it takes so long, i.e.; 2 years in this case to obtain an indictment, because of the intricate legalities involved.
        On the news broadcast I saw here about it, it said the FBI had raided a building used by the website in the US, so there is (or was) probably some sort of "physical" presence in the US. The domain registrar they're using is based in Washington, so again, this site would probably fall under US jurisdiction anyway.

        The fact that so much stuff was seized by the police in NZ, leads me to suspect they've broken a whole load of laws down there, too.
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    • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
      Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

      BIG Mike, the principle of extradition is based on crimes committed in a country. For example, someone commits a crime in the US, leaves the US and the US wants to extradite them.

      The idea that a government can impose their laws on an outside entity that has no presence in that country is ridiculous. It's a new principle that only started since 9/11, and is being enforced.

      It's generally assumed that you need to obey the law in the Country of your Physical presence, not worry about another Country's law. Can you imagine tomorrow if there was an arrest warrant issues against you for insulting the King of Thailand (illegal there) and you were forced to defend yourself? Ridiculous!
      I'm not sure if this was mentioned or not, but the alleged offenders are said to have leased servers in Virginia for U.S. based mirror sites.
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      • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
        Originally Posted by E. Brian Rose View Post

        I'm not sure if this was mentioned or not, but the alleged offenders are said to have leased servers in Virginia for U.S. based mirror sites.
        yup...here is the proof of that in the charge document:

        quote:
        25. On or about June 24, 2010, members of the Mega Conspiracy were informed,
        pursuant to a criminal search warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, that thirty-nine infringing copies of copyrighted motion pictures were present on their leased servers at Carpathia Hosting, a hosting company headquartered in the Eastern District of Virginia.

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        • Profile picture of the author Alan Petersen
          The hatred towards government and law and order really blinds a lot folks here to see why Megaupload went down.

          I've seen countless threads here about our ebooks and products being pirated/stolen.

          It doesn't feel good when it happens to us. I'm shocked how blasé some of the posters here are about theft.

          We're small fish so thats why the BH forums continue to rob us blind and laugh about it. But maybe what happened to Megaupload will make them worry that gee, you can't steal online and hide in other countries. There is no place to hide digital copyright thieves.
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  • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
    As a note, I have an extensive background in electronic crime investigations, been trained in computer forensics. I'm familiar with the principles of jurisdictional nexus...
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  • Profile picture of the author Venturetothetop
    BBC News - Megaupload file-sharing site shut down

    I happen to know a really good friend of the founder, will be interesting to see how this develops. Also makes me wonder, if they have the power to do this already, why do they need SOPA?
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  • this is THE end .. take retirements Guys
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  • Profile picture of the author Martin Lee Jr
    I guess 4shared.com will be hit somewhere along the line
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    • Profile picture of the author SamKalai
      who's next? maybe filesonic ( olso based in Hongkong )
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  • Profile picture of the author BigNorm
    I'm surprised by peoples reactions. It was a file storing site which allowed people to download copyrighted files. The site was breaking the law.....and before people say "The powers of SOPA are already in effect" Ah no, this is a law which has been in effect for years and is what ultimately shut down sites like Napster.

    Simply put, if he was willing to charge people to download files then he should have used that money to ensure that files uploaded were not copyrighted.

    It annoys me how people make Kim out to be some kind of hero of the people....he was a fat **** who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
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    • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
      REally? Allowing a person to use software for whatever they want should be illegal?

      What if the government tells you tomorrow that if you sell a car to a robber, and he uses it to rob a bank, you go to jail.

      They don't "allow" anyone to use the site for copyrighted files, and in fact, when told files were copyrighted, took them down. What the USA wants is that they should be looking into everyone "private" files and play big brother. Do you like that?

      Also as pointed out, no one has been convicted of ANYTHING. These are accusations. Do you want your site shut down tomorrow based on an accusation? Your business completely shut down without a judge's say. COme on!

      Originally Posted by BigNorm View Post

      I'm surprised by peoples reactions. It was a file storing site which allowed people to download copyrighted files. The site was breaking the law.....and before people say "The powers of SOPA are already in effect" Ah no, this is a law which has been in effect for years and is what ultimately shut down sites like Napster.

      Simply put, if he was willing to charge people to download files then he should have used that money to ensure that files uploaded were not copyrighted.

      It annoys me how people make Kim out to be some kind of hero of the people....he was a fat **** who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
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      • Profile picture of the author capitalalchemy
        Anonymous just shut down www.fbi.gov -- see for yourselves...I have a feeling this going to be down for a long time. It sounds like we may have a serious cyber war on our hands.
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      • Profile picture of the author BigNorm
        Where did I say he was convicted? I didn't, don't add quotes into my comments that aren't there. And I'm sure since anyone had paid access to the TV programs on megaupload, those behind the action probably like the rest of the paid users, sat there and downloaded their own content. And as much as I know you're enjoying your "America government bashing rant" it was the owners of the copyrighted material which pushed for this action. No one in government woke up one day and said to themselves "you know what, let's shut down megaupload".

        Also your example of the car and the robber....ridiculous, since it was the free and paid access to copyright material which got him shut down, not the use of the servers. Your stretching your point here since if I sell my car I'm no longer the legal owner of that vehicle, what the new owner does with is their problem. He still owned, operated and then charged out a service. Your argument is weak at best using this example as it would never happen.
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          • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
            Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

            wow, I read the whole thing. They deserved to be taken down according to the evidence presented in the charges.

            Here's my take. Megaupload have been on the feds radar for quite some time. They became huge way too fast and with what @Kezz posted above about Mega getting into music distribution, I completely get it. The movie and music industries are huge and they have taken the biggest hit with the Internet. The music industry began to make changes to try to cope: hence iTunes, and ad-supported YouTube videos (Vevo, etc)

            Now along comes another competitor, one they already have a problem with, piracy facilitators, who are now going try to get a piece of the music distribution business? It wasn't going to be allowed. Plain and simple.
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            • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
              Wow, I hope you aren't American, and live in Nigeria... because in the United States, there is a simple basic principle of INNOCENT until PROVEN GUILTY. Do you know how many cases a year are brought against people and dropped, or the person found not guity in this Country? We are talking MILLIONS.

              Also, we ignoring the issue here that the people involved, again, do not live in the United States, and the US is enforcing their laws overseas.

              I assume that anyone supporting this would support, oh..let's say, being charged for something that is illegal in Saudi Arabia, such as..well, almost anything

              The problem here continues to be that even if they did everything charged, it needs to go to court. A court, a judge, a jury needs to make those decisions NOT the prosecutors. We've given the government such power that an ACCUSATION means being shut down, having your life ruined.

              Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

              wow, I read the whole thing. They deserved to be taken down according to the evidence presented in the charges.
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              • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
                Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

                Wow, I hope you aren't American, and live in Nigeria... because in the United States, there is a simple basic principle of INNOCENT until PROVEN GUILTY. Do you know how many cases a year are brought against people and dropped, or the person found not guity in this Country? We are talking MILLIONS.

                Also, we ignoring the issue here that the people involved, again, do not live in the United States, and the US is enforcing their laws overseas.

                I assume that anyone supporting this would support, oh..let's say, being charged for something that is illegal in Saudi Arabia, such as..well, almost anything

                The problem here continues to be that even if they did everything charged, it needs to go to court. A court, a judge, a jury needs to make those decisions NOT the prosecutors. We've given the government such power that an ACCUSATION means being shut down, having your life ruined.
                pace, did you read the charge document? I did. Here it is thanks to Ewen: http://static2.stuff.co.nz/files/MegaUpload.pdf

                I strongly suggest those of you who claim this is a load of rubbish and it shouldn't have happened to read it. It's a long document, though, so I'm sure many won't bother. They much rather spew ignorant trash on this thread, showing the whole world what their true colors are and making themselves look bad enough that I'm not sure who would want to do business with some of them...Remember, fellow warriors, all of our posts are found on Google. And if you condone piracy and theft of property, well who is going to want to buy your WSO's?

                anyhow...back to the charge document.

                There's compelling evidence there. Enough to warrant the arrests, and the sites being shut down. This was not some random accusation. This was a 2 year investigation. And the crimes committed by Megaupload were mostly against US copyright holders, so whether or not the defendants are from the US or not, it matters not. New Zealand authorities cooperated with the US officials to bring them down.

                I live in Canada, and although I don't approve of a lot of the heavy-handed US foreign policies, I believe, in this case, the actions of the US officials were justified. The principals of Megaupload were even paying bonuses to some members and encouraging them to upload certain material - not stopping them, like everyone thought, based on the apparently meaningless text on the website's TOS. The charge document has the amounts that were paid out to these members. Very compelling stuff.

                Yes, there should be a trial, and the judge should make the final determination. But it is not uncommon, based on strong evidence, that defendants are arrested and assets seized, and not just in the US. This was such a case, in which, in my opinion, the actions of the officials were completely justified. Law and interpretations of law is never black and white.

                Innocent until proven guilty - yes, it's the same here in Canada. That is why the investigation took as long as it did. They had to have solid irrefutable evidence to do what they did.
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                • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
                  Here in NZ, the police have to get a Court Judge to allow what the police did...

                  seize cars, art, computers, servers, and bank accounts.

                  And when they get it, it's very rare they lose the case in court.

                  A number of cases have gone to the Appeals Court to have
                  the lower court decision overturned in the Proceeds Of Crimes Act.

                  Non to my knowledge have succeeded.

                  Best,
                  Ewen
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                  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
                    Here in NZ, the police have to get a court judge to allow what the police did..
                    They have to do that here, too - the police don't just decide to rush in and take action. An indictment was issued by the court on January 5 giving permission for the feds to move in.

                    In spite of what some here claim - we are not living in a police state.
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                    what it is instead of what you think it should be.
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                • Profile picture of the author Centurian
                  Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

                  pace, did you read the charge document? I did. Here it is thanks to Ewen: http://static2.stuff.co.nz/files/MegaUpload.pdf

                  I strongly suggest those of you who claim this is a load of rubbish and it shouldn't have happened to read it. It's a long document, though, so I'm sure many won't bother. They much rather spew ignorant trash on this thread, showing the whole world what their true colors are and making themselves look bad enough that I'm not sure who would want to do business with some of them...Remember, fellow warriors, all of our posts are found on Google. And if you condone piracy and theft of property, well who is going to want to buy your WSO's?

                  anyhow...back to the charge document.

                  There's compelling evidence there. Enough to warrant the arrests, and the sites being shut down. This was not some random accusation. This was a 2 year investigation. And the crimes committed by Megaupload were mostly against US copyright holders, so whether or not the defendants are from the US or not, it matters not. New Zealand authorities cooperated with the US officials to bring them down.

                  I live in Canada, and although I don't approve of a lot of the heavy-handed US foreign policies, I believe, in this case, the actions of the US officials were justified. The principals of Megaupload were even paying bonuses to some members and encouraging them to upload certain material - not stopping them, like everyone thought, based on the apparently meaningless text on the website's TOS. The charge document has the amounts that were paid out to these members. Very compelling stuff.

                  Yes, there should be a trial, and the judge should make the final determination. But it is not uncommon, based on strong evidence, that defendants are arrested and assets seized, and not just in the US. This was such a case, in which, in my opinion, the actions of the officials were completely justified. Law and interpretations of law is never black and white.

                  Innocent until proven guilty - yes, it's the same here in Canada. That is why the investigation took as long as it did. They had to have solid irrefutable evidence to do what they did.
                  The Justice Department said in a statement said that Kim Dotcom, 37, and three other employees were arrested Thursday in New Zealand at the request of U.S. officials. Three other defendants are at large.

                  The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that, "This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?"
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                  • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
                    Originally Posted by Centurian View Post


                    The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends free speech and digital rights online, said in a statement that, "This kind of application of international criminal procedures to Internet policy issues sets a terrifying precedent. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next?"
                    they clearly didn't read the charge documents. It wasn't just "a copyright claim"...this was way more than that: piracy, money laundering, and more.

                    And this investigation started way way before SOPA was written.

                    By the way, twice the link to the charge document has been inserted into this thread. It has been largely ignored by many who are posting, like it's nothing.

                    :rolleyes:
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                    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
                      Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

                      they clearly didn't read the charge documents. It wasn't just "a copyright claim"...this was way more than that: piracy, money laundering, and more.
                      Karen, "piracy" is copyright infringement, and virtually any wrongdoing involving money can have a "money laundering" claim attached to it.

                      If you do something wrong online that takes someone's money, you can easily be charged with fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering.

                      I've seen lawsuits where a simple claim: I didn't get what I paid for - sprouts a dozen causes of action.

                      Don't get caught up in the list or name of the charges to assume "way more" illegal wrongdoing is occurring. (Not to minimize the massive amount of copyright infringement that is alleged).

                      If you offer a WSO, get paid but fail to deliver the product, and then transfer the funds from a PayPal business account to your personal bank account - you arguably could be charged with money laundering.

                      .
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                    • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
                      Banned
                      Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

                      By the way, twice the link to the charge document has been inserted into this thread. It has been largely ignored by many who are posting, like it's nothing. :rolleyes:
                      That's cause it's more fun making up facts and using conjecture than focusing on what was reported to have actually taken place
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              • Profile picture of the author webpromotions
                Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

                The problem here continues to be that even if they did everything charged, it needs to go to court. A court, a judge, a jury needs to make those decisions NOT the prosecutors. We've given the government such power that an ACCUSATION means being shut down, having your life ruined.
                Well said.

                I wonder what some of the members here would say after this forum is shut down because of all of the copyright infringement of a few rogue members - heck, its hard to read a popular thread nowadays without seeing this problem just in the avatar pics.

                Its all good tho - I only saw one violation today - a fairly long time member using Mickey Mouse as the avatar. No biggie - Disney doesn't care about protecting their brand.

                I'm sure Allen would be given ample opportunity to explain why this was allowed.
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                • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
                  I've just spent the last few hours educating myself about a few things that have been going on that I had no idea about, and right now I'm reeling from what I learned. Call me naive, but I did not understand how completely hypocritical this Megaupload take-down is.

                  If I'm understanding everything correctly now, the very corporations who are crying foul and trying to push through these SOPA/PIPA bills are the very people who actually created the file-sharing software?

                  If this is so, how could they possibly charge Megaupload for the alleged crimes in the charge document, I was so adamant about earlier?

                  It is not so cut and dried anymore.

                  Is this video below for real? I found it on the main SOPA comment thread. Because if it is, whoa! The implications are unreal. I'm not so sure anymore about Megaupload actually being criminals. The real criminals are the ones who created the file-sharing software to begin with, and then distributed it just so they can eventually control the Internet.


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                  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                    Is this video below for real?
                    The video is real, but so is Pulp Fiction, and in exactly the same sense.

                    Has anyone actually paid attention to what that conspiracy-theorist ranter is saying? How can anyone claim that has anything to do with this situation?

                    First: The systems used by MegaUpload had nothing to do with the type of software this guy is claiming Disney/CBS/et al were supposedly responsible for. Nothing. So trying to tie it in to the MegaUpload case is logically flawed from the beginning.

                    Second: CBS/Disney/Viacom/etc did not program Kazaa, Gnutella, Limewire, or any of the others. C|Net allowed the software, which had legitimate uses, to be distributed through their service, just like almost anything else could be.

                    Yes, it was inevitable that such software would be used for piracy. It was obvious to me, given the few filetypes that are big enough to need many of the features of the software, that it would be used primarily for piracy. But C|Net didn't promote it for that purpose, and you can bet the executives at the companies this guy mentioned weren't thinking "Let's start this up so we can later 'control the Internet'."

                    Third: O'Dwyer, the guy who started TVshack, wasn't just some innocent kid who happened to link to a few pirated files. He made a fair chunk of change (some 100s of 1000s of dollars) from the site, which was dedicated to promoting video piracy.

                    There are valid legal arguments about whether he should be extradited based on those actions, given the laws in the UK, but there's no argument that the guy knowingly profited from promoting theft of intellectual property.

                    Those mistakes were all in just the first 5 minutes of that video.

                    I am no fan of the RIAA or MPAA, but this thing is so full of nonsensical conspiracy crap, it's amazing so many people have promoted it as though it had any credibility at all.


                    Paul
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                    • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
                      Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post


                      Those mistakes were all in just the first 5 minutes of that video.

                      I am no fan of the RIAA or MPAA, but this thing is so full of nonsensical conspiracy crap, it's amazing so many people have promoted it as though it had any credibility at all.


                      Paul
                      well, now I really don't know who to believe anymore. So, here's a promise to myself: from this day forward, I'm going to ignore a lot of the drama that's going on in this world, and focus on my life and those closest to me, and spread my own light however best I can. I'll be much happier for it, trust me. Thanks, Paul, and those of you have contributed intelligently to this thread.
                      Peace out...
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      • Profile picture of the author Vlad Romanov
        Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

        REally? Allowing a person to use software for whatever they want should be illegal?

        What if the government tells you tomorrow that if you sell a car to a robber, and he uses it to rob a bank, you go to jail.

        They don't "allow" anyone to use the site for copyrighted files, and in fact, when told files were copyrighted, took them down. What the USA wants is that they should be looking into everyone "private" files and play big brother. Do you like that?

