I can just hear the election teams salivating from here on any chance to get a hold of that info.Andy Chalk said:"We found a large number of Mega accounts from U.S. government officials including the Department of Justice and the U.S. Senate,"
Actually, rest assured there will be plenty of denying going on if this goes to trial in the US. It's not so much the question of illegal files being moved through the site, instead as to whether MegaUpload made money off of them. There could very well be a large enough gray area to this to constitute circumstantial evidence that any competent defense lawyer could tear to pieces.Andy Chalk said:There's no denying that copyright infringement was the bread and butter of Megaupload
What? The two media cartels that locked American productions in censorship and held artists' careers hostage with threats of black listing are...AFRAID OF COMPETITION?The_root_of_all_evil said:What's that you say Timmy? Megaupload was going to allow artists to keep 90% of its profits, effectively crippling big music firms? And that it was taken down just before Megabox was going to go live?
If you don't thing that someone with 7 convictions for spread out over a 20 years period might not indicated a pattern, then I'm Nigerian prince who needs to get money out of the country. All you need do is send me your bank account details ....LZeroK said:Even if he did all that, what relation does it have with the MegaUpload fiasco?
The ones that patented all the technology that allows artists to freely broadcast and denies them access to it? It sounds crazy, but it might just be true. Either that or little John boy is stuck down the well again.Atmos Duality said:What? The two media cartels that locked American productions in censorship and held artists' careers hostage with threats of black listing are...AFRAID OF COMPETITION?The_root_of_all_evil said:What's that you say Timmy? Megaupload was going to allow artists to keep 90% of its profits, effectively crippling big music firms? And that it was taken down just before Megabox was going to go live?
That describes the entire fucking wall st. I dont see their doors kicked down in dawn raids by antiterrorist forces.albino boo said:...insider trading, embezzlement, fraud...
Small but rather important point, the convictions are for offences in Germany. Guess what, they did do a dawn raid for the largest insider trading case in German history. Of course that would require knowing something rather than mindlessly parroting the latest fashionable opinion amongst all the cool kids. I'm sick and tried of the mindless because X is like that then its ok x rob, lie, cheat and steal.Logarithmic Limbo said:That describes the entire fucking wall st. I dont see their doors kicked down in dawn raids by antiterrorist forces.albino boo said:...insider trading, embezzlement, fraud...
Ok, so what you are saying is that it is bad, unless it is done by the cunts on wall st?albino boo said:...its ok x rob, lie, cheat and steal...
No, he's saying two wrongs don't make a right. Just because A does it doesn't mean B should get a free ride.Logarithmic Limbo said:Ok, so what you are saying is that it is bad, unless it is done by the cunts on wall st?albino boo said:...its ok x rob, lie, cheat and steal...
That is exactly my point. Back to my original question, why isnt antiterrorist teams kicking down doors on wall st? Instead I get some hipster shit thrown in my face. What gets me so riled is the hypocracy of the Corporate States of America, wielding the best justice system money can buy as a privately owned hit squad, enforcing laws outside its own jurisdiction.Qitz said:...two wrongs don't make a right...
Just quoting this so that more people see it. Carry on, good sir, carry on.Uriel-238 said:Once again The Escapist resorts to hyperbole to inflate the great threat of piracy [http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120210/03382117728/how-do-we-know-that-piracy-isnt-really-big-issue-because-media-companies-still-havent-needed-to-change-as-result-it.shtml] and toe the copyright-maximalist line.
Indeed, Mr. Chalk, that is what the MPAA and RIAA would have you believe, but as the traditional gatekeepers of content, they're more interested in chilling competition on the web than they are in seeing a reduction in piracy. One of the more significant revenue sources of MegaUpload was independent content being released free [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120120/15060817494/busta-rhymes-backs-megaupload-says-record-labels-are-real-criminals.shtml] to users, paid for by advertising. And while songs didn't gross as much as they did on discs, the artists netted much more of it.There's no denying that copyright infringement was the bread and butter of MegaUpload
Keep in mind that Mr. Dotcom has been convicted of nothing so far (regarding the Mega bust), and the rap sheet of which he was accused is so Mega's legitimate clientele weren't even considered until the EFF stepped in [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120120/00373617487/megaupload-details-raise-significant-concerns-about-what-doj-considers-evidence-criminal-behavior.shtml] (Really! The DoJ was really just going to let the seized data, on which many a business and government depended, get erased. And this is despite the fact that it would be a source of evidence for the trial!) is telling of the DoJ's regard for the rest of us.
In the meantime, Jonathan Coulton [http://www.techdirt.com/blog/innovation/articles/20120216/03595717776/how-megaupload-shutdown-has-put-cloud-computing-business-plans-risk.shtml] didn't make the gagillions he was promised.
So, so far, all the Mega takedown has done is stomp all over the already overtrodden economies of the US and Europe. Perhaps the folks at The Escapist might want to do a bit more research while they continue to vilify content piracy as the worst plague ever to infect the world. And especially before they decide that a given company is evulz because Big Corporate America says it is.
Incidentally, Mr. Dotcom has decided to tell his side of the story [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120302/01273817941/kim-dotcom-gives-tv-interview-where-he-insists-charges-against-him-are-joke.shtml] rather than let his lawyers speak for him, partially because the amount of legitimate business done on MegaUpload was considerable and probably exceeded unlicensed content. The truth is, we don't have those statistics yet, and probably won't until well after his trial.
238U[footnote]Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...[/footnote]
Members of Wall Street have been arrested, for inside trading no less. one case here [http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Wall-Street-Insider-Trading-Slimeball-Activity-139098599.html] even says there's some 60 people being charged by the FBI. Back in Feb. 2012.Logarithmic Limbo said:That is exactly my point. Back to my original question, why isnt antiterrorist teams kicking down doors on wall st? Instead I get some hipster shit thrown in my face. What gets me so riled is the hypocracy of the Corporate States of America, wielding the best justice system money can buy as a privately owned hit squad, enforcing laws outside its own jurisdiction.
Explain how.shintakie10 said:Thats quite a horribly biased article. I get that the Escapist is all "rawr piracy smash" but this is just sad.