[UPDATE] Feds Take Down Megaupload

[JoshuaMadoc]

Awexsome's line of thinking in this topic is basically to ask everybody who shares files on the internet to kill themselves and set themselves on fire, after saying good riddance to Megaupload.

So... yeah. Pointless to argue against him at this point.

I've said it before, but as the above guy touches on, so much piracy is TV and movies that just aren't available.

Thanks for bringing that up. Western nations wouldn't give two fucks about gems like Endhiran, nor would they even allow Doraemon to come to their shelves for no other reason than to have American products muscle competition out of their shores.

Also, Australia doesn't even sell Anito, a very very commendable effort by a bunch of Filipino guys trying to make a homebrewed CRPG for the PC.

 

[TheVioletBandit]

Just to clarify, the mega upload employees live in New Zealand?
Just another example of The American Government's Cultural imperialism; they have to impose their national laws on the rest of the world.

That the New Zealand government is happy enough to go along with it makes them just as much to blame.

 

[Baldr]

What about Youtube then? Their webtraffic is mostly legitimate, but they do have some infringing content. Should they be shut down.

The difference is that Youtube takes significant strides to help curb infringement through several filters and other means. MegaUpload decided not to be that responsible, they decided to line their own pockets from infringement instead. Very definition of Corporate Greed.

 

[Astoria]

What I don't think is posted here but is really ridiculous is that if found guilty, these people will be facing a 55 year sentence.

That's right. 55 YEARS

...please tell me you're joking. There are murders who get lesser sentences than that.

This is not about money or piracy anymore, I swear this is a power trip by powerful Americans who are starting to realise they aren't the most powerful country anymore. Do they even need SOPA and PIPA if they can do this kind of thing anyway? And again, if this is not an American site then why the hell are they sticking their noses in it!

 

[Zeetchmen]

Just goes to show you that money runs the government, not the people.

 

[Irridium]

Snip for space

I'd like to know the stats just out of curiosity.

Pure conjecture on my part, but I can't see how legal users could even begin to approach pirates on sites like MU, RS, BT, MF, etc. Never seen any solid numbers though, so who knows?

No, really--who knows? I want to ask them

People have been asking for hard stats for this sort of thing for ages. Honestly, I doubt many used Megaupload for piracy, since there's far more, better sites. I say that as someone who used Megaupload for trying to download some mods. It wasn't that fun. I doubt any pirate would put up with it. And I doubt they'd have a subscription, because, well, pirates. They're not exactly there to buy anything.

Maybe Megaupload had some stats. It sounds like they did, what with them saying the vast majority of their traffic is legitimate. Probably would have been better if they released those stats.

So far the best we got is when downloads go "up" and "down" for something. Makes gauging the amount of legitimate people and/or pirates pretty much impossible.

 

[Orekoya]

snip

People use postal service for crime! Close it all down!
Criminals use cars to escape from crimesceense, or kill other people with them! Destroy all the cars and sue the car manufacturers for not taking better care!
Terrorists use planes to terrorize people! Blow up all the airplanes and imprison everyone who works for the airlines!
Do I have to go on?

This is NEVER an excuse for something like this. Megaupload was never intendet for piracy. They delete illegal files, just like Youtube for example. But do you have any idea of the amount of data that people upload there daily? NO ONE has the manpower to check every. single. file.

Also, could you give me the source for your claim that they "allowed" it to happen?

"Allow" probably isn't the correct term. Concede, maybe? As in they did a poor job of preventing pirated files (the site is festooned with them). Of course it is very difficult to stop pirating, but it seems to me that if you are going to start a file sharing webservice, or a video service like youtube, policing is a responsibility you have to accept, along with the consequences for failing to live up to that big responsibility. Youtube is in the same boat, and often regularly criticised for failing to prevent copywrited material. Though I don't know if they are likely to be accused of "money laundering" anytime soon.

meanwhile, it is the feds responsibility to prevent crimes. The only plausible way they can do that with megaupload is to stop the site entirely. We blame them for basically punishing the many perfectly innocent users along with the pirates, but it seems to me that there is very little recourse for the situation. They have to act, because the owners of megaupload failed to, and they only really have one choice. Either they leave the website open and allow everything to continue, or they stop the website all together. This isn't the same as get-away drivers, whom the FBI have the luxury of going after on an individual basis. Online piracy, by its very nature, involves many more culprits and is far harder to control. The FBI's tactic is similar to closing a sorting office, in response to a mass anthrax mail dump: the only way to stop those letters is to hold down the entire office until the problem is dealt with. Likewise, if there is a suspected terrorist loose in an airport, they would ground all the planes and inconvenience every passenger if they have to.