        Also as pointed out, no one has been convicted of ANYTHING. These are accusations. Do you want your site shut down tomorrow based on an accusation? Your business completely shut down without a judge's say. COme on!
        Actually, your example makes no sense at all. A good analogy would be an owner of a garage allowing cars which have been involved in crimes to park as they please... Which is illegal in case you didnt know.

        Megaupload and megavideo had tons of copyrighted material, they removed it when complaints came in, but the material was already distributed.

        In my opinion I have no idea why people are complaining, excluding those that used it for legitimate reasons, most people used both of those to download and watch copyrighted material.

        -Vlad
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    • Profile picture of the author M.Kind
      That is nothing compared to what US government is doing around the world for the same Corporations that 'pretend' to be law abiding.
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  • Profile picture of the author James B. Allen
    They were arrested right here in Auckland today. The US Gov't (by way of their folks down here) came half way round the world for these guys and plucked them - two of them residents of New Zealand right here.

    Megaupload.com | NZ residents arrested in internet... | Stuff.co.nz
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    Man feels like there is a war coming reading all these threads today. WOW.

    not sure what to think really.
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  • Profile picture of the author Landoy
    Wow, this **** has allready gone to far!
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    • Profile picture of the author Centurian
      Shut down. Seized. No trial. No due process.

      More evidence our government is committed to acting without legal authority; from Congress or the rule of law. This administration has stated multiple times they "will act if the Congress does not."

      This simply means they make themselves a law unto themselves. They are judge, jury, and executioner. We are not ruled by kings or oligarchs, but by the rule of law written and adopted in the Constitution.

      No matter what we think about these alleged crooks, we must not allow the Constitution to be trampled under the foot of men.

      More reasons to call your congressional representatives and senators. Demand the death of SOPA and PIPA. Demand they reign in the lawless feds.

      No private property seizures without a finding of guilt in a court of law by a jury of one's peers! Even then, sentence must be pronounced. If any fines are not paid, then impoundment can be executed only by a judgment from the court.
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      • Profile picture of the author davezan
        Originally Posted by Centurian View Post

        No due process.
        I noticed a lot of people complaining about that. And I think it is largely in part
        due to not being fully aware how the law is actually spelled out.

        In the U.S. at least, their 4th amendment actually allows seizure of, say, a drug
        lab without notifying its owner first upon securing and serving the warrant. The
        idea behind that is to stop the alleged illegal activity while disputing it in court.

        That's what DOJ et al are also exploring. Only time will tell how courts decide on
        this.

        Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

        because in the United States, there is a simple basic principle of INNOCENT until PROVEN GUILTY. Do you know how many cases a year are brought against people and dropped, or the person found not guity in this Country? We are talking MILLIONS.

        Also, we ignoring the issue here that the people involved, again, do not live in the United States, and the US is enforcing their laws overseas.
        Uh, they are still presumed innocent until proven guilty, albeit that won't stop
        others from believing they're nonetheless guilty for said acts. Another way to
        look at this is the U.S. government is "asking" for cooperation. (e.g. you help us
        catch this crook, and we'll help you catch yours if ever...)

        That may seem naive or even foolish. Just remember that sometimes there's a
        reasonable explanation for something, although it is another story whether it's
        palatable or not.

        There's a time and place for everything. Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see
        whatever facts will (hopefully) be revealed if/when their trial begins. (unless a
        "deal" or similar is later made behind the scenes, maybe...)

        Then again, sometimes we also tend to speculate (and not always accurately)
        if we see something we don't like, yet don't necessarily try to find out more to
        maybe make sense of the so-called method behind the madness. *shrug*
        Signature

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        • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
          You know, I don't want my government spending money protecting billion dollar corporations copyrights. That is what civil court is for.

          You know the type of criminals I used to catch? Child Pornographers mainly. That's what i want the government focusing on.

          Originally Posted by davezan View Post

          Uh, they are still presumed innocent until proven guilty, albeit that won't stop
          others from believing they're nonetheless guilty for said acts. Another way to
          look at this is the U.S. government is "asking" for cooperation. (e.g. you help us
          catch this crook, and we'll help you catch yours if ever...)

          That may seem naive or even foolish. Just remember that sometimes there's a
          reasonable explanation for something, although it is another story whether it's
          palatable or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Take from this what you will, but Mega were right on the verge of rolling out a new music selling service.

    There was a lot of talk, which I'd been following recently, about it becoming huge and potentially a massive competitor to existing music distribution companies.

    As you obviously can no longer read Mega's own information about the service, you can read an article on it here:

    Megaupload Reveals Plans for New Music-Selling Service • News • exclaim.ca

    They were set to pay artists 90% royalties instead of the typical inverse, selling music direct to customers.

    Last I read, they already had a lot of support and had artists such as Kanye West on board with the new means of distribution.

    Had it gone ahead, with Mega's well established file serving infrastructure and advertising reach, it had potential to radically change the music distribution industry, moving large amounts of income away from traditional distribution companies.

    But now it looks like we'll never know hey?

    Coincidental timing? As I said, take from it what you will.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Worner
      Originally Posted by triobacklinkbuilder View Post

      this is THE end .. take retirements Guys
      Originally Posted by newjerseycrown View Post

      The beginning to an end.
      Originally Posted by celente View Post

      Man feels like there is a war coming reading all these threads today. WOW.

      not sure what to think really.
      Originally Posted by Landoy View Post

      Wow, this **** has allready gone to far!

      -Chris
      Signature

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    • Profile picture of the author Claire Koch
      Yep this is definitely the major reason they don't want another napster situation cropping up out of nowhere. When people think they are losing their money they will do anything!

      Originally Posted by Kezz View Post

      Take from this what you will, but Mega were right on the verge of rolling out a new music selling service.

      There was a lot of talk, which I'd been following recently, about it becoming huge and potentially a massive competitor to existing music distribution companies.

      As you obviously can no longer read Mega's own information about the service, you can read an article on it here:

      Megaupload Reveals Plans for New Music-Selling Service • News • exclaim.ca

      They were set to pay artists 90% royalties instead of the typical inverse, selling music direct to customers.

      Last I read, they already had a lot of support and had artists such as Kanye West on board with the new means of distribution.

      Had it gone ahead, with Mega's well established file serving infrastructure and advertising reach, it had potential to radically change the music distribution industry, moving large amounts of income away from traditional distribution companies.

      But now it looks like we'll never know hey?

      Coincidental timing? As I said, take from it what you will.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steven Fullman
        1) Napster made it easy for folks to download the music they love

        Illegally.

        2) iTunes makes it easy for folks to download the music they love

        Legally.

        Basically the same service.

        Apple stole the idea from Napster...but who cares? Our musical lives are richer for it.




        Originally Posted by Claire Koch View Post

        Yep this is definitely the major reason they don't want another napster situation cropping up out of nowhere. When people think they are losing their money they will do anything!
        Signature

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        • Profile picture of the author Kezz
          Originally Posted by Steven Fullman View Post

          1) Napster made it easy for folks to download the music they love

          Illegally.

          2) iTunes makes it easy for folks to download the music they love

          Legally.

          Basically the same service.

          Apple stole the idea from Napster...but who cares? Our musical lives are richer for it.
          Yes, to be clear the planned service from Mega was to be legal, i.e. iTunes but bigger.

          So they may well have been just about to solve their own piracy problem for music by putting paid download options in front of people instead.
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        • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
          Dotcom's past convictions for credit card fraud, hacking and
          artificially manipulating share prices won't help
          the public's perception of him.

          He bought his way into NZ residency.

          Here's the news story...

          "Dotcom has been in trouble with the law for money before. In 2001, the Megaupload founder pocketed 1.5 million euros after promising to invest 50 million euros into failing company LetsBuyIt.com. He pulled the fraud off by purchasing 375,000 euros worth of stock in the company, made his investment announcement, and watched the stock price soar. After the stock had climbed a considerable amount, Dotcom cut and ran, having never possessed enough money to make the 50 million euro investment in the first place. In 2003, Dotcom admitted to embezzlement and was flown from Thailand to Germany for the trial.

          According to New Zealand-based website 3 News, New Zealand's government initially denied Dotcom's application residency when he failed a "good character" test. However, he then donated to the Christchurch Earthquake Fund and invested $10 million in government bonds, and his application was subsequently approved."

          best,
          Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
            If you guys didn't allow people to buy residency, you'd be a lot poorer. Look at the stats

            Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

            Dotcom's past convictions for credit card fraud, hacking and
            artificially manipulating share prices won't help
            the public's perception of him.

            He bought his way into NZ residency.

            Here's the news story...

            "Dotcom has been in trouble with the law for money before. In 2001, the Megaupload founder pocketed 1.5 million euros after promising to invest 50 million euros into failing company LetsBuyIt.com. He pulled the fraud off by purchasing 375,000 euros worth of stock in the company, made his investment announcement, and watched the stock price soar. After the stock had climbed a considerable amount, Dotcom cut and ran, having never possessed enough money to make the 50 million euro investment in the first place. In 2003, Dotcom admitted to embezzlement and was flown from Thailand to Germany for the trial.

            According to New Zealand-based website 3 News, New Zealand's government initially denied Dotcom's application residency when he failed a "good character" test. However, he then donated to the Christchurch Earthquake Fund and invested $10 million in government bonds, and his application was subsequently approved."

            best,
            Ewen
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Now with MegaUpload is gone, I wonder where i'm going to get all my free music from then. Guess i gotta shell out $20 for a CD all over again.
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    • Profile picture of the author ahlexis
      Originally Posted by Randall Magwood View Post

      Now with MegaUpload is gone, I wonder where i'm going to get all my free music from then. Guess i gotta shell out $20 for a CD all over again.
      You know what? The sad thing about this is, as I look back to the time in my life when I spent a ton of money on music, the only times I bought music is when I had heard songs on albums I LIKED. How did I hear them enough to know I'd like the whole album?

      By hearing them from free sources.

      That's right. The only way to tell if an album is even worth shelling out money for is TO HEAR THE MUSIC FIRST. Someone @ RIAA should realize that nobody likes to buy a pig in a poke, and the only way to be sure you are NOT buying a pig in a poke is to hear it first.

      I recently went to a Best Buy store hoping to buy an album that had been released last year, and not only was it not available on the shelf, but the people working that section of the store had no idea who or what I was talking about. And it wasn't some new or obscure artist, it was someone who has been putting out best selling albums since the 80s.

      Amazon sounds like a great idea, and yes I could find the music on Amazon. But at the time I was getting ready for a road trip, leaving later that day, and I wanted the music NOW, not in a week or two. It was an impulse buy. I woke up that morning and thought to myself, "this road trip will be even better if I can play _________ as I'm flying down the road @ 80mph." (There are parts of my state where 80 is legal, and Guvnor Perry wants to raise that limit to 90! )

      The lack of ability of a potential customer to make an impulse buy of high quality music is a major part of the reason the music industry is seeing the lower numbers that they whine about. That, and making their customer the enemy. (And I HATE music in MP3s; the format is not a lossless technology; when I am paying attention I can hear the differences in quality after years of playing nothing but CDs.)

      I not only remember Napster 1.0 with fondness, I remember Prince (or The Artist Formerly Known As, depending on when you were paying attention to him!) saying he could release an album on Napster and charge $5.00 and take home more money than he ever would if he used traditional channels and his end-user customer paid $16.98 . . . the going rate for a CD at the time.

      The thing with FBI and DOJ going after people in other countries is actually an empire showing signs of being at the end of its reign. It is now just a matter of time until this whole country that once was great collapses from its own weight. Every empire that has once ruled has gone down the same path, and every single one without exception has fallen soon after. It won't be long before they'll be telling Mr. President-Of-Iran that he can no longer visit South America due to the Monroe Doctrine. And to tell the truth, I'm actually surprised they haven't already, except I don't think Obama knows much about the Monroe Doctrine.

      The signs of decay are evident everywhere if you know where to look and what to look for. Heck, a local Walmart in my neck of the woods has been on the news for being robbed @ shotgun and having the vault drop of the day intercepted at the exact moment when store management was on the way to the vault to lock up the money.

      Getting back to the music issues, it's interesting because I don't buy music so much anymore. Not because it's available everywhere around me for free. No, I'm an audiophile, so the true high quality stuff is NOT available for free. The reason I don't buy music anymore is because I don't play it as much anymore and I'm much more likely to listen to you guys in videos and audios telling me how you are making those mega cash cow sites!!! There are, after all, only so many hours in a day!

      But seriously, a major part of the decline in music sales is because there is also a decline in the number of people in their target demographic. There are more baby boomers than there are Generation X'ers or Y'ers, and the music industry as a whole didn't plan on that. They thought the gravy train was going to last forever, and now they're as mad they cannot keep the party going as the janitors and legal secretaries who are getting foreclosed on because they didn't plan to ever have to face an interest rate hike when they signed that adjustable rate mortgage that got them in for so cheap into a McMansion they could not afford any other way.

      It just perpetuates cyber terrorism, and gives the governments even more reason to just shut the whole thing down.

      Do you want that?
      The thing is, if you make your living on the internet you should be looking into a Plan B and Plan C, and maybe even a Plan D. What will you do if (when) YOUR gov't decides to turn off the internet? Do you have a bulletin board system or some other kind of ability to keep going in place? Will you even be able to dial up to another country if your broadband provider goes down? Sounds archaic, doesn't it? Especially in these days and times of VOIP phone service! But if it's your BUSINESS, you should probably look into it because if it's your livelihood on the line, well . . . I wouldn't have wanted to be trying to run an internet business in Egypt back in the spring or summer of 2011. Even the students in Tiananmen Square had their international fax numbers they could get messages out through in order to let others know what was happening!
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      • Profile picture of the author igorGriffiths
        Of course it deserved to be shut down it was committing a criminal act.

        Congratulations on the US for actually following due process for once, each country has its own legal system and it has to be respected.

        This is why SOPA was such a bad piece of legislation, it threatened (I have actually read the bill summary) co-operate or face the consequences which were not explained but would obviously mean a country being labelled as a terrorist state with all that entails, if it did not enforce the SOPA regulations against its own citizens for the good of the US media corporations.

        MU was a haven for criminal activity of all sorts and thus acts as a reality check for all of us. Far too many of my friends think I am nuts because I will pay for my products when of course I could steal them, lets not play on words downloading from an alternative source is stealing and is not heroic in the sense of stealing from the rich to help the poor.

        You are on this forum because you want to develop and grow a business, so how will the news headline, "Business Owner Arrested in Dawn Raid" go down with your customers?

        Invest in your business and your customers and you can have all that you desire.
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  • Profile picture of the author 1stpage
    I am seriously wondering how they managed to do this so quickly. If I am not mistaken, the raid/arrest just happened today... and they coordinated this and hacked multiple high security sites just like that? Seems odd.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    We may as well all move to North Korea.
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  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    Yes it was a filesharing service which also housed legit documents for people. If you know of most the filesharing services you also know it takes on small email saying someone is stealing your product and the filesharing service will take it down.

    I know this for a fact since I have emailed megaupload and they have did this.

    The ones are right. It happens all the time. Pass one law to make another stricter law. Where does it stop. It will be Tyranny before its all with. You know the funny part is the people who say well I agree with the law, since it doesn't effect them, but that one law can change into something that will effect them.
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    By the way.

    I hate Ruport Murdoch.


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    • Profile picture of the author jeffjbell
      Ya the key to what was said is "Google Search" and you don't see Google with this...
      http://megaupload.com/banner.jpg



      Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

      By the way.

      I hate Ruport Murdoch.


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  • Profile picture of the author alcymart
    Well, it seems that this will become a Major Cyber War folks! Surely there must be a threshold to reach before they actually arrest. A 2 year investigation if true means that they probably held more copywrited material than legit. hmm...
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
    Originally Posted by honestbizpro View Post

    Can we still whistle a tune or is that a copyright violation? :rolleyes:
    I think they'll put you in federal prison for that
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
    Originally Posted by honestbizpro View Post

    Can we still whistle a tune or is that a copyright violation? :rolleyes:
    I just burped and it almost sounded like Chewbacca from Star Wars.

    Should I be concerned?
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  • Profile picture of the author fr3quenzy
    Anonymous took Revenge ... They also took down justice.gov & other few Gov Websites for a while
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  • Profile picture of the author danlew
    I felt bad about this, and I feel sorry for MegaUpload users who invested their money to them. Has SOPA already begun? But anyway, hackers took revenge on hacking the government websites.

    Ok SOPA, who's next? Facebook? Twitter? Youtube?
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    • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
      don't feel bad about Megaupload-they made gobs of money from criminal activity. They are (and sites like them) the reason these SOPA/PIPA bills were created to begin with.

      Now, I'm against the SOPA/PIPA bills, but not because I condone piracy or copyright infringement. The SOPA/PIPA bills are wrong as they are written because they are a threat to our freedom of speech and to the normal flow of Internet commerce. Many innocent people can be unjustly punished for crimes they didn't commit.

      But in this case, Megaupload are guilty, whether you believe it or not.

      And for the record, I really don't think it is wise to applaud Anonymous for hacking into government websites. Why?

