megaupload.com is gone

Yes, makes sense. Introduce 'problem' SOPA legislation, get 'reaction' with 'anonymous' retaliation, and justify similar legislation as the 'solution'. Got it. I would think those 3 entities named might have something ($) to gain from this, no?

Bottom line? It's the duty of the property owner to provide adequate defense and security of their own hosted web property, especially those with the monster budgets to do so. ALL debate begins and ends right there.

YEP! A LOT of *****IDIOTS***** say that the current laws don't allow for the internet, etc.... *****BULL***** the laws were written a hundred years or more ago! They did NOT say ONLY books, or ONLY films, etc.... In fact, they PREDATE film, and handled IT fine! The concept is MILLENIA old, and THAT is what the idea of copyrights, trademarks and patents covered, the CONCEPT!

Steve

Was their IP address 174.140.154.23?

If so, it looks like it was hosted in the US. The US DOES have jurisdiction against sites in the US even if it IS bordering on ILLEGAL to do so.

I agree with everything else you said though.

Steve

remember anzus

this is the biggest threat to New Zealand sovereignty since rainbow warrior - google it

I don't normally agree with that guy, but HERE I do.

And there is *************NOTHING************** that lamar can do to defend himself! NOTHING! Why don't they just lock him up for 20 years! There are only like 4 possibilities! Just FOUR!

1. He KNEW! He is GUILTY, LOCK HIM UP!
2. He got it from another source and believed it was OK. SOPA/PIPA says he is guilty, he wrote it such that innocent can be found guilty, he is even MORE guilty than #1, LOCK HIM UP!
3. In some way there is a misunderstanding, see #2!
4. He is "innocent", it just LOOKS very much like that photo or some such, see #2!

As the author of the bill, PASSED OR NOT, he INSISTED that he be locked up, so PLEASE, DO SO! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!! HEY, do that with EVERYONE that wrote it, modified it, or voted for it that broke their law!

BTW many lawyers consider changing things like this to be a sort of obstruction of justice. The person could STILL file suit!

BTW the stupid SOPA supporter on PBS claimed that this could NOT happen! That a person could not find their site down for such a simple reason. OH YEAH, WHY is his site still up?

Steve

We ALL know that! HECK, my INDUSTRY relies on IP, etc... I want CREDIT for everything I write for customers, etc... But there is NO way to properly enforce it, so without an abundance of evidence, there should be no conviction! SCO once tried a trick to OBLITERATE LINUX! Actually, they tried TWO! Once, they added some lines of code to a linux they released, and later came back claiming copyright infringement! According to reason, AND the law, they made that code PUBLIC DOMAIN when they released it! ANOTHER time, they bought a license, and then tried to recall the license granted to all others. They ACTUALLY INSISTED that ALL ISPs with Linux pay THEM a licensing fee!!!!! AGAIN ILLEGAL, because the previous owners grants of rights trumps THEIRS! The owners simply no longer had the right to sell! STILL, it went through the courts. They lost after the seller said that right was not included! And we ALL know of PD sites offering copyrighted stuff as PD! That said, if I give a document to a customer, and they release it with no credit, or A PD site downloaded stuff THEMSELVES from a site that had IP stuff, THEN they are GUILTY.

I believe NZ IS one of the countries that signed the treaty that says THEY will honor such things. MOST countries did. Likewise, the US honors THEIRS. BTW China did NOT agree to it!!!!!!!

Don't even JOKE about that! Even a MILLIONARE in the US today is not rich. HECK, you may need to save 20 million just to retire!

I agree with you! I think we ALL do! But this IP garbage goes TOO far! I mean YEAH programs should be copyrighted! Maybe SOME code should be patented! But one company wanted me to LITERALLY sign away EVEN the rights to "A+=1"!!!!!!!! IMAGINE if a company said you couldn't say or write "I" anymore, or some such. INCREDIBLE! ONE person apparently patented the way to make a speaker make a sound! One person patented the easy way to change a pixel on a screen. Amazon patented one click ordering. One guy, in australia patented the WHEEL! Those things should be WIPED OUT! They are NOT valid patents!

Steve

There are legally like 4 levels of law, in the US!