If the feds allow a service to continue, knowing full well that there are individuals hidden in that business committing serious crimes, then the feds have to take responsibility for their inaction, and suffer the consequences if bad things happen as a result. There is some nuance to the examples you gave, and to this particular situation as well.

The problem with such logic is that you're saying its okay for them to chop down a tree in a forest for having a branch they didn't like so long as they really didn't like it. As logical as you want to reason this out, allowing officials to progress down this path will only end in a clear cut field.

 

[Caverat]

Wow, people get pissed when you make it slightly less convenient to access other people's copyrighted intellectual property for free. Sure, legitimate business was conducted using megaupload's service.

Saying most of its traffic was legitimate though? Yeah, and most mp3s on ipods are legitimately purchased through itunes.

I viewed shows that were stored on megaupload, most (if not all) were unavailable to me otherwise. I'm not really sure, the cable package I buy doesn't include every channel, so, there might be some channel(s) available that play the shows I enjoy. I didn't care enough to look closely.

Despite how it sucks MU is down, I am in no way entitled to view those programs. No one is. If there isn't a legal means for me to view those programs (Regardless of reasons), that is not justification to view them illegally. There is nothing else to say in regards to that. I did it anyway because I don't give a shit, no need to sprout the utter bullshit that is trying to justify it in anyway.

I understand that people pitch a fit when they lose access to something they feel entitled to, and the silly mental/argumentative hoops they will jump through at great length to make it seem that isn't why they're complaining.

But it is, you aren't entitled to someone else's copyrighted material.

Get over it.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

AND Mega Video!?

That was my source of Anime streaming!!!

God damn you America!

 

[Solo-Wing]

Well shit. Anonymous attack back in revenge strike for Megaupload. http://gizmodo.com/5877679/anonymous-kills-department-of-justice-site-in-megaupload-revenge-strike

[HEADING=1]EDIT: DO NOT CLICK THE LINK TO THE NEW MEGAUPLOAD!!!! IT IS AN ANON TRAP! THEY WILL DDoS YOU![/HEADING]

 

[Risingblade]

LAND OF THE FREE!

HOME OF THE BRAVE!!!


Aren't you just so proud of your country Americans?

Yes, yes I am still sucks for megaupload though

 

[Doom-Slayer]

Snip for space

I'd like to know the stats just out of curiosity.

Pure conjecture on my part, but I can't see how legal users could even begin to approach pirates on sites like MU, RS, BT, MF, etc. Never seen any solid numbers though, so who knows?

No, really--who knows? I want to ask them

Stats like that would be impossible to find. Because as far as they are concerned theres no pirated content on being hosted that they know of. Since they delete whatever they are told about. And Id have to say 90% of the pirated stuff would all be obscure stuff hotlinked to blogs. And unless you know about the blog, youll never even know the file is there.

 

[Little2Raph]

Makes me wonder - if the FBI spent as much time and effort in tracking terrorists as they did in tracking internet pirates maybe 9/11 wouldn't have happened. . .

What I also find hilarious is the fact that in retaliation Anonymous shut down the websites for the FBI, US Justice Department, Universal Music, and the Recording Industry Association of America.

They're trying to police the internet and they can't even protect themselves. . .

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Oh the irony of this is just sooooooooooo sweet.

 

[Volothos]

I think the IP link send you to the fake, malware megaupload website!

 

[Sakeretsu]

How greedy can some people get .

Megaupload provided a great service for legal filesharing ,and yes it supported quite a lot of copyrighted materials ,because most of us can't afford the prices that they put on the amount of cultural products we consume ,there is a reason why Russia and China are mostly based entirely upon pirating .

I'm have seriously had enough with those money grubbing lobbyists. They have been doing steady increasing profits forever !

Sign me up for the war for Internet my comrades ;taking down porn ...that's just gone too far !!

 

[dicai]

I think the IP link send you to the fake, malware megaupload website!

Came to say this. Damn clones...

 

[NerfedFalcon]

LAND OF THE FREE!

HOME OF THE BRAVE!!!


Aren't you just so proud of your country Americans?

I think this version is more appropriate:


(Note: I actually like Jason's later work, such as in Black Knight, more than Roger's. I also thought he did a good job with Shadow, but... everyone else there is just terrible. And I'm pretty sure half of them aren't even pseudo-American. So it's even more appropriate, actually.)