      It just perpetuates cyber terrorism, and gives the governments even more reason to just shut the whole thing down.

      Do you want that?
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  • Profile picture of the author hardraysnight
    i would not like the clown who wrote that to be my copywriter
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  • Profile picture of the author celente
    I know...i know...these guys deserve be behind bars. and blah blah blah...

    Infact a few of my good products were found there backin 2010 and 2011.... *insert naughty swear words here*

    They are really behind bars,..... but its ok..... I sent them a package to calm their nerves and to help them. It was a cheap bar of soap on a rope.

    I called it SOPA-on-a-rope and thinking of selling it on clickbank as a physical product. Anyone wanna joint venture me in this product. We will make a god damn fortune. Just by looking at the keywords, we can make it work. I promise. PM me if your interested.
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    • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
      Originally Posted by celente View Post

      I called it SOPA-on-a-rope
      This is HILARIOUS!!


      Originally Posted by tebor79 View Post

      I copy my friends cassette tapes.
      Also I have 2 vcr's for copying their movies.
      Will I be arrested?
      Yes. Yes, you will.
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  • Profile picture of the author everydayreviews
    read through most of these replies. my gut feeling is, it's just going to get worse
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    • Profile picture of the author celente
      Originally Posted by everydayreviews View Post

      read through most of these replies. my gut feeling is, it's just going to get worse
      of course it will.

      More power and control.

      Do you think the elite want more people telling others to wake and realise the whole economic crisis was planned. Of course not, and that is just 1% of all this kerfuffle.

      Time to read between the lines and wake up people. Not just the people in the US.
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      • Profile picture of the author MakeMoneyJames
        Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

        wow, I read the whole thing. They deserved to be taken down according to the evidence presented in the charges.
        I read parts of the document. Would you be willing to list some of the most compelling evidence in there? Its pretty long got a lot of work im doing now .
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  • Profile picture of the author taskemann
    To shut down MegaUpload will not solve the problem with piracy... Now when MegaUpload is gone, pirates will upload the files to other "file sharing" networks. Deal with that FBI!

    Personally I hate piracy, but I DON'T support SOPA and PIPA!
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Coleman
      Originally Posted by taskemann View Post

      To shut down MegaUpload will not solve the problem with piracy... Now when MegaUpload is gone, pirates will upload the files to other "file sharing" networks. Deal with that FBI!

      Personally I hate piracy, but I DON'T support SOPA and PIPA!
      I have to agree. Plenty of my products were stolen and posted to Megaupload. But they always complied with my DMCA notices.

      Contrast that to the b-hat forums that basically laugh in your face when you contact them.

      So, will this action by the FBI leave only the hard core pirates intact?

      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author a2zmac1
        yeah it was a pretty cool bust..about 10 k from me. saw the truckloads of cars comming back from there confiscated from the premises..two loads of cops in choppers went in and about 6 car loads of cops....it was a big day out for the cops.. chrisco owner built the 30 million dollar mansion and he leased it..he be out of jail on monday probably...dont know why fbi here they must need a holiday..
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Paul,
          Plenty of my products were stolen and posted to Megaupload. But they always complied with my DMCA notices.
          I don't know the details of the MegaUpload case, beyond what's been reported in the news. So, consider this generic commentary.

          It is possible to set up a corrupt business that still responds quickly to legal action or other notification of possible infringement. If you create incentives you know are going to appeal more to pirates, and count on the numbers working in your favor while you go along with whatever DMCA notices do come in, complying wouldn't necessarily mean you weren't guilty. Just that you planned to steal until you got caught.

          Knowingly doing something wrong over and over, and then just apologizing when you get caught and going back to it as soon as you get the chance, isn't the most credible way to demonstrate good faith.
          Contrast that to the b-hat forums that basically laugh in your face when you contact them.
          It might be clearer to refer to those sites as "pirate" or "warez" forums. Not every site that uses the term "black hat" is involved in illegal activities.


          Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
        Wow, that's an amazing quote. You sent DCMA notices, they took down. That would blow the feds case out of the water!!!

        Originally Posted by Paul Coleman View Post

        I have to agree. Plenty of my products were stolen and posted to Megaupload. But they always complied with my DMCA notices.

        Contrast that to the b-hat forums that basically laugh in your face when you contact them.

        So, will this action by the FBI leave only the hard core pirates intact?

        Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author luckyshah290
    This is all BS ... there are literally thousands of file sharing sites in the internet .. what are they gonna shut down each of them ... Almost every site contains Pirated contents ..

    Whats next Mediafire ? ..... Rapidshare ? ...

    This is crazy .. But whatever they are gonna do .. this is not gonna stop innovation.
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    • Profile picture of the author Daniel Evans
      Originally Posted by luckyshah290 View Post

      This is all BS ... there are literally thousands of file sharing sites in the internet .. what are they gonna shut down each of them ... Almost every site contains Pirated contents ..

      Whats next Mediafire ? ..... Rapidshare ? ...
      Yeah, probably.

      What's amazing is how we had all these sites in the first place.

      It's not amazing the authorities are ridding of them. That's expected.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
      Originally Posted by luckyshah290 View Post

      This is crazy .. But whatever they are gonna do .. this is not gonna stop innovation.
      We sure love our buzz words don't we? How did copyright violation become "innovation". Its in fact the direct opposite of innovation.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    I think this was announced when it was as kind of a response to the shut down. It's the government letting us know they could care less what the citizens think, and the are going to run rampant on our rights anyway. It's a shame how bad this country has deteriorated. It's unfortunately no longer the greatest country in the world.
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  • Profile picture of the author Henri Lind
    This is just nonsense. Irritating.
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  • About time!

    Just because the internet is all about free exchange of knowledge and whatnot, it doesn't mean that copyrighted material can be massively distributed online. I'm all for sharing stuff, but breaking the copyright laws every single day is not OK.
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  • Profile picture of the author CyberSEO
    This news made my day. Really.

    Here is a quote for those who's gonna protect the scammers: "Kim Schmitz is a German entrepreneur best known as the founder of the Megaupload website and associated sites. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Schmitz gained notoriety as a computer criminal who was convicted of credit card fraud, hacking, insider trading, and embezzlement." (c) Wikipedia
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    You know what's the real hysterical thing in all of this: The guy changed his name from Kim Shmitz to Kim "Dotcom". Now that there is an ego bigger than Megaupload's whole file stash!
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    • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
      Once you make over $100M a year, you have a right to change your name to whatever you f'ing want. Seriously.

      Originally Posted by nicheblogger75 View Post

      You know what's the real hysterical thing in all of this: The guy changed his name from Kim Shmitz to Kim "Dotcom". Now that there is an ego bigger than Megaupload's whole file stash!
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  • Profile picture of the author AppsFromHome
    I don't normally read threads with posts this long...but I have been engaged through it all!

    I always love the insight from the WF regarding everything.....and this is a case and point right here.

    THANKS!

    Now maybe I should get back to work.....hmmm...it is Friday.
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  • Profile picture of the author bradudan
    They fight a war with an impossible enemy. Piracy will always find a way to exist.

    The form it will be changed with this oppression.

    I admit that piracy has bad parts but also along with it Piracy has opened ways for children in poor countries to open their eyes and make a living on it. Piracy has changed life of lots of poor young people which has no money to buy that music, software.

    One of them it is me .. I must admit that without piracy i would not be what i am today. Now i have money to pay licences but in the begginning i have had none so NO CHANCE to become what i am today.

    I will always be in depth to this "black side of internet ". Let's say it once and for all.

    Let's be fair !!
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Russ, Thanks. That article provides yet another good example of how the problem can be much more complex than it looks on the surface.

      Consider the argument that this creates a chilling effect on the use of cloud services by consumers. That alone is the basis for all sorts of very real concerns.

      And the ethical debates could be ponderous indeed. Do we allow sites like this to use legitimate users as virtual "human shields" to perpetuate a pattern of large scale copyright infringement? What steps, if any, are appropriate to protect those innocent users, who may not be aware they're storing their family photos or business documents on the same machines as pirated movies and who knows what else?

      Some things make such questions clearer in certain instances. For example, according to that article:
      The company also discouraged users from using the site for legitimate personal storage by automatically deleting files that weren't regularly downloaded, prosecutors said.
      If true, that takes MegaUpload out of the realm of a backup system, and anyone who used it should be aware it's not a long-term solution. Changes the equation in big ways.

      Then you can make it even more interesting, by looking at the distribution of documents from the Church of Scientology, and how the CoS went after the file sharers. Or, for more current fodder, Wikileaks.

      Those are nowhere near as clear in most people's minds as the pirate sites. I know people who regularly pirate music who aren't going to be morally outraged if their favorite download sites go offline. They'll shrug and consider it a minor inconvenience. Those same people might think very differently about Wikileaks being taken down.

      Anyone who thinks this overall debate is just about piracy isn't paying attention.


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      • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
        Typically the copyright owner has to (1) file a lawsuit, (2) prove liability to get a judgment, (3) then go try and seize assets to pay it off. It is an expensive process.

        It is much easier to have the government (3) seize assets, (1) file a lawsuit, (2) then prove liability and get a judgment. The government's rationale is that defendants are guilty and the assets are dirty, so they should be seized.

        The innocent til proven guilty concept, as well as many other popular romantic thoughts about the legal system, died long ago.

        In Frank Kern's FTC file is an interesting document noting that one time the government made a claim against someone and he immediately took all his profits and paid off his mortgage. The feds were left with nothing to pay back defrauded customers, so now the government makes sure to initially seize the assets.

        It's an ugly situation. I once had a client get cleaned out by the government. Literally everything was taken. We were making almost daily demands for copies of documents so customers could continue to be serviced. Ultimately, it became clear the govt was in way over its head, they were tired of dealing with us, and everything was given back.

        I predict years of litigation and megaupload will soon be back in business with different hosting.

        .
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      • Profile picture of the author Kay King
        One of them it is me .. I must admit that without piracy i would not be what i am today. Now i have money to pay licences but in the begginning i have had none so NO CHANCE to become what i am today.

        I will always be in depth to this "black side of internet ". Let's say it once and for all.

        Let's be fair !!
        Your argument seems to be that stealing is wrong unless you need the money. That doing things honestly is good if it doesn't interfere with getting what you want.

        Fair? How is it fair to a product owner when you take without paying? I know the ability to "take" products is enticing to someone low on funds - that's why sites providing those products need to be shut down.

        I admit that piracy has bad parts but also along with it Piracy has opened ways for children in poor countries to open their eyes and make a living on it.
        Right - and then they come here and complain that people think marketers in their country can't be trusted.:rolleyes:

        kay
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        • Profile picture of the author bradudan
          It is easy to speak when you are from Us where 100 $ are not money .. Now i think like this but in the begginning in eastern europe and other countries which has not got your luck 100 $ is a lot o money .

          I am thinking about seriously to give up asking for money for all my researched WSo and products for iP's from diffenert countries. If this will contiune i will develop research and give my products free for poor countries and charge only countries with money ..

          This will be my protest . No body can't shut me up ... Because i can and this is perfectly leggal .

          Isn't it ?

          Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

          Your argument seems to be that stealing is wrong unless you need the money. That doing things honestly is good if it doesn't interfere with getting what you want.

          Fair? How is it fair to a product owner when you take without paying? I know the ability to "take" products is enticing to someone low on funds - that's why sites providing those products need to be shut down.



          Right - and then they come here and complain that people think marketers in their country can't be trusted.:rolleyes:

          kay
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  • Profile picture of the author mrketing.me
    Unless they were directly involved in other things, their standard file sharing module are protected by a strong terms of service!

    But again the police Raided their offices and confiscated stuff and money! there is more to it that just some illegal file sharing! Still some of them appeared a bit confident if not relaxed when they appeared in court
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      This is all BS ... there are literally thousands of file sharing sites in the internet .. what are they gonna shut down each of them ... Almost every site contains Pirated contents ..
      The intent is to stop the worst offenders, and make it too risky for the rest to keep pirating.
      This is crazy
      There's nothing crazy about people wanting to be paid for their work.


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  • Profile picture of the author Kezz
    Another important point to consider.

    (And yes I have also had my products stolen and shared via MegaUpload just like the vast majority of digital product creators, and have actually never whined about it.)

    For every file being illegally shared via MegaUpload, there is one or many Google search results going through to the forums or sites where the links are actually being shared.

    I would assume the reason most people are so aware of the number of pirated files being shared through Mega is only because of the associated Google search results.

    So, should the Google executives also have their homes raided, be arrested, have their assets seized and the entire Google network shut down? What would that do to the internet as a whole?

    The reality is this is the argument being made by many people at the moment, as in the example Twitter stream from Rupert Murdoch screenshotted in a previous post, calling them the biggest pirates of all.

    This sets a precedent, and it's one step down a very slippery slope.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Fullman
    Not that you want my 5 cents, but this stinks of scaremongering/bullying by example.
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  • Profile picture of the author nataliesuarez
    This is saddening.

    I love megaupload for a reason and it's because of the relaxation of its country restrictions and the speed of its premium accounts, unlike other filehosts like filesonic. They're not going to just invoke the wrath of US netizens...

    They'd better be careful. They're not even thinking far ahead. Why do you think some countries allow certain illegal activities and don't label them as "illegal"? It's because the suppression creates a black-market. And this black-market might spin out of control of the feds. Talk about international lashback.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Why do you think some countries allow certain illegal activities and don't label them as "illegal"? It's because the suppression creates a black-market.
      Considering where you're posting from, that's a particularly humorous comment. Rather than a black market, there's an open air market, where you can buy and sell counterfeit goods and pirated software and movies on any street corner.

      Sure. That's a great solution. Rather than one ridiculous extreme, your country has gone to the other.


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      • Profile picture of the author goindeep
        Every time the up the ante like this, something new comes out.

        I love it. It's like a cat and mouse game.

        If only they would make it easy and affordable for us to get movies...
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      • Profile picture of the author nataliesuarez
        Paul,

        Surely... you wouldn't think any citizen automatically approves of their country's policies? That's just slapping a label on a random stranger. I would have appreciated it if you didn't find the need for a whois on my ip for the sake of a logical rebuttal.

        An open-air market doesn't make sense in this context. Flea markets? Bazaars? Seriously?

        For example, if a country banned chewing gum, there's a high chance of a black market created for the sale of chewing gum via smuggling through customs.

        Is chewing gum a bad thing? Certainly, according to a government's POV on damaging the environment. A stereotype slap on everyone, labelling everyone as chewing gum vandals.

        Is filehosting a bad thing? Certainly, according to one reason in the shutting down of Megaupload. A stereotype slap on all filehosts, labelling all filehosts as criminal piracy distributors.

        Nope.

        Where did you think I was from? China? You probably had your eyes closed when looking at my post. Seriously?

        P.S. Though I would attribute the dismissal of MU's domain to be the issue of multiple charges as shown on the page by the Feds. Anti-piracy, money-laundering. Hmm hmm.
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Surely... you wouldn't think any citizen automatically approves of their country's policies?
          Nope. But I would take your own comments as evidence of that approval. No stereotyping required.
          Where did you think I was from? China?
          Originally? No clue. Notice that I said, "where you're posting from." Which is Singapore. Conveniently located at the tip of what I fondly refer to as "The Pirate Peninsula."


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          • Profile picture of the author nataliesuarez
            As I was saying, I believe the pulldown of MU to be from multiple charges, and not necessarily from SOPA since it was halted. Although that can rouse suspicion, we'd never know until we see the details in the lawsuit.

            Not against anti-piracy in anyway and I do think SOPA is an act for good. However, they should realize the extent of "manual" labour they have to go through to really dig out years of piracy lead-laden in the web. They can do it for years, and piracy will probably never be removed. Even so, doing a butterfly net on a complete site is definitely just illogical.


            ---------------- offtopic section---------------
            Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

            Nope. But I would take your own comments as evidence of that approval. No stereotyping required.Originally? No clue. Notice that I said, "where you're posting from." Which is Singapore. Conveniently located at the tip of what I fondly refer to as "The Pirate Peninsula."
            Paul, not trying to nitpick, but you're an old-time veteran and a powerful moderator. You're an adult with a great brain. Just wondering if you were contributing to the OP/thread with that post. Just saying. I'm just a powerless member after all.

            Maybe you'd want to read a little about logical fallacies. I can't be bothered with a tutorial. This is just a harmless comment, no offence intended. You don't have to reply either.
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            • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
              Paul, not trying to nitpick, but you're an old-time veteran and a powerful moderator. You're an adult with a great brain. Just wondering if you were contributing to the OP/thread with that post. Just saying. I'm just a powerless member after all.
              If I hear the word "power" one more time today, I think I'll puke.

              Moderating a discussion board on the Internet isn't "power." It's more like being the guy who sweeps trash off the curb. It's something that has to be done to keep innocent people from getting flat tires because the occasional jerk throws bottles in the road.
              Maybe you'd want to read a little about logical fallacies. I can't be bothered with a tutorial.
              [chuckle] By all means, "ma'am," educate me.

              While you're at it, why not post using your real name?

              This is funnier than anything on this board in weeks.