1. Constitution.
2. LAWS.<<<<<<<<<
3. Precedent. So previous court cases on similar matters facilitate new ones being judged the same way.
4. Things logically derived from them. So the internet is STILL subject to copyright even if not specifically mentioned.

The stuff in SOPA/PIPA is NOT in the constitution, NOT a proper precedent, though THEY are decided in the courts, and I doubt it is a law. Sopa and pipa want to MAKE it a law.

The infrastructure ISN'T in place. They merely have someone with the color of law intimidate the people that can do it.

BTW, last I knew, the current law provided for the removal of copyrighted items and ***IF*** the site was obviously one to provide/encourage such violations, or guilty of multiple ones in the past, ****THEN**** it could be shut down.

Steve

Bollocks.

The film and music industries have had over a decade to adapt their business model(s) to suit the new technology and have decided they would rather stay the way they were and force the rest of us backwards to suit them.

Piracy has been going on since forever. When cassette tapes first came along, record companies were claiming the sky was going to fall down. The same from movie studios when videotapes became available.

The real reason for their declining sales in recent times, besides sub-standard product, is markets are becoming fragmented. The one size fits all, lowest common denominator business model no longer works. People now have access to what they want, not what the suits have decided will make the most money for their shareholders.

Everyone on this forum should be well aware of the concept of niches. Just about no-one (that I'm aware of) on WF has been successful on a mass market level. There are however many success stories of people who have found a smaller market and sold products specifically tailored to those markets.

Adapt or perish.

I have screamed this for over 30 years, I guess I should repeat it AGAIN! There is ******NO****** way to "protect" such things from pirates, and ANY attempt to do so hurts the INNOCENT! The industry FINALLY realized that a bit over 20 years ago, and GAVE UP much of the MORONIC copy protection! There are LOTS of laws on the books! About 30 years ago, the software industry created a policing program. They pay people to anonymously tip them, and fine the crooks, and throw them in jail. Their motto was "pirate software, and get this new piece of hardware!". The hardware was HANDCUFFS!

And YEAH, the big stars often get a BIG advance, high salary, AND a piece of the profits. It's incredible that the companies put up with it. They have to make a HUGE profit just to break EVEN! Music stars, and writers, get paid up front, and residuals. The main crew, engineers, sound people often get paid with the work. The people that get hurt initially are the production companies.

For software, a company like microsoft USUALLY pays the people that worked on it, and THEY get hurt if there is piracy. If I write a program, and release it, and IT is pirated, I get hurt. BTW REALIZE that if the film companies get hurt, it could hurt the future of that company, and reduce output which THEN can affect ALL stars, INCLUDING the big ones. If microsoft is hit, it will ALSO often trickle down.

But you are looking for an answer? I HAVE IT!!!!!!!!! I have the SOLUTION! I have screamed IT for over FORTY years! It is ***THE*** solution!

Think of it!
1. The END of poverty!
2. The END of wars!
3. The END of inflation!
4. The END of conspiracies!
5. The END of poor education!
6. The END of working unto death and seeing no return!
7. The END of theft!
8. The END of hunger!
9. The END of over population!
10. The END of mistrust!
11. The END of a lot of disease!
12. Possibly the END of cancer!
13. The END of murder!
14. The END of transportation problems!
15. The END of much pollution!

ETC...

It is SIMPLE! It can be stated in three little words!

Want to hear them?

TRUE UNIVERSAL ALTRUISM!

Seriously, if it is TRUE and UNIVERSAL, over 90% of the people on this planet would RADICALLY change their ways!

ALAS, I have come to the conclusion that it may NEVER happen! AND, as I stated in another thread, if it DID happen, it would take DECADES for people to believe it 100% and, until they did, the full impact would not be realized.

If you are looking for another solution to piracy, FORGET IT! Ironically, TUA would probably mean FEWER films, and most would probably be dirt cheap. HEY, paradise WILL mean that people would give up some things they now perceive to be positives. And WHY would a person with TUA remake a good film?

Steve

For essentially backing up to a cloud system, you can try Dropbox.

For basic file sharing, you can try Rapidshare.

I would have recommended Mediafire, but after Filesonic and Fileserve essentially decided to stop their sharing services, I have a hunch Mediafire won't be far behind.

Use "protecting rights" as an excuse to abuse the rights of others? No thanks.