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              • Profile picture of the author Cali16
                Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post


                By all means, "ma'am," educate me.
                Yes, Paul, would you please educate yourself about those logical fallacies?

                Btw, do you ever sleep? It's 4 a.m. in PA!! Or do you just take multiple power naps throughout the day (and night)?
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                • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                  Cali,
                  Yes, Paul, would you please educate yourself about those logical fallacies?
                  Shhh. Don't distract me. I'm measuring out some rope.

                  Let's see how long it is before s/he chooses the noose...


                  Paul
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                  • Profile picture of the author Cali16
                    Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

                    Cali,Shhh. Don't distract me. I'm measuring out some rope.

                    Let's see how long it is before s/he chooses the noose...
                    I'm guessing it won't be much longer! I think I'll make some popcorn in the meantime...

                    (Btw, so sorry for using that taboo p***r word in my earlier post, lol!)
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                    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                      Cali,
                      Originally Posted by Cali16 View Post

                      (Btw, so sorry for using that taboo p***r word in my earlier post, lol!)
                      Pshaw. Think nothing of it, ma'am. I've been looking for an excuse to recycle some burritos into Harvey's chapeau for better'n a dozen years now.


                      Paul
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                • Profile picture of the author Harvey Segal
                  Hey Paul, did you see this question
                  Originally Posted by Cali16 View Post

                  Or do you just take multiple power naps throughout the day (and night)?
                  and take the promised action . . .

                  Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

                  If I hear the word "power" one more time today, I think I'll puke.

                  .
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                  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                    Hey Paul, did you see this question


                    and take the promised action . . .
                    Ooops.

                    Sorry about your hat, Harv.
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          • Profile picture of the author JeanNoir
            I've been using Gobbler since the shutdown. It's meant for media creators to backup/transfer their project files but is super fast to transfer any file as well. They're giving away free 5GB accounts which is good enough for me for the month. On the same note, files that have already been txfrd through their system send instantly...pretty cool feature in my mind.
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        • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
          Originally Posted by nataliesuarez View Post

          Paul,

          Surely... you wouldn't think any citizen automatically approves of their country's policies? That's just slapping a label on a random stranger. I would have appreciated it if you didn't find the need for a whois on my ip for the sake of a logical rebuttal.

          An open-air market doesn't make sense in this context. Flea markets? Bazaars? Seriously?

          For example, if a country banned chewing gum, there's a high chance of a black market created for the sale of chewing gum via smuggling through customs.

          Is chewing gum a bad thing? Certainly, according to a government's POV on damaging the environment. A stereotype slap on everyone, labelling everyone as chewing gum vandals.

          Is filehosting a bad thing? Certainly, according to one reason in the shutting down of Megaupload. A stereotype slap on all filehosts, labelling all filehosts as criminal piracy distributors.

          Nope.

          Where did you think I was from? China? You probably had your eyes closed when looking at my post. Seriously?

          P.S. Though I would attribute the dismissal of MU's domain to be the issue of multiple charges as shown on the page by the Feds. Anti-piracy, money-laundering. Hmm hmm.
          Natalie, they weren't just file-hosting. If they were, they would not have been shut down. They were charged with piracy, copyright infringement, money laundering, and more. Not only were they involved in piracy but they were encouraging members to participate, by giving hefty bonuses of up to $1500 for certain uploads, presumably more current/popular material.

          Furthermore, as the lead moderator in this forum, Paul has every right to look at your IP to see where you are posting from. Just from some of the responders in this thread alone, I wouldn't be surprised if certain people will be watched very very carefully from now on.

          If I owned a forum of this size, I too would be vigilant. Because the actions of a few people could effectively shut down a forum/website such as this one. That would seriously piss off not only Allen, the owner, but many many people who do business here.

          So again, be careful what you post here as many people are watching, and what you write can make a big difference in your ability to do business with folks here.

          I hope you don't take this as a personal attack. I just think people need to be smart. I'm one of those people who believes in less government, not more. But when laws are broken, appropriate action should be taken.

          In every country that I know of, stealing is a crime. Right?
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          • Profile picture of the author Kay King
            Oh, the lengths to which....

            Sweet Emo Girls #99 - Hornoxe.com
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            • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
              Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

              Oh, the lengths to which....

              Sweet Emo Girls #99 - Hornoxe.com

              wow! I'm actually quite speechless, but that just confirms how one must be very careful about what one posts on the Internet.
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              • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                Karen,
                wow! I'm actually quite speechless
                Really? I'm surprised that anyone would find it unusual to see a phony avatar. Especially here. I hinted at this above, where I put the word "ma'am" in quotes.

                Very common ploy. Especially among trolls and previously banned members.


                Paul
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                • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
                  Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

                  Karen,Really? I'm surprised that anyone would find it unusual to see a phony avatar. Especially here. I hinted at this above, where I put the word "ma'am" in quotes.

                  Very common ploy. Especially among trolls and previously banned members.


                  Paul
                  It wasn't so much the avatar, but the actual site and photos, etc, that had me speechless, mostly because it appears that it was fairly easy to find the information, or Kay is a really good sleuth,

                  Years ago I ran my own forum. I closed it down because of spammers. Given what happens in large forums like this, and how much work is involved in keeping it moderated, I'm so glad I did, Paul.
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                  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
                    It's not unusual behavior - but sometimes part of a pattern.

                    Someone with a German blond avatar, a Latino name, posting from Singapore about US laws - might raise some questions. That's all I'm saying....

                    Could be perfectly legit...or not.

                    fairly easy to find the information, or Kay is a really good sleuth
                    Both! ;-)
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                    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
                      Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

                      It's not unusual behavior - but sometimes part of a pattern.

                      Someone with a German blond avatar, a Latino name, posting from Singapore about US laws - might raise some questions. That's all I'm saying....
                      There are a few Warriors who do this. Many I just ignore. Some I just think "whatever" and not worry about it.

                      One day Paul Uhl and myself put up sexy female avatars, but the joke and point went past most everyone. If I didn't have such serious conversations, posts and PMs I'd be tempted to use a random avatar every week.

                      .
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                  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                    Karen,
                    mostly because it appears that it was fairly easy to find the information, or Kay is a really good sleuth,
                    At a guess, I'd venture she used this:

                    TinEye Reverse Image Search


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          • Profile picture of the author carlos123
            Originally Posted by Karen Blundell View Post

            But when laws are broken, appropriate action should be taken.
            I agree. Assuming of course that said laws reflect right thinking about what is right and wrong and are not just some government's attempt to nanny us or otherwise get their way at the expense of what is truly best for those that are governed.

            I know a lot of laws that are utterly ridiculous such that I would never, ever support any action against those who break such laws.

            Not saying that such is the case here. Just making the point that breaking a law does not for an appropriate action make in all cases in my opinion.

            Carlos
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  • Profile picture of the author danlew
    This has nothing to do with SOPA, MegaUpload was clearly having violated the copyright terms which was investigated for around 2 years I think, and they deserved it. DMCA asked them to shut it down for years, but they completely ignored it. Now they deserved for what happened to them, its a lesson to learn folks!

    Btw, SOPA is dead and was pulled off by Smith.
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Baker
      Originally Posted by danlew View Post

      Btw, SOPA is dead and was pulled off by Smith.
      This is a good news..

      About megaupload, what do you think are the rules that they have violated? Is it about uploading pirated softwares, movies?
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  • Profile picture of the author Absolute Logo
    No way!? That is crazy this is all news to me! Just posted a link on my FaceBook! Who needs the news channels really?! Between WarriorForum and Facebook, its all I need!
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  • Profile picture of the author Bongoshaq1
    This is ridiculous charging someone in another country than having the police of that country extradite you to another country.

    If I say something unpleasant about Putin I might get extradited to Russian courts right?
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  • Profile picture of the author John Romaine
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Now, now, John. It's too early to give away the plot.


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    • Profile picture of the author carlos123
      Originally Posted by ramone_johnny View Post

      Now THAT is funny! I love your humorous, pop corn munching, whatever he/she/it is.

      Carlos
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  • Profile picture of the author Matthew Iannotti
    This is good news..Next they need to target the smartasses that think they can give away peoples stuff on those BH sites. The owners think they are above the law since their server is offshore. I would love to see them all taken down.
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  • Profile picture of the author tq
    WOW! although the image on megaupload is from here

    ( s3.amazonaws. com/usdoj/banner.jpg )

    Would you think authorities would host the image on another server? Like a .gov etc..
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  • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
    As a note, almost all countries consider copyright infringement a CIVIL ONLY thing. The MPAA and RIAA has pushed through these laws that make it criminal. They are the same people behind SOPA, etc.

    I'm against pirating, I think the sites should be shut down. However, is this what we want our government doing?

    The next step in IP enforcement would be arresting people who give courses that match other people's courses? Give you an example, Birkam Yoga patents what they feel (and got a patent on it) is their own "set of moves" that make up Bikram Yoga. Who cares they are 2,000 year old, their system is patented. What happens if they start pushing that people who teach those same moves are arrested?

    Don't think that will happen? Well, the idea that you could go to jail for sharing a movie was ridiculous at one time.
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  • Profile picture of the author paul_1
    I heard the FBI were bored and wanted to go after those who knew a way our of J-O-B-s...
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  • Profile picture of the author DigitalBusker
    Just shows - Did NOT need SOPA to do this!
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  • Profile picture of the author MYDCOM
    Since then, I've just started seeing more and more illegal sharing websites for sale on Flippa and DP. People are scared for sure.

    There goes my lifetime megaupload premium account
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    I am a little concerned about a few things... First, these people who were arrested were not proven guilty. There has been no due process as of yet. Is this a trend? Are we now guilty until proven innocent? Even murderers get the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty.

    Secondly, this comes at a remarkable time. Remember, timing is everything. Is it any coincidence that this comes on the heals of SOPA being suspended in Government?

    Megaupload has been under investigation for over 2 years so why did they decide to act right at the point there was to be a vote about SOPA?

    The Government used this case to prove why we need SOPA but they did not expect all of the backlash from Anonymous, Google, Wikipedia and 7 million other groups and businesses.

    I'm afraid this is just the beginning to try and influence us into allowing the so called Government to look out for our own best interests. Which is a huge mistake!

    What do you think about this?
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    • Profile picture of the author ryannull
      Originally Posted by Mike Hill View Post

      I am a little concerned about a few things... First, these people who were arrested were not proven guilty. There has been no due process as of yet. Is this a trend? Are we now guilty until proven innocent? Even murderers get the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty.

      Secondly, this comes at a remarkable time. Remember, timing is everything. Is it any coincidence that this comes on the heals of SOPA being suspended in Government?

      Megaupload has been under investigation for over 2 years so why did they decide to act right at the point there was to be a vote about SOPA?

      The Government used this case to prove why we need SOPA but they did not expect all of the backlash from Anonymous, Google, Wikipedia and 7 million other groups and businesses.

      I'm afraid this is just the beginning to try and influence us into allowing the so called Government to look out for our own best interests. Which is a huge mistake!

      What do you think about this?
      Justice system has been that way for years. No more, "innocent til proven guilty", it's "guilty til proven innocent". It's rather sad.

      I am more amazed that they arrested the employees of megaupload. A graphic designer and software developer was arrested. Did they get arrested just for being employed by megaupload, or is there more to it?

      If they did, and if SOPA by some miracle got passed, is DOJ going to arrest everyone working for Google, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc.?

      Do you see the massive avalanche of effects it would have?

      It's pathetic if it did come down to that. Going to jail for having a job. The way the economy is, you have to take what you can get.

      Just my 2 cents.
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Mike,
        First, these people who were arrested were not proven guilty. There has been no due process as of yet. Is this a trend?
        Ummm... They were investigated. Evidence was collected. Based on that evidence, warrants were issued. Based on those warrants, they were arrested. They will, assuming the cases aren't tossed based on pre-trial motions, be tried in a court of law.

        What part of due process is missing there?


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        • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
          Ken,

          Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

          The part where they seize assets based on suspicion of wrong-doing, I think.
          Once again, the police evidence was put before a Court Judge here in Auckland,
          before the Judge allowed the police to seize assets and freeze bank accounts.

          If the evidence was weak or dubious it would of been thrown out by the
          Court Judge.

          Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
            Ken

            Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

            Sorry, I don't share your faith in Auckland judges
            If the Judge had a bad day at the office and got it wrong,
            then Dotcom's team of Lawyers, which is headed by a top lawyer here btw,
            can take the case to the Appeals Court.

            They haven't got it wrong when it comes to seizing assets
            and freezing bank accounts in the past, when cases of this nature have gone there.

            Ewen
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            • Profile picture of the author POLLITO122
              The FBI can arrest me in Catalunya with a weird accusation like "you are still promising coupons in exchange of personal information"?

              We are a step ahead of that because:
              The adwords team made me update a website like 11 times, first they made me erase the redirects to affiliate links, then i erased them and placed email opt ins instead, then they told me that they do not allow promise free stuff in exchange of personal information, then i changed all the free stuff for email courses on how to save money and told me that i still have the option to get free coupons in the website...But i discovered on the way that i get a lot of emails in ppv (advertisers scrub a lot of leads), then my constant contact account was sudently canceled without explanation and i lost all my contacts...

              And all that happened in the time span from christmas to yerterday.

              I hope this story hasn't been already copyrighted by a third party on behalf of a weird law.
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          • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
            I'm happy to find out that NZ is now our 51st State. Was thinking of moving there...

            Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

            Ken,



            Once again, the police evidence was put before a Court Judge here in Auckland,
            before the Judge allowed the police to seize assets and freeze bank accounts.

            If the evidence was weak or dubious it would of been thrown out by the
            Court Judge.

            Ewen
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            • Profile picture of the author ewenmack
              Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

              I'm happy to find out that NZ is now our 51st State. Was thinking of moving there...
              Yep great place to live because a global rating agency listed the
              Government employees the least corrupt in the world.

              Ewen
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          • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
            Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

            Sorry, I don't share your faith in Auckland judges --especially those who appear to be in the employ of the US government.
            Extradition isn't a new process.

            I'd assume a Judge has more of an idea than the bush lawyers here who know best.

            I've read many comparing this to what SOPA would bring but surely at least one difference is the intent to break copyrights for monetary gain.
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            • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
              You are partially correct, the idea that people can commit crimes in Countries they aren't in, and then be Extradited is a new theory, very new theory that is only now being tested.

              In fact, they are not being charged at ALL in NZ.

              There's another case right now of a guy in the UK who LINKED to pirated material who is facing extradition. He hasn't any connection whatever to the US...


              Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

              Extradition isn't a new process.

              I'd assume a Judge has more of an idea than the bush lawyers here who know best.

              I've read many comparing this to what SOPA would bring but surely at least one difference is the intent to break copyrights for monetary gain.
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            • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
              Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

              Assumptions based on prejudice can often be erroneous. I do see, though, that you are psychic and can clearly see intent.

              That's quite a feat.
              I don't need to be psychic: I just have to know how to read. It says in the court doc that they are accussed of intentionally accepting pirated material for monetary gain.

              And yes, I do assume that the Judge follows their trained knowledge, experience and ethics and believes that the accussed have a case to answer.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Mike,Ummm... They were investigated. Evidence was collected. Based on that evidence, warrants were issued. Based on those warrants, they were arrested. They will, assuming the cases aren't tossed based on pre-trial motions, be tried in a court of law.

          What part of due process is missing there?


          Paul

          I see you're point Paul however there were assets seized that did not belong to the defendants suck as legitimate business's files they were sharing amongst co-workers in different countries. These files were too large to send via email so they used Megaupload to distribute them.

          There are a lot of other shareware sites that offer the same type of service. That doesn't steer clear of the fact they were also hosting copyrighted material and allowing distribution of that material.

          I think if the website were to not allow anonymous uploading it would have been fine or at least had a better set of circumstances in which to defend themselves.

          There is obviously a lot more to the story because they were also accused of money laundering, unless this is used as a catch 22.
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            Ken,
            The part where they seize assets based on suspicion of wrong-doing, I think
            Seizure of assets is not uncommon. Especially when the accused has enough of them to flee the country he's held in and avoid prosecution. This guy sounds to me like a very real flight risk, yes?
            I don't much care for my government wasting time and effort acting as police dogs for copyright holders, either.
            As Caliban would say... Fixed that for ya.

            Mike,
            there were assets seized that did not belong to the defendants suck as legitimate business's files they were sharing amongst co-workers in different countries. These files were too large to send via email so they used Megaupload to distribute them.
            Yeah, and that sucks for the folks who weren't pirating anything. I don't see any viable alternative, though.

            Given that this site had specific policies about removing files that weren't downloaded often enough, I suspect the actual damage to those uploaders would be rather small.


            Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author Itachi
          Originally Posted by Ken_Caudill View Post

          When did sharing movies become a criminal act?

          When major media bought congress, that's when.
          That's it...


          My point of view, I think of course what megaupload was doing was bad, sharing copyrighted material is bad, of course but come on, let's have some ethics here and sum up the situation, most of the companies that wants to put down these websites are multi-billion (music-movies-games) industry I mean these companys make millions daily...

          Let's face it (I mean maybe not all of them but the major part..) I'm not saying they are rich so we can steal to them.. but more like, look, it's just data being copyed 0101's do you get it?, as much as we can say this is thievery we also can't deny that this whole issues is about some virtual "data" being copy and pasted on some other computer, no physical harm were done, nor were stolen, merely a piece of code was copy/pasted 0101001-0101001

          I'm not saying legalize this... I'm just saying that let's put things in perspective how can you put someone in jail for copying virtual databytes, is'nt it the peak of the dumbness of laws ?

          Let's take the game modern warfare 3 as an exemple, which claimed to have made 1 billion in sales in 1 week, do I think cracking this game is bad ? yes, do I care if someone do ? couldn't care less... So my message here is kinda addressed to all the fervent supporters of this law(of course it help protect YOUR copyrights aswell, I understand that...but it will be mostly helpful to those multi million companys..) Do you really care if these companys loose money (or mostly make less benefits, eh)?

          OPEN YOUR EYES..


          Of course there is also the factor that the owner of this website was making alot of cash from advertising and subscriptions (150+ milions in 7 years I heard), which was like "encouraging" this, which I also agree this is bad, otherwise it would really be too easy...
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            Do you really care if these companys loose money (or mostly make less benefits, eh)?
            I get pretty sick of this argument after a while.

            Either copyright is defensible or it's not. A lot of people will argue that copyright is intrinsically wrong, but that is at least a consistent position. Arguing that it's appropriate and right to protect intellectual property, and then saying it's only good if it's the "little guy," is plain old fashioned hypocrisy.

            Are the shareholders of these companies somehow less deserving of protection than the creator who maintains ownership of their own product?

            We can debate whether this actually does any damage to them or not, and that's a legitimate discussion. We would probably agree that the MPAA and RIAA try to carry the response well beyond what is appropriate for some actions taken by individuals. But those are different matters from the question of "whose rights deserve protecting?"


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            • Profile picture of the author Itachi
              Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

              Are the shareholders of these companies somehow less deserving of protection than the creator who maintains ownership of their own product?


              Paul

              No they're Not, but contrary to the young entrepreneur they more likely to be able to afford a little loss.. see my point !
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              • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                Originally Posted by Itachi View Post

                No they're Not, but contrary to the young entrepreneur they more likely to be able to afford a little loss.. see my point !
                How is that relevant to the discussion?

                A billionaire can more easily afford the loss of a Rolex than a carpenter can a Timex. Does that mean it's less "wrong" to steal the Rolex?


                Paul
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                • Profile picture of the author Itachi
                  Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

                  How is that relevant to the discussion?

                  A billionaire can more easily afford the loss of a Rolex than a carpenter can a Timex. Does that mean it's less "wrong" to steal the Rolex?


                  Paul
                  proportionally speaking, and financially speaking, I guess the billionaire can still buy a dozen rolexes.... , while the carpenter.. can barely pay his bills ? that's my point.. I'm not defending copyright violation by any means I'm just saying sending peoples to jail for that is stupid, and it paves the way for total internet censorship/dictatorship ...

                  I'd like to ask a question, do you think people would download stuff on megaupload if they had the money to buy it all ? I think the answer to this question can easily be guessed..

                  Ultimately.. it all comes down to money, see it's like the guy who rob a supermarket(or whatever), I doubt he'd do that if he had the money to buy it.. THIS is not to defend robbers/thievery but to bring a little logic to my exemple.

                  By the way I also just read that Megaupload were in a process of having some kind of arrangement with the ARTISTS THEMSELVES so that they could get paid royaltys directly to them (instead of having universal music take half their money ) .. now I see why this website was'nt shut down years ago, erh.
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                  • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                    Ken,
                    To people who value free markets and privacy, that's who.
                    Really? Have you read the relevant charges? While they're not a conviction, they do point to a clear pattern of intentional profiting from infringement. On a pretty massive scale, at that.

                    Prosecuting a case with that much damning evidence is hardly destructive of free markets.

                    And how, exactly, does privacy enter into it? Have any files not directly related to the charges been misused by law enforcement in some way that you know of?
                    I already see the propaganda machine at work trying Megauploads in the press, and the impressionable sheep lapping it up like mother's milk.
                    Yes, yes. Anyone who disagrees with you is a sheep. We know, Ken. You've made that abundantly clear on numerous occasions.

                    Even the people who've read the charges and supporting evidence, rather than just believing the news reports.

                    Baaah, indeed.

                    Debates about the response of the old guard media companies to change are interesting, and certainly worth having, but they don't have much bearing on the law involved here.


                    Paul
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                    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
                      I'd like to ask a question, do you think people would download stuff on megaupload if they had the money to buy it all ? I think the answer to this question can easily be guessed..
                      Irrelevant. Still, the answer is "Yes."

                      I know a number of people who download pirated music by the gigabyte, and could easily afford to pay for everything they ever listen to without making a dent in their lifestyles otherwise.

                      Again, though, that's irrelevant. People who can afford the computer systems and connectivity to pirate media are not the sorts of folks who would starve without it. (Sort of a definitional redundancy anyway, since music and movies aren't, strictly speaking, necessities.)

                      This is NOT like stealing groceries to feed your kids.


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                      • Profile picture of the author Itachi
                        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

                        Irrelevant. Still, the answer is "Yes."

                        I know a number of people who download pirated music by the gigabyte, and could easily afford to pay for everything they ever listen to without making a dent in their lifestyles otherwise.

                        Again, though, that's irrelevant. People who can afford the computer systems and connectivity to pirate media are not the sorts of folks who would starve without it. (Sort of a definitional redundancy anyway, since music and movies aren't, strictly speaking, necessities.)

                        This is NOT like stealing groceries to feed your kids.


                        Paul
                        that stuff is way too overpriced too, that's why most people that can afford it don't even bother.. but anyway if you had to pick a side, would you rather stand on your friends side who download even by the gigabytes , or on the side of those insanely rich companys, who wants to make more millions ?

                        That's what I mean If I had to choose between the millions of people that want to have some fun "for free" or the few companys that want to makes some more millions, needless to say it would easily be choosen !
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                        • Profile picture of the author atvking
                          Originally Posted by Itachi View Post

                          That's what I mean If I had to choose between the millions of people that want to have some fun "for free" or the few companys that want to makes some more millions, needless to say it would easily be choosen !
                          When you say "millions of people who want to have fun for free" are you in fact talking about dead beat non productive parasites with no moral at all? Parasites who think they are entitled to something that does not belong to them simply because they are worthless and incapable of creating anything but damage?

                          When you say "a few companies that want to make more millions" are you in fact talking about creative, successful, winners, leaders and role models that make the world spin, make great movies, innovations, give jobs, pay taxes and make billions while doing so?

                          Funny side you chose to pick :confused:
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              • Profile picture of the author spearce000
                Originally Posted by Itachi View Post

                No they're Not, but contrary to the young entrepreneur they more likely to be able to afford a little loss.. see my point !
                No, I don't see your point. A lot of little losses add up to one big loss. Besides, shareholders in large corporations are often small investors or pension funds.
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  • Profile picture of the author r2d22
    Hey, I recently found a post on the forum about LP Pack offering 5 free landing page templates. I signed up for them but their download link was a MegaUpload link which now no longer works.
    Anyone has an alternate link to the free templates that work?
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  • Profile picture of the author thorster
    I've been having trouble accessing Putlocker today. Anyone heard if their are closing down more sites?
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    • Profile picture of the author ryannull
      Originally Posted by thorster View Post

      I've been having trouble accessing Putlocker today. Anyone heard if their are closing down more sites?
      Not that I know of, but at this point, it seems inevitable.
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  • Profile picture of the author crystalq
    Disclaimer: I am a mere Wordpress developer who works on the internet daily with hundreds of files for clients & the info I wrote below is only based on this PDF http://static2.stuff.co.nz/files/MegaUpload.pdf & other things I've read online. I could be completely wrong.

    That being said;

    If they delete MegaUpload why aren't they taking down Youtube??(no I love youtube but this is just a point for my post)

    They are exactly the same, they also offer incentives for millions of views & they
    have oodles of copyright infringements from Movies to Tv shows!

    If you read the PDF you will see the extreme similarities between each site &
    what could happen to video & sharing sites next :/

    Also how did they come up with money laundering??
    They got paid from ad networks(like most of us do) & they got
    paid by members(like most of us do).

    From what I read, Mega was trying to be legit & look what happens!!!

    Also when you think about it, the "copyright" material in question that the document complains about, Yes, it is accessible by KimDotCom but (and this is a HUGE but) he would have had to sift through millions & millions of files to view/remove such content, not to
    mention the millions of files uploaded daily. They'd get as much as youtube!

    It should have be up to the copyright holder to find each offending file/link(because they're the only ones who care[sic]), why should dotcom do it? He just owns the .com and pays the hosting. The copyright owners don't pay him to do it do they?

    To find the offending links(i presume that) you'd have to
    (1) go through each users personal account (isn't that intrusion of privacy?)
    (2) find the file (the names of the files being uploaded are usually different to the name/tile of the movie/tv show)

    also
    - Users know that their files will get deleted instantly if any type
    of claim comes up, so they rename the file and give it, its proper title a the blog or site. (my own assumption)
    - Users also are the ones that "Share" this material. NOT MEGA UPLOAD

    example
    Joe blog uploads anonx.wmv
    Joe blog grabs embed file from Mega and pastes it into his blog.com calling the page title Jersey Shore Season 1 - EP 1

    How is MegaUpload supposed to know that anonx.wmv is a copyright TV show?

    Mega is just a host like Youtube & Facebook the only difference is that you get a ton of space with your membership.

    This lawsuit is crazy and should be throwin out & the people who pushed this should pay dotcom & the US gov back!!
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    • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
      Originally Posted by crystalq View Post


      If they delete MegaUpload why aren't they taking down Youtube??

      ...

      This lawsuit is crazy and should be throwin out & the people who pushed this should pay dotcom & the US gov back!!
      I have never seen a full length movie on Youtube. Have you?

      When I first heard about Megaupload going down I thought it was unfair to prosecute the owners of the site for what the users uploaded. That would be like putting the owners of a company that manufactures bolt cutters in jail because criminals use them to cut locks and break in to buildings.

      BUT

      Now that I have read more about it, when you consider the way the system was setup, there is no denying the owners knew exactly what was going on. It wasn't payouts based on premium membership sales. It was payouts for members whose links got downloaded the most, like 10,000 downloads = $xx.xx to the up-loader. Definitely places responsibility on the owners of Megaupload.

      The seizure of assets was justified and obviously was a clear message to other sites who are doing the same thing.

      This proves there is no need for SOPA or anything similar. The ability to take down major contributors to piracy are obviously already in the hands of the Feds.
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      • Profile picture of the author Hesaidblissfully
        Originally Posted by NicheMayhem View Post

        I have never seen a full length movie on Youtube. Have you?
        Just FYI, there are still plenty of full length movies on Youtube. Movies, albums, music videos, scenes from movies, people recording themselves doing walkthroughs of video games. If you think about all the Youtube videos that are posted here on the WF, many of them likely uploaded to Youtube without the copyright holder's permission, what those WF members are doing is sharing someone else's copyrighted material without their permission.
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        • Profile picture of the author Hesaidblissfully
          Someone posted this link in the OT Forum. According to this article, the numbers that have been repeated by the entertainment industry as their financial loss due to piracy may be based on studies that never even existed.

          Best evidence showing we need SOPA based on 'govt studies' that never existed | ITworld

          Quote:

          "Still, the numbers quoted by both music and movie companies and their lobbyists are not only unrealistic, they're almost impossible, completely indefensible and based on three major government studies that may never have existed in the first place, according to Julian Sanchez, research fellow at the conservative Cato Institute, who has analyzed and written about the loss-estimates several times.

          For years the entertainment industry has cried poor mouth on the whole piracy issue by citing government studies estimating pirated content costs the U.S. between $200 billion and $250 billion per year in revenue and kills 750,000 jobs.

          Except, Sanchez found while trying to verify the numbers, the studies from which those numbers came can't be found even by the government agencies that first cited them and may never have existed at all."
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          • Profile picture of the author rkat55
            Come on, these guys they busted are racketeers. They're not
            selling legitimate products and services. What, do you
            think Amazon is worried? or Facebook? or any legitimate
            retailer or wholesaler doing business online.

            I'm 1000% all for free enterprise, but, I don't like people
            stealing my stuff offline OR online.

            I say bust em and good riddence.
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            if you had to pick a side, would you rather stand on your friends side who download even by the gigabytes , or on the side of those insanely rich companys, who wants to make more millions?
            Ask my friends who've been silly enough to offer to burn pirated music to disk for me. (It's rare that anyone offers pirated content to me more than once. My response is pretty clear.)

            It's got nothing to do with who has more money. It has everything to do with not wanting to advocate or participate in theft.


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            • Profile picture of the author beb19
              I am a little late on most of this, but...

              It surprises me how many people are either surprised by this or take some kind of offense to this situation.

              You have to read the case brought by the US an before you make any judgements about what happened.

              It was obvious that the business model of MegaUpload was not simply as a file sharing service. They put specific measures in place to profit off of copyrighted material.

              An example of this is where they awarded users with a cash payment based on the popularity of the file that they uploaded. And the knowingly paid users bonuses from copyrighted material. For example, If I upload the movie, "The Hangover" and 5,000,000 people download it, I get paid $1,000. (I don't know if that was their exact structure, but it's close enough) - Come on, that is ridiculous.

              Also, they were told multiple times by various US copyright holders and organizations to take down certain files, and they failed to do this. In fact, there are multiple emails in the case from Dotcom himself telling other members of the business not to delete copyrighted files.

              Many of the files were hosted by a US hosting service, used PayPal as their payment processor, violated US copyrights, and made payments to US citizens to reward them for ripping off copyrights.

              I don't agree with SOPA and PIPA because they are so overreaching, but MegaUpload needed to be shut down, no question.

              They had plenty of chances to correct all this, and they failed. And people are all up in arms that they are in jail.

              Give me a freakin break.
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        • Profile picture of the author NicheMayhem
          Originally Posted by Hesaidblissfully View Post

          Just FYI, there are still plenty of full length movies on Youtube. Movies, albums, music videos, scenes from movies, people recording themselves doing walkthroughs of video games. If you think about all the Youtube videos that are posted here on the WF, many of them likely uploaded to Youtube without the copyright holder's permission, what those WF members are doing is sharing someone else's copyrighted material without their permission.
          I guess I don't spend enough time on Youtube because I was unaware there were full length movies being uploaded. It is interesting to consider the implications there because Megaupload supposedly was doing the same thing Youtube does which is take down videos by request of the copyright holder or if the video is reported as a copyright violation.

          Under those circumstances, Youtube is just as guilty as Megaupload because they too reward popularity as well as profit from the advertising. Although, it is relevant that Youtube as a whole is not designed specifically to share and distribute the files, it seems there is no denying there are similarities.

          If you think about how many places Youtube is mentioned and how it is now pretty much a household name I doubt it will be seized. The biggest difference is that Megaupload users had to pay for a premium membership to download where Youtube has the content available for free.

          Kinda makes you wonder if Youtube took down every single video which did not come with permission from the copyright holder how many videos would be left. Probably only 50 million. lol
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    • Profile picture of the author atvking
      Originally Posted by crystalq View Post


      How is MegaUpload supposed to know that anonx.wmv is a copyright TV show?

      Mega is just a host like Youtube & Facebook the only difference is that you get a ton of space with your membership.

      This lawsuit is crazy and should be throwin out & the people who pushed this should pay dotcom & the US gov back!!
      :rolleyes:

      Poor poor megaupload owner with his "Guilty" license plates on his 100K+ luxury cars. Can you imagine the surprise on his face when they accused him of piracy?

      "File sharing" LOL

      Pray tell, apart from other peoples movies/music/ TV shows what do "file sharers" have to share that demands so much space and band-width and makes megaupload one of the most popular sites in the world??

      This is just the beginning. The days of Piracy 2.0 eeeer I meant to say "web2.0" are over.

      Do you know how much it costs to re-write SOPA? A few days work at most....
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    • Profile picture of the author Webpromotion
      Originally Posted by crystalq View Post

      Disclaimer: I am a mere Wordpress developer who works on the internet daily with hundreds of files for clients & the info I wrote below is only based on this PDF http://static2.stuff.co.nz/files/MegaUpload.pdf & other things I've read online. I could be completely wrong.

      That being said;

      If they delete MegaUpload why aren't they taking down Youtube??(no I love youtube but this is just a point for my post)

      They are exactly the same, they also offer incentives for millions of views & they
      have oodles of copyright infringements from Movies to Tv shows!

      If you read the PDF you will see the extreme similarities between each site &
      what could happen to video & sharing sites next :/

      Also how did they come up with money laundering??
      They got paid from ad networks(like most of us do) & they got
      paid by members(like most of us do).

      From what I read, Mega was trying to be legit & look what happens!!!

      Also when you think about it, the "copyright" material in question that the document complains about, Yes, it is accessible by KimDotCom but (and this is a HUGE but) he would have had to sift through millions & millions of files to view/remove such content, not to
      mention the millions of files uploaded daily. They'd get as much as youtube!

      It should have be up to the copyright holder to find each offending file/link(because they're the only ones who care[sic]), why should dotcom do it? He just owns the .com and pays the hosting. The copyright owners don't pay him to do it do they?

      To find the offending links(i presume that) you'd have to
      (1) go through each users personal account (isn't that intrusion of privacy?)
      (2) find the file (the names of the files being uploaded are usually different to the name/tile of the movie/tv show)

      also
      - Users know that their files will get deleted instantly if any type
      of claim comes up, so they rename the file and give it, its proper title a the blog or site. (my own assumption)
      - Users also are the ones that "Share" this material. NOT MEGA UPLOAD

      example
      Joe blog uploads anonx.wmv
      Joe blog grabs embed file from Mega and pastes it into his blog.com calling the page title Jersey Shore Season 1 - EP 1

      How is MegaUpload supposed to know that anonx.wmv is a copyright TV show?

      Mega is just a host like Youtube & Facebook the only difference is that you get a ton of space with your membership.

      This lawsuit is crazy and should be throwin out & the people who pushed this should pay dotcom & the US gov back!!

      If you read the indictment, it will be strongly clear that Megaupload's main business strategy was offering pirated content.
      They enticed users to upload it.
      They hid it from searches so that the owners or authorities could not find it.
      They rewarded the uploading of it.
      When sent C&D letters they ignored them. <--- this is a big one, true pirates do not follow C&D letters.

      Kim dotcom aka Kim Fatcom, instructed them not to delete content when normal users pointed out it was copyrighted. He told them to ignore the request. This is in his own emails.

      Content owner's were limited to reporting only 2500 links per day, then their limit moved up to 5000 links per day, when there should of been no limit to the number of copyright infringement that could be pointed out.
      If it is copyrighted, and some one wants to report it, then why limit them if you are really not trying to have pirated content on your site.

      Money laundering is the process of concealing sources of illegally obtained money. They were getting money from hosting and facilitating the streaming of copyright materials. And depositing in banks, making it look like it came from a legitimate business.
      No different than a restaurant used as a front, where you pay for food and they add an extra $20 on the bill, and give you a baggie of your favorite poison.


      ******************
      The difference between Youtube and megaupload , is that youtube's business model is not solely based on selling subscriptions. Megaupload sold subscriptions to be able to access pirated material.
      Megaupload was the NETFLIX of pirated material.
      Not only did they host it, they were streaming it.

      People say how can a site go thru all the uploaded videos and files.
      It is not an impossible task, there is software that can drastically help with that. Just think, all of those IM people that upload videos to youtube and their video gets deleted real quick because it has affiliate stuff on it.... how can youtube spot & remove affiliate videos and not copyright videos.

      Now most of these files did not have cryptic names, they had names like showname, S2 EP4. Real easy to spot.

      After the take down of megaupload, other file sharing sites are on a frenzy, purging pirated content as we speak. How is it that they can do it now, when they had not been able to do it for the past years?

      Because the possibility of going to prison just became REAL.



      *******************************
      I do not understand how people can support piracy and hide behind internet freedom. Since when does having freedom, translate into stealing other peoples work.
      You have the right to all the internet freedom you want, but your freedom ends where someone else's freedom begins.

      To say, that the big ugly corporations have too much money and they are just greedy, is so wrong. How can it be greedy to want to get paid for your work. When did getting reimbursed for all your hard work become equivalent to greed.
      Pirates are greedy, they will rather steal, because their greed does not allow them to part with their money to pay for the movie. They make excuses that the movies are crap, that is why they rather not pay for them, yet they do not stop pirating them.


      It is so hard to comprehend how people can break down pirating to almost a philosophical level, "did he steal someone's work or just 1 and 0's." Come on people. Who are we trying to kid here. It is mind boggling how far the justification for stealing can go, just to satisfy our craving for watching the latest movies without paying for it.

      It is easy to see who are the real pirates amongst us, just watch how they argue for pirating.
      They argue and argue about why it is okay to pirate stuff.
      Justifying "the stealing" with lame excuses of why it is not really wrong.
      The do not say it is right, they just try to convince you it is not really wrong. Since when did stealing become not really wrong?

      The feds have sent a strong message.
      Piracy will not be tolerated.

      You facilitate piracy, you go to prison.


      Don't believe me, ask Kim Fatcom.


      .
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  • Profile picture of the author chad3623wiley
    shouldnt have been hosted in US lol
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  • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
    Other file sharing sites are taking notice of the actions against megaupload.

    Interestingly, filesonic.com today changed it's structure to only allow storage of one's personal files and eliminated the file sharing component of their site while uploaded.to has now closed itself off from the US market.

    FileSonic shutters: Another file-sharing site bites the dust | ZDNet

    You have to wonder if they were knowingly doing some of the same things as megaupload or if they were just afraid of the possibilities.
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  • Profile picture of the author BankVelvet
    I'm really sad about this, I think it's uncalled for, unfair, and yet another case of the US bullying other countries... sorry.
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  • Profile picture of the author crystalq
    Disclaimer: Just my thought on the bigger picture and whats readily available online.

    I have never seen a full length movie on YT. Have you?
    Yes, yes I have.
    My daughters a huge fan of Disney & Nickelodeon and they have/had FULL videos on there. But, the videos are split into parts of 20-40mins

    YT search this...
    the boy who cried wolf part 1
    scroll to the bottom of the page and look for the playlist.

    Whats different??

    10,000 downloads = .xx to the up-loader. Definitely places responsibility on the owners of Megaupload.
    As soon as you stream a video your pretty much downloading. It sure eats up those gigs. It's just the same as getting paid for views, don't you think?

    Regardless, I don't think Mega will be back and now the people will move on to
    other "safe haven" sites who continue to upload content for free that's not their own. Which is pretty Sad. My main concern is that, if Mega goes down in court, whats stopping them from taking out YT?

    Sopa & PIPA are definitely NOT needed! SOPA & PIPA are NOT the answers!
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  • Profile picture of the author patJ
    The scary thing here is of course that they could just take it down and seize all his stuff without a trial. No matter how much illegal activity going on that should never happen. Trial first, then if convicted, take his stuff.
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by patJ View Post

      Trial first, then if convicted, take his stuff.
      So...should actual drug lords not have their drug labs seized upon being served a
      warrant - to stop the manufacturing of drugs - while they're being heard in trial?
      I realize the unauthorized sharing of copyrighted material doesn't seem as harmful
      materially as selling drugs, but the idea behind it - again - is to stop the activity
      while still giving the accused a chance to dispute it all in court.

      Whether this activity shouldn't be handled by the government or so is a different
      debate, which I'll pass for now.
      Signature

      David

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      • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
        Originally Posted by davezan View Post

        So...should actual drug lords not have their drug labs seized upon being served a
        warrant - to stop the manufacturing of drugs - while they're being heard in trial?
        I realize the unauthorized sharing of copyrighted material doesn't seem as harmful
        materially as selling drugs, but the idea behind it - again - is to stop the activity
        while still giving the accused a chance to dispute it all in court.
        Interesting point. But what about the flip side - 100% legal uses of megaupload and the government's own arguable violation of copyright by taking down legitimate material?

        We recently had a video created for Pinion. When the final render was done, the artist placed it on Megaupload as it allowed files greater than 300mb with no hassle. This is the standard way he distributed completed work to clients. We went to download it on the day the raid was completed and got nothing.


        This was a video on which we assert copyright. It is, by all definitions, a copyrighted work. And yet, it was placed on Megaupload and we were very annoyed when it was not available via Megaupload.
        Source: » Megaupload could spawn caselaw more destructive than SOPA Thoughts

        Here is an article about lawsuits that may be filed against the US government:

        Megaupload Takedown Questioned By Users, Lawyers - Security - End user/client security - Informationweek

        Spanish privacy attorney Carlos Snchez Almeida, who's based in Barcelona, said the takedown may have violated people's privacy rights under Spanish law. Accordingly, he's threatened to file suit over the Megaupload takedown.
        And where do you draw the line?

        Cars are already forfeited if you are in one when soliciting a prostitute in many US cities. But at least there is a direct connection between the car and what is happening in the car.

        Kim Dotcom's cars were seized - but nothing was happening in the cars.

        If Cho in China uploads a French movie to megaupload's US server and pays megaupload in Hong Kong, which pays Kim Dotcom who is in New Zealand and he buys a car in New Zealand,

        and Bill in the US uploads a Disney movie,

        does the US get to seize his car?

        (Looks like a good law school question to me!)

        The feds may have a hard time with the money trail for some of these assets. I'm not a criminal attorney, but I don't think alleging "money laundering" excuses the government's burden.

        .
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        • Profile picture of the author davezan
          Originally Posted by kindsvater View Post

          Interesting point. But what about the flip side - 100% legal uses of megaupload and the government's own arguable violation of copyright by taking down legitimate material?



          Source: » Megaupload could spawn caselaw more destructive than SOPA Thoughts

          Here is an article about lawsuits that may be filed against the US government:

          Megaupload Takedown Questioned By Users, Lawyers - Security - End user/client security - Informationweek



          And where do you draw the line?

          Cars are already forfeited if you are in one when soliciting a prostitute in many US cities. But at least there is a direct connection between the car and what is happening in the car.

          Kim Dotcom's cars were seized - but nothing was happening in the cars.

          If Cho in China uploads a French movie to megaupload's US server and pays megaupload in Hong Kong, which pays Kim Dotcom who is in New Zealand and he buys a car in New Zealand,

          and Bill in the US uploads a Disney movie,

          does the US get to seize his car?

          (Looks like a good law school question to me!)

          The feds may have a hard time with the money trail for some of these assets. I'm not a criminal attorney, but I don't think alleging "money laundering" excuses the government's burden.

          .
          Hehe, I forgot to mention this in my haste earlier. Two things I'll acknowledge
          are: a) one ought not to expect the government to necessarily be fair dealing
          with you, and b) one ought not to give somebody some materially enforceable
          claim against you.

          BTW, I also found this from Wikipedia that can maybe help explain something:

          Copyright infringement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

          Article 61 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) requires that signatory countries establish criminal procedures and penalties in cases of "willful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale". Copyright holders have demanded that states provide criminal sanctions for all types of copyright infringement.
          Then according to that agreement's list of members:

          WTO | intellectual property (TRIPS) and public health: Members accepting amendment

          Members and dates of acceptance

          United States (17 December 2005)

          New Zealand (21 October 2011)
          Coincidence?
          Signature

          David

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  • Profile picture of the author iloveteddybear
    The shut down is a great loss..
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Originally Posted by iloveteddybear View Post

      The shut down is a great loss..
      To who? Other than thieves, that is...
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  • Profile picture of the author savvybizbuilder
    Now the Gov. are still in control online. I wonder what is next.
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  • Profile picture of the author pacelattin
    Guys, please read this.

    MegaUpload was NOT sharing copyrighted material anymore than Youtube.

    Users uploaded the movies, and then shared it.

    Everytime that they were told to take it down they took it down. In fact, MegaUpload gave special access to copyright holders to take it down.

    The problem here is that the studios want to force everyone to POLICE every file, and say if you don't you are condoning it. MegaUpload never condoned it, took down copyrighted material, over and over again. There is one users on warriorforum who pointed each time his books showed up, they took it down.

    Youtube is the same exact thing, why aren't they arresting youtube? maybe because its GOogle.
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    • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
      Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

      Everytime that they were told to take it down they took it down. In fact, MegaUpload gave special access to copyright holders to take it down.
      The court document says otherwise. It says they took down the link but not the file. If a file was uploaded multiple times then a new link would be created each time but the file would remain the same. This made it difficult for copyright holders to remove complete access to the file as they would have to stumble across every link to their work across the web.

      Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

      MegaUpload never condoned it, took down copyrighted material, over and over again.
      Aren't they in trouble because there is evidence that they not only condoned it but encouraged it?


      Originally Posted by ewenmack View Post

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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Pace,

      Did you read the charges?

      Disabling a specific link to "shared" content, while leaving other links to that same content active is not the same as taking it off the servers. I wonder if that's what really happened with the "one Warrior member" who reported that his content was being pirated through them?

      I have never even heard allegations that YouTube did anything like that.

      MegaUpload are said to have paid what amounted to bounties for premium pirated content.

      The whole system was set up in a way that any reasonable person would have known in advance was going to make it a pirate haven. It is simply not possible that an intelligent person in the management of the company could have been unaware of the things listed in that document for any length of time.

      Read the charges, Pace. Vague comparisons to YouTube don't hold up when set along side those specific allegations, assuming they're true.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Brian,
        the government's own arguable violation of copyright by taking down legitimate material?
        I'm not understanding how taking the servers, and NOT distributing copies of the files, could be considered a copyright violation. I thought infringement required making unauthorized copies.

        Even if they made copies and only used them for evidentiary purposes, I'd be surprised if an infringement claim would stand.

        Arguing that the video file was temporarily unavailable because of the takedown is a bit iffy to me, too. That's like suing the police because you were late for a meeting because a crime scene roadblock forced you into a lengthy detour.

        Remember when that pizza delivery guy got blown up in the road near Erie? I was behind that situation (as in, physically, not "responsible" ), and it took me an hour longer to get where I was going than it would have if I'd missed that. Should I have thought "Sue the cops for securing the crime scene and protecting the public," or what I actually thought: "I got nothing to complain about. My day is going a hell of a lot better than his."

        Momentary inconvenience should not be cause for suit against LEAs. If it is, there's something very wrong with the relevant law.


        Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author rkat55
      Originally Posted by pacelattin View Post

      Guys, please read this.

      MegaUpload was NOT sharing copyrighted material anymore than Youtube.

      Users uploaded the movies, and then shared it.

      Everytime that they were told to take it down they took it down. In fact, MegaUpload gave special access to copyright holders to take it down.

      The problem here is that the studios want to force everyone to POLICE every file, and say if you don't you are condoning it. MegaUpload never condoned it, took down copyrighted material, over and over again. There is one users on warriorforum who pointed each time his books showed up, they took it down.

      Youtube is the same exact thing, why aren't they arresting youtube? maybe because its GOogle.
      That's actually a very good point. I concede on this issue.
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  • Profile picture of the author kencalhn
    what I really don't get is why people are defending the pirate filesharing sites... the vast majority of those sites are for illegal redistribution of copyrighted content (us info marketers' stuff, adult films, warez, whatever)... remember everyone when (the big one, I won't name it) was the only main one around, back in 2004-05? then a bunch of copycats (and BH forums) sprang up from 2006-present.

    and their main business model is: sell subscriptions to people who want to illegally download pirated content, for semi-centralized P2P warez redistribution. and yes there may be .0001% legitimate users who share work files on those, but the main usage is piracy. I hope they all get shut down and put out of business. Today I'm in a Good mood because of the filesharing site shutdowns. Means less work policing the net w/google alerts and forum searches for my content, and subsequent time wasted on DMCAs I send.
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    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
      Paul, I should have been more precise about copyright and the issue of interfering with a person's right to distribute their intellectual property.

      Copying someone's stuff is one way to infringe on copyright rights. Preventing someone from exercising their legal rights could be a different type of infringement.

      "Copyright" is actually a "bundle" of numerous different legal rights.

      .
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Brian,
        Copying someone's stuff is one way to infringe on copyright rights. Preventing someone from exercising their legal rights could be a different type of infringement.
        They didn't keep anyone from distributing copies legitimately. They stopped them from doing it through that service, which is at most a temporary inconvenience.

        Again, I'd be shocked if the law is in such sad shape that a charge on that basis was upheld. Mind you, I'm not saying it wouldn't be (shockingly, I am still not a lawyer), but it seems a stretch to me. There are other readily available and free or inexpensive options.


        Paul
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    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
      Originally Posted by kencalhn View Post

      what I really don't get is why people are defending the pirate filesharing sites... I hope they all get shut down and put out of business.
      I don't disagree with that, and am also tired of sending DMCA notices. But personally, I do have a concern with the ramifications of arguably overreaching US government action.

      A few years ago someone posted several WSOs for a script that basically was intended for a massive copying of ClickBank websites and changing the links to be affiliate links. There was a massive thread about my criticism of the product. Could a product like that be leveraged into a sudden seizing of the forum because it was approved for sale here?

      Why can't the entertainment companies who supposedly lost millions due to megaupload file a civil lawsuit, prove their claim, and then get a court order shutting down the site? I'm pretty sure the feds will not take up a criminal case to protect my property.

      What is the impact of the US government's ability to seize and shutdown .com domains - when other countries do not have a similar power?

      When you look at what various politicians have said about the US President having a 'kill switch' for the net, or saying this and that should be sufficient to shutdown a site, where is the line drawn?

      I have seen all sorts of ridiculous claims by companies who don't know the difference between copyright and trademark, or who think merely mentioning their name on a website is an illegal act. You cannot assume a power used against a bad person will rationally be used in the future.

      .
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  • Profile picture of the author Sardent
    I have a problem with this.

    Why...are taxpayer dollars and government resources being used to investigate, police, and litigate these "crimes?"

    Imagine how patent and trademark owners feel about this.
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  • Profile picture of the author rondo
    I can't make any sense of this issue at all. I like to buy Kindle books so just out of curiosity I decided to see if my latest purchase was available to download "free".

    So I went to Google, type in "Book title pdf" and sure enough it was there in the Google results. I recognised the popular Scribd document sharing site, so I clicked through to find the complete book in pdf format, all 350 pages of it. Over 1000 people have viewd the pdf according to Scribd.

    Scribd announced they have now "partnered" with Facebook so people have shared this "free" pdf with their friends on Facebook. In addition you are encouraged to share the document by Tweeting, Buzzing and embedding on your site.

    So it seems that Google, Scribd and Facebook are able to index, host, distribute, or encourage sharing of this copyrighted document respectively and this is perfectly acceptable.

    How can this be?


    Andrew
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  • Profile picture of the author ProScribe
    One of the big positives of this arrest is that it really has livened up the local newspaper which usually runs "cat up a tree" type stories.

    And in fairness to Kim he did put on what was probably Aucklands best new years fireworks display.
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Sardent,
      Why...are taxpayer dollars and government resources being used to investigate, police, and litigate these "crimes?"
      Because they are crimes, and that's part of what we pay taxes for - enforcement of the various existing laws and protection of individual rights.

      Andrew,
      So it seems that Google, Scribd and Facebook are able to index, host, distribute, or encourage sharing of this copyrighted document respectively and this is perfectly acceptable.

      How can this be?
      It is entirely possible that all copies involved in your scenario are legit, in terms of copyright compliance.

      I could easily make a book I wrote available freely on Scribd, and also sell it through the Kindle Marketplace. The only violation would be of Kindle's pricing policy, assuming it was the same book, with no major revisions or differences.

      I could sell the book on my own site and give it away on Scribd, while simultaneously selling an improved version through Amazon, and a cheaper, abridged version through the RapBank system.

      No copyright issues with any of that.

      Or, I could buy non-exclusive rights to a book from the author and give it away on Scribd. The author might be able to sell the same thing on Amazon at whatever price they chose and still be complying with the terms of service. (Might. I'd have to check on that one.)

      Google is not distributing the book just by indexing the location of the thing. And the existence of links to pirated materials in their database has nothing to do with intent to facilitate infringement. It's an inescapable part of the process of indexing the web.

      That's the difference, by the way, between something like TVshack/O'Dwyer's carefully selected links to pirated materials and Google's potential indexing of the same content. One is done for the specific purpose of profiting from illegal distribution. The other is a small and unintended part of a much larger, and perfectly legal, effort.

      Brian,
      I have seen all sorts of ridiculous claims by companies who don't know the difference between copyright and trademark, or who think merely mentioning their name on a website is an illegal act. You cannot assume a power used against a bad person will rationally be used in the future.
      And many other good points before that...

      I share those concerns. I don't think they're major issues in this case, but they're something we ought to be discussing.
      What is the impact of the US government's ability to seize and shutdown .com domains - when other countries do not have a similar power?
      This is the one that disturbs me most. Someone ought to have that power, but it should not be a party that is in any way politically motivated. Defining the scope of that party's power and responsibility is a mildly difficult challenge. Selling it would be a hard job.

      I personally believe that ICANN should be separated from ALL governmental entities, and any existing NGOs or treaty-based organizations, and funded solely from domain registrations.

      That would be a hard sell in the US, and possibly the UN, but it's a reasonable proposition. Staffing it would be the tricky part.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author rondo
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Andrew,It is entirely possible that all copies involved in your scenario are legit, in terms of copyright compliance.

        I could easily make a book I wrote available freely on Scribd, and also sell it through the Kindle Marketplace. The only violation would be of Kindle's pricing policy, assuming it was the same book, with no major revisions or differences.

        Paul
        I said it was a copyrighted document and it was the complete book.
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        • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
          Originally Posted by rondo View Post

          I said it was a copyrighted document and it was the complete book.
          I saw that. I acknowledged it. And I pointed out that the situation you described did not necessarily involve any copyright infringement.

          It might have, but only if one or more of the people uploading it to those sites was not the owner or licensee of the copyright.


          Paul
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          • Profile picture of the author rondo
            Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

            I saw that. I acknowledged it. And I pointed out that the situation you described did not necessarily involve any copyright infringement.



            Paul
            I hope you're right. I just noticed the next 2 books I want to read are also on that site, so I hope they're legit too.

            Andrew
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      • Profile picture of the author Sardent
        There are no criminal penalties for patent infringement.
        For trademarks criminal penalties only come into play with counterfeiting.
        Otherwise it is up to the owner, as with patents, to investigate and litigate on their own dime.

        Of course, if Hollywood, the studios, and the industry would care to foot the bill...

        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Sardent,Because they are crimes, and that's part of what we pay taxes for - enforcement of the various existing laws and protection of individual rights.
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    • Profile picture of the author Ross Bowring
      Originally Posted by ProScribe View Post

      One of the big positives of this arrest is that it really has livened up the local newspaper which usually runs "cat up a tree" type stories.

      And in fairness to Kim he did put on what was probably Aucklands best new years fireworks display.
      Yeah... anytime someone retreats to a "safe room", a'la Jodie Foster... that's worth a few column inches.

      --- Ross
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
    Matt, there are 5 pages in this thread discussing what people think they did and didn't violate. How could you miss that?
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    • Profile picture of the author Matt Baker
      Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

      Matt, there are 5 pages in this thread discussing what people think they did and didn't violate. How could you miss that?
      I'm on a 10 day vacation Fraggler..
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul200
    This was not just about pirated content being shared amongst users. It is also about money laundering, also take a look at these articles about Rapidshare and other similar sites.

    Rapidshare to shutdown

    RapidShare Attorney: If We're Shut Down Like Megaupload, Then YouTube, Dropbox, Apple's iCloud Are Next | Fast Company
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    • Profile picture of the author Webpromotion
      Originally Posted by perfectlovehere View Post

      Yeah so youtube might get shutdown too possibly.

      Youtube does pay royalties, in the 100 of millions a year.
      People do not know that but they do. Megaupload never paid squat.

      Is there pirated content on youtube? Of course there is.
      Are they profiting from it? Yes, mam.

      So what makes them different from megaupload?
      The fact that they are actively combating it. It is a losing battle but they are NOT encouraging it. They do not reward people that upload pirated content like megaupload did. If your content was downloaded a million times--- they would pay you over $1000 dollars. They knew who uploaded the file, they knew the file was pirated content--- and they paid a reward for it.



      I have uploaded youtube videos in which they ask me to prove I have the rights to the video--- megaupload never did that.


      Having transparency with the feds goes a long way. Youtube is on US territory. Has opened its doors to the authorities in trying to combat piracy.

      Megaupload was the complete opposite.
      They were the classic crooks with offshore hostings, hiding pirated files by not indexing them.
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      • Profile picture of the author trustedWFhelper
        Originally Posted by Webpromotion View Post

        Youtube does pay royalties, in the 100 of millions a year.
        People do not know that but they do. Megaupload never paid squat.

        Is there pirated content on youtube? Of course there is.
        Are they profiting from it? Yes, mam.

        So what makes them different from megaupload?
        The fact that they are actively combating it. It is a losing battle but they are NOT encouraging it. They do not reward people that upload pirated content like megaupload did. If your content was downloaded a million times--- they would pay you over $1000 dollars. They knew who uploaded the file, they knew the file was pirated content--- and they paid a reward for it.



        I have uploaded youtube videos in which they ask me to prove I have the rights to the video--- megaupload never did that.


        Having transparency with the feds goes a long way. Youtube is on US territory. Has opened its doors to the authorities in trying to combat piracy.

        Megaupload was the complete opposite.
        They were the classic crooks with offshore hostings, hiding pirated files by not indexing them.
        how did youtube ask you to prove the video was yours? I have a directors account and in over 100 videos I've uploaded, I've not seen one of those...
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        • Profile picture of the author Webpromotion
          Originally Posted by trustedWFhelper View Post

          how did youtube ask you to prove the video was yours? I have a directors account and in over 100 videos I've uploaded, I've not seen one of those...
          We had a regular account.
          they took the videos down.
          We had to prove that we had a license for the music.
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  • Profile picture of the author crystalq
    Someone asked
    Why would you need so much space
    You buy a membership you get lots of web space to upload and share your files. I build websites everyday and sometimes I need to transfer files(entire cpanels) up to 3 gigs+, can I do that with yahoo? errrr NO. I never used mega for it, I use drop box, but some web masters did. Megaupload Takedown Questioned By Users, Lawyers - Security - End user/client security - Informationweek

    They hid it from searches so that the owners or authorities could not find it.
    I cant comment on this, I dont even use Mega lol so I have no idea how their search functions worked. However, im sure they'd be able to find them links on Google.

    Questions.
    If I make a blogger blog filled with youtube videos of Eminem and get paid for my google ads does that make me a pirate?? Am I as bad as dotcom? Is this bloggers fault for letting me do this? Should the entire network of blogger be taken down? Should google pay shady records 100 million if I make 5mllion? Would this make Google as bad as dotcom? Is this copyright infringement?
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    • Profile picture of the author Webpromotion
      Originally Posted by crystalq View Post

      Someone asked

      You buy a membership you get lots of web space to upload and share your files. I build websites everyday and sometimes I need to transfer files(entire cpanels) up to 3 gigs+, can I do that with yahoo? errrr NO. I never used mega for it, I use drop box, but some web masters did. Megaupload Takedown Questioned By Users, Lawyers - Security - End user/client security - Informationweek


      I cant comment on this, I dont even use Mega lol so I have no idea how their search functions worked. However, im sure they'd be able to find them links on Google.

      Questions.
      If I make a blogger blog filled with youtube videos of Eminem and get paid for my google ads does that make me a pirate?? Am I as bad as dotcom? Is this bloggers fault for letting me do this? Should the entire network of blogger be taken down? Should google pay shady records 100 million if I make 5mllion? Would this make Google as bad as dotcom? Is this copyright infringement?

      I understand people's need for space to store stuff.

      What I do not understand is people's need to share their stuff.
      By that I mean share stuff that you made... you created.
      People have 2GB files they created themselves and have an urgency to share with the world?

      I guess there are vast numbers of "closet" content providers.

      Please read the last statement with sarcasm turned all the way up.
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      • Profile picture of the author atvking
        Originally Posted by Webpromotion View Post

        I understand people's need for space to store stuff.

        What I do not understand is people's need to share their stuff.
        By that I mean share stuff that you made... you created.
        People have 2GB files they created themselves and have an urgency to share with the world?

        I guess there are vast numbers of "closet" content providers.

        Please read the last statement with sarcasm turned all the way up.
        Exactly! What could one possibly "share" if its not other peoples music,shows,movies and the likes..

        "File sharing"=Blatant piracy

        I would LOVE to hear form the "file sharers" what it is exactly that they "share" that requires so much space :rolleyes:
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        • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
          Originally Posted by atvking View Post

          Exactly! What could one possibly "share" if its not other peoples music,shows,movies and the likes..

          "File sharing"=Blatant piracy

          I would LOVE to hear form the "file sharers" what it is exactly that they "share" that requires so much space :rolleyes:
          You do know that creative people use the internet too?

          How does a graphics designer get their artwork, too large to use email, to a printer without sending a burnt CD or USB stick?

          The Australian Government is upgrading it's internet infrastructure due to the realisation that business requires fast transmission of large blocks of data these days. Whether its through FTP or a file locker service - file sharing is a part of everyday life for many people.
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          • Profile picture of the author atvking
            Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

            You do know that creative people use the internet too?

            How does a graphics designer get their artwork, too large to use email, to a printer without sending a burnt CD or USB stick?

            The Australian Government is upgrading it's internet infrastructure due to the realisation that business requires fast transmission of large blocks of data these days. Whether its through FTP or a file locker service - file sharing is a part of everyday life for many people.
            I understand this all too well I produce video material almost every week and deliver it over FTP to my customers.

            Want to send a file? No problem. Just explain why the whole world can get access and not just your customer? As a content producer there is NO WAY I would let anybody but my clients download my work let alone list it in public at some "file sharing" site.

            ALL and I do mean ALL "file sharing" sites that let anybody download anything being "shared" are pirate platforms and deserve to be shut down with no process.
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            • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
              Originally Posted by atvking View Post

              ALL and I do mean ALL "file sharing" sites that let anybody download anything being "shared" are pirate platforms and deserve to be shut down with no process.
              I'm sure they will attract the attention of pirates. They have for over 10 years. It doesn't mean the service was created to be a backdoor for pirates to share their files. (Legitimate services have been forcing warez distributors to move-on for quite some time. Mega have been ignoring/encouraging it.)

              Not every large file that gets created is for commercial intent. I was once a keen FPS player and would create and download videos of my efforts. These files would hit the 500mb+ mark quite easily. I didn't care if others got access to the file when I shared it with my fellow gamers . File sharing sites are perfect for that sort of thing.


              Just explain why the whole world can get access and not just your customer
              They can't easily. They need to know the exact URL to get access to the file as the file sharing sites don't provide a search engine/list of files published. It would need to be a guess to stumble across it.

              You might not let "anyone but your clients download your work" BUT you're not me or anyone else. Just because you can't see legitimate uses for such services doesn't mean there aren't many.
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            • Profile picture of the author Hesaidblissfully
              Originally Posted by atvking View Post

              I understand this all too well I produce video material almost every week and deliver it over FTP to my customers.

              Want to send a file? No problem. Just explain why the whole world can get access and not just your customer? As a content producer there is NO WAY I would let anybody but my clients download my work let alone list it in public at some "file sharing" site.

              ALL and I do mean ALL "file sharing" sites that let anybody download anything being "shared" are pirate platforms and deserve to be shut down with no process.
              And 90% of email is spam.

              Report: Spam now 90 percent of all e-mail | Security - CNET News

              Should we shut down email too?

              I have friends who are musicians and sometimes use file sharing sites to share their songs with people. Upload the song, share the link, people can download it. These people aren't their "customers", but nonetheless are people who might want to listen to their music.

              Saying you wouldn't let anybody but your clients download your work implies that commercial transactions or business collaboration is the only reason someone would want to share stuff online. It isn't.

              Why would someone upload video of their family vacation or their cat doing something silly on Youtube or another video site, or them singing a song, for a bunch of complete strangers to watch? If people do it on Youtube, then why not on a file sharing site?

              There's also plenty of legal material on file sharing sites, like public domain works, open source software, etc.

              Make no mistake, I'm under no illusion that file sharing sites are flooded with copyrighted material, but saying we should ban sites outright with no due process just because people use them for illicit purposes is just jumping from one extreme to another.
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              • Profile picture of the author atvking
                Originally Posted by Hesaidblissfully View Post

                Make no mistake, I'm under no illusion that file sharing sites are flooded with copyrighted material, but saying we should ban sites outright with no due process just because people use them for illicit purposes is just jumping from one extreme to another.
                I did not mean to imply that no due process is my solution. My apology if it sounded like this.

                My point is that file sharing sites are mostly piracy. Who cares about the newbie musician who wants to share his video? 20 people maybe. The kind of examples you gave present only a small portion of "file sharers". Family vacation video sharing? Also a very small % of people actually watch this. "file sharing" sites are just like pirate bay.

                Who cares if they have to invest the extra effort to police their site? I have to police my company and I'm responsible for it and its workers. Booo Hoooo if You tube or Face book or "file sharing sites" have to do the same as me Boooo Hoooo my heart bleeds for everybody who thinks they are, somehow, above the law and too good to be responsible for their "sharing platforms" while making millions from assisting in the theft of other peoples intellectual property right in broad daylight...
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                • Profile picture of the author Palusko
                  Do you also police your customers who use your services? Because that's what you are asking Google to do.

                  Originally Posted by atvking View Post

                  Who cares if they have to invest the extra effort to police their site? I have to police my company and I'm responsible for it and its workers. Booo Hoooo if You tube or Face book or "file sharing sites" have to do the same as me Boooo Hoooo
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                  • Profile picture of the author atvking
                    Originally Posted by Palusko View Post

                    Do you also police your customers who use your services? Because that's what you are asking Google to do.
                    How hard is it? Lets see...

                    90% of all piracy is done to the big ticket names/movies/artists, for arguments sake lets not split hairs and pretend that my random figure is correct.

                    The big names in the movie/music industry are, just for arguments sake, the 50 top singers and the top 20 current movies and the top 20 current shows and lets say the top 1000 movies of all time.

                    How hard is it for a super structure like google to monitor 50 top singers/20movies+20shows/1000 top films?? this is 1090 search queries total. These 1090 titles/songs/movies present 90% of piracy.

                    How hard is it for mega google to follow 1090 things? Being that they follow BILLIONS of websites and search terms daily.

                    Also a few red flag terms like "torrent" or "rip" or "site rip" or "CD rip" and simply not index them?

                    And to answer your question: YES I do police my customers. I sell fitness related material and also instructional videos and also parts for motorbikes. I check almost every day that my material is not being "shared" and I am actively working on embedding my videos for every customer individually so that when I find a "shared" video I will know who did it. Also I am working on a custom video player for my videos that will come with my product so that only this player plays the videos for only my customers, after it connects to the net and gets a custom key that is generated every day.

                    Now if a one man show (except for the crew that work in my office on customer support) can put all this effort in to policing his customers, I really don't care to hear any excuses from multi billion dollar google.
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  • Profile picture of the author Webpromotion
    People need to read the indictment before they post on this thread.

    It is clear, megupload was fighting hand and claw NOT to delete pirated content.

    They willfully ignored DMCA takedown notices, and they state that in intercepted emails between the top brass at megaupload.


    Read the indictment.... please.
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  • Profile picture of the author Taniwha
    So the one of the guys who got arrested was apparently the best Call of Duty player in the world.. Playing up to 12 hour days, 60 days at a time!!

    With all that money, that would be the last place you will find me.
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    • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
      Originally Posted by Taniwha View Post

      So the one of the guys who got arrested was apparently the best Call of Duty player in the world.. Playing up to 12 hour days, 60 days at a time!!

      With all that money, that would be the last place you will find me.
      well he could have been playing on his laptop on a beach somewhere sipping margaritas, in which case, I could completely get that.
      -------
      I've deliberately tried to stay away from this thread, but I feel that this is too important of an issue to completely ignore. I still think Megaupload, based solely on what I read in the charge document, operated a racket, and encouraged and rewarded piracy. Whether they are guilty as charged, I leave up to the judge to decide.

      What I'm most concerned about is how far one government is allowed to go to enforce it's laws and I therefore strongly support a non-political entity to govern the Internet that Paul eluded to above.

      I would like to see a mix of corporate representation as well as representation from the Internet innovators such as the WordPress community, the social media sites, the search engines, maybe even some of our own successful Warriors.

      Am I being a dreamer? Maybe. But perhaps if we actually stop arguing about Megaupload and start concerning ourselves with the bigger picture, we may actually accomplish something.

      Let's see if we can't push for this independent entity to govern the Internet. That would be something, I think, worth fighting for.
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Karen,
        I would like to see a mix of corporate representation as well as representation from the Internet innovators such as the WordPress community, the social media sites, the search engines, maybe even some of our own successful Warriors.
        I believe we want something even less "connected": A group of people dedicated to upholding online freedom in a responsible way, and that holds to the principles of the Berne Convention and the guidelines of the WIPO.

        Ideally, as I see it, the group would be separate from any geopolitical entity, and from other NGOs. It would be funded solely from domain registration fees, and collect no money from any of the previously mentioned groups.

        And, of course, the problem with this idea lies in that ancient warning:

        "Beyond this point be details."


        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author Karen Blundell
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Karen,I believe we want something even less "connected": A group of people dedicated to upholding online freedom in a responsible way, and that holds to the principles of the Berne Convention and the guidelines of the WIPO.

          Ideally, as I see it, the group would be separate from any geopolitical entity, and from other NGOs. It would be funded solely from domain registration fees, and collect no money from any of the previously mentioned groups.

          And, of course, the problem with this idea lies in that ancient warning:

          "Beyond this point be details."


          Paul
          Yes, even better. The less "connected" the more it would be accepted by the masses, perhaps.

          Can we not propose something to ICANN? Make some noise about it. We have to start somewhere.
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        • Profile picture of the author davezan
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Ideally, as I see it, the group would be separate from any geopolitical entity, and from other NGOs. It would be funded solely from domain registration fees, and collect no money from any of the previously mentioned groups.
          A catch to that, though, is that so-called geopolitical entity is still bound to any
          applicable law within the country's jurisdiction they operate in. While ICANN can
          maybe create some form of "law" addressing this, they can't ignore or supersede
          necessarily any court order issued within California (where they're at) or at the
          Federal level, or any law within there. (I think...)

          I don't know how laws and jurisdictions would work with, say, the U.N. But from
          what I've since gathered online and from other people, let us just say that there
          are things arguably worse than ICANN.

          And yeah, it's the devil in the details that need work.
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            Dave,
            I don't know how laws and jurisdictions would work with, say, the U.N. But from what I've since gathered online and from other people, let us just say that there are things arguably worse than ICANN.
            No question. ICANN isn't as bad as some people think, by a large margin. Still, for the sort of enforcement that SOPA/PIPA/OPEN envision, you need an entity that's governed by a treaty, and not the internal politics or economic concerns of a single nation. And one that's composed of people who actually understand both the technical and social aspects of the regulated system.

            Rep. Smith and co. clearly do not fill the bill.


            Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author QJN
    US is the world police if you haven't noticed yet. I think they should be going after real criminals first who are actually harming people physically online...like child pornography and human trafficking and such.. but of course they don't because there's no money in that..not reward! Nothing more rewarding that multi-million dollars in property seizures and wow the domain... who's gonna profit on that traffic? People who never used it are clicking on it just to see what it is... I wish I could get my ads up there...or better...I wish I owned that domain now (without the legal issues of course!)
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    • Profile picture of the author Webpromotion
      Originally Posted by QJN View Post

      US is the world police if you haven't noticed yet. I think they should be going after real criminals first who are actually harming people physically online...like child pornography and human trafficking and such.. but of course they don't because there's no money in that..not reward! Nothing more rewarding that multi-million dollars in property seizures and wow the domain... who's gonna profit on that traffic? People who never used it are clicking on it just to see what it is... I wish I could get my ads up there...or better...I wish I owned that domain now (without the legal issues of course!)


      So you think that while some federal agent were raiding megaupload, the rest of the Federal agents in the US were at home sleeping??

      It was just a handful of agents at most, assigned to this case.

      This case is super high profile because of its massive size.

      At the same time, murderers, child molesters, human traffickers, and other terrible people were being investigated, raided and arrested by the feds.

      Do not be fooled that all other criminals were running rampant without a care in the world, because the feds were too busy with taking down megaupload.
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    • Profile picture of the author davezan
      Originally Posted by QJN View Post

      I think they should be going after real criminals first who are actually harming people physically online...like child pornography and human trafficking and such..
      Dozens charged in child porn ring bust - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com

      U.S. authorities bust Mexico drug network in Arizona | Reuters

      HumanTrafficking.org | News & Updates: Massage Parlours Raided in Kansas City, Missouri; Trafficking Suspected

      Next?

      Originally Posted by Sardent View Post

      There are no criminal penalties for patent infringement.
      For trademarks criminal penalties only come into play with counterfeiting.
      Otherwise it is up to the owner, as with patents, to investigate and litigate on their own dime.

      Of course, if Hollywood, the studios, and the industry would care to foot the bill...
      I gave one possible answer in post #209. If anything, it depends how the law is
      defined on something.

      I guess it's too much to ask some people to read the indictment. Then again, it
      can feel better ranting or raving over something they don't like, yet might still
      be arguably justified depending on the circumstances.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mary Wilhite
    There is something interesting about MOST human beings.
    They are lazy, don’t want to work; and they go for free or cheap stuff.
    It looks like this is the human weakness Megaupload was exploiting.


    Fighting piracy requires a change of mindset. You and I need to say
    no to it. Government alone CANNOT successfully fight the menace.
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  • Profile picture of the author eloansolutions
    based on what ive been reading on different forums and blogs ALOT of folks are pissed off that MegaUpload is shut off, why???
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  • Profile picture of the author eloansolutions
    I bet MySpace is next on the list? I wouldn't be surprised...........
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  • Profile picture of the author trustedWFhelper
    I don't want to see the internet being policed by a single government like the u.s.

    Coming to think about it, the world is connected by the internet and if you govern it, you are the one world government, talking about ruling state in the world.

    Pls think of it, i.e. everything, as it was planned.
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  • Profile picture of the author Spock1
    Record companies and Movie Studios have lost a great deal of money due to this new technology. Copyright laws need some teeth to be adhered to. The line must be drawn somewhere. It can be a very grey area.
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  • Profile picture of the author rondo
    Interesting article from a non-US perspective.

    What will you do when the US comes for you?

    "Australian organisations destined for the cloud now have the dilemma of dealing with warrantless demands from US law enforcement as part of their due diligence..."



    P.S. Happy Australia Day
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  • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
    Atvking, do you want YouTube to exist? It's an honest question.

    Because they can't police every upload proactively. The rate of uploads makes that 100% impossible. So there is a system in place by which copyright holders can report videos which violate their copyrights, bringing the videos in question to YouTube's attention, at which point the videos can be removed.

    It's a fair system - it protects the rights of copyright holders, while recognizing that a policy by which YouTube would be required to find and delete every infringing video on its own would be absurd in its impossibility.
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    • Profile picture of the author atvking
      Originally Posted by Jon Patrick View Post

      Atvking, do you want YouTube to exist? It's an honest question.

      Because they can't police every upload proactively. The rate of uploads makes that 100% impossible. So there is a system in place by which copyright holders can report videos which violate their copyrights, bringing the videos in question to YouTube's attention, at which point the videos can be removed.

      It's a fair system - it protects the rights of copyright holders, while recognizing that a policy by which YouTube would be required to find and delete every infringing video on its own would be absurd in its impossibility.
      A little Know Your Customer would suffice to me. Make no mistake YouTube is all to happy to capitalize on the "user experience" of "file sharing". YouTube per se is not a typical pirate platform but they DO make it easy for people to "share" because they are concerned with making money and having lots of users, so they are too good to hold their "sharers" responsible for the uploaded content.

      I do not agree with you that its 100% impossible to police content. Just adding customer verification would solve most of the problems, but this would not ring nicely with users who want to "share their free speech" crap and Youtube are all to happy to pretend like it is enough that they take down stuff when asked. Hey how about I steal stuff from the shop and give it back if asked? How come it does not work like that in any other business on the planet but its, somehow, fine if its done with other peoples intellectual property?

      Screw Youtube if you want my honest opinion. There's lots of things they could do if they really cared, but they don't because it would cost them money. Pirates cost me money and anybody who provides a platform for this is bad in my book.
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  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    I can see that but suing someone because there's music playing on a radio in the background is a bit much.
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    • Profile picture of the author POLLITO122
      Originally Posted by cypherslock View Post

      I can see that but suing someone because there's music playing on a radio in the background is a bit much.
      In Spain there is the SGAE that make things like this on behalf of the authors, many burglars playing a guitar in the street had been fined.

      Then the leaders of the SGAE were arrested for using this money to finance themselves a lifestyle.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
        Originally Posted by atvking

        A little Know Your Customer would suffice to me. Make no mistake YouTube is all to happy to capitalize on the "user experience" of "file sharing". YouTube per se is not a typical pirate platform but they DO make it easy for people to "share" because they are concerned with making money and having lots of users, so they are too good to hold their "sharers" responsible for the uploaded content.
        But that's simply not the case. Accounts get shut down for repeated copyright violations, and they have systems in place to automatically detect what they can. What they can't do is conduct a manual review of every video that's uploaded, which is why the DMCA system is in place.

        Originally Posted by atvking

        I do not agree with you that its 100% impossible to police content. Just adding customer verification would solve most of the problems
        What kind of customer verification? And you do realize that even the sites which are very strict with their customer verification (CL, eBay, Amazon, etc.) are still quite susceptible to the problem of users uploading infringing content (or items, depending on the venue)?

        Originally Posted by atvking

        but this would not ring nicely with users who want to "share their free speech" crap and Youtube are all to happy to pretend like it is enough that they take down stuff when asked. Hey how about I steal stuff from the shop and give it back if asked? How come it does not work like that in any other business on the planet but its, somehow, fine if its done with other peoples intellectual property?
        Your metaphor is not apt. YouTube is not stealing anything from the shop when a user uploads infringing material. The user is, and YouTube will deal with that user if it is brought to their attention. To expect more than that - for YouTube to find and deal with every infringment on its own - is to expect the impossible. Simply look up the stats concerning upload rates to see what I mean.

        Unless you want to see the entire concept of user-generated content sites go the way of the dinosaur, you really don't want a standard by which these sites are required to do something impossible in order to stay in existence.

        Originally Posted by atvking

        Screw Youtube if you want my honest opinion. There's lots of things they could do if they really cared, but they don't because it would cost them money. Pirates cost me money and anybody who provides a platform for this is bad in my book.
        I think they don't because they already meet the standard required under the law, a standard which is very reasonable IMHO.

        I do respect the fact that you are entitled to feel differently than I do, and your courage in saying so.
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        • Profile picture of the author atvking
          Originally Posted by Jon Patrick View Post

          I think they don't because they already meet the standard required under the law, a standard which is very reasonable IMHO.
          Youtube:

          Harry potter: 44.000 videos
          Lady Gaga: 1.200.000 videos
          Justin Bieber: 146.000 videos
          Michael Jackson: 4.590.000 videos
          Madonna: 47.000 videos
          Twilight 850.000 videos

          and so on and so on....

          Does not seem to me like they are trying very hard. I found this in one minute. Even if 10% of the videos are illegal (and I'm being very very very very generous here) then that is a LOT ...IN reality 90% of these videos were uploaded without the express written permission of the OWNERS

          Need I say more?
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          • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
            I suppose they could delete every video that has a celebrity name, song name, movie name, etc., referenced in the title. But that would be a pretty wide net to cast, when you think about the ramifications for legit users.
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  • Profile picture of the author jeffyman
    I wonder if they'll be going after others
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Leauge
    Look they don't need SOPA and PIPA to shutdown websites.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    This is interesting... Do you think Amazon had anything to do with the seizure of Megaupload?

    Think about it, Amazon sells memberships to instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows for $79 per year with an Amazon Prime membership.

    I think Megaupload was targeted because it's one of the biggest if not the biggest file sharing sites online, at least it's one of the most popular. By seizing control of this website other file sharing companies and websites will take drastic action to NOT go to jail. Thus taking care of the other file sharing sites without costing the government money to physically go and put an end to it.

    One could even guess as to how much Amazon was complaining or threatening to sue for losses and damages to it's membership if the government hadn't acted.

    Just a thought...
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
      Mike,
      One could even guess as to how much Amazon was complaining or threatening to sue for losses and damages to it's membership if the government hadn't acted.
      Watching them sue the folks at MegaUpload would have been... interesting. I doubt they'd have standing, unless they own the copyright to some of that pirated content.

      I'm sure they were pleased about the closing/seizures, but they probably didn't have much to do with it.


      Paul
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
        Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

        Mike,Watching them sue the folks at MegaUpload would have been... interesting. I doubt they'd have standing, unless they own the copyright to some of that pirated content.

        I'm sure they were pleased about the closing/seizures, but they probably didn't have much to do with it.


        Paul

        Well, big business tends to have persuasive pressure in the various government departments. This would make for a great start to a Conspiracy Theory..
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    • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
      Originally Posted by Mike Hill View Post

      One could even guess as to how much Amazon was complaining or threatening to sue for losses and damages to it's membership if the government hadn't acted.
      Amazon would be more concerned about creating something as good as Netflix.

      My video/TV watching has shot up since all of these streaming services have taken off. It makes it so easy to spend money. A subscription to Netflix or Amazon is probably cheaper than a sub to megaupload too.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
        Originally Posted by Fraggler View Post

        Amazon would be more concerned about creating something as good as Netflix.

        My video/TV watching has shot up since all of these streaming services have taken off. It makes it so easy to spend money. A subscription to Netflix or Amazon is probably cheaper than a sub to megaupload too.

        Megaupload charged $260 (approximate) lifetime membership and you could download and keep recent and newly released movies, games and books on your external. Compare that to Netflix which charges $8 a month and the movies there are so old.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Daniels
    But Judge David McNaughton refused Dotcom bail, saying: "With sufficient determination and financial resources, flight risk remains a real and significant possibility, which I cannot discount."

    Dotcom's arrest, and his history, suggest the judge has a point. When he was arrested with three others at his rented mansion outside Auckland last Saturday, police found unlicensed and illegal firearms.



    Dotcom had to be cut out of a safe room in which he had barricaded himself, because, according to Mr Davison, he was frightened and panicked.





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  • Profile picture of the author CPA4INFINITY
    I was about to start my new project related to filesharing. but it seems i need to postponed it...
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    • Profile picture of the author Jon Patrick
      Originally Posted by CPA4INFINITY View Post

      I was about to start my new project related to filesharing. but it seems i need to postponed it...
      If it was going to involve the kind of games Megaupload was allegedly playing with the law, that's definitely a good idea.
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  • Profile picture of the author cypherslock
    Hey Mike, sure some of it is but I've noticed using bot the US and Canadian side that it us getting more recent and if you tie it in with Vudu (boxee), you've got recent shows and movies too. Totally worth it. For $8 for netflix and just having an account with Vudu (no monthly fee there), absolutely awesome. I haven't had cable in almost a year, and I don't miss it.

    Its funny speaking of MU, it almost seems that to reach those types of riches you have to be a totally arrogant A$$.
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  • Profile picture of the author redfield
    Just came across a news article from NZ Herald condemning the raid. Worth a read.
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  • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
    Banned
    You can also get 20 GB's through Google for $5/year - I'm using that with Google Docs to redundantly back up a lot of vital files. You can share your files/folders easily enough, even with non-Google email accounts.
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  • Profile picture of the author Da Jules
    It's getting scary how fast big brother is happening!